"I... understand," said Clara. "I won't tell her anything."

She then hesitated and added, "Although I now know that Serenity is your girlfriend, I've never had any idea to use her from the start, and I naturally have no intention to do so now either. I gave her a job back then because we both suffered the same fate and used to be in prison, so I felt sorry for her and wanted to give her a chance so she could stand on her own two feet."

Hearing this, the iciness in Jackson's eyes thawed a littl