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CHAPTER TWENTY: A Close Call
Last Updated:
2023-09-13 13:22:46
IcyDandelionThanks for reading this far, guys! What do you think Zara is here for? Wanna find out? Read the next chapter! N.B: Please tell your friends about this book. I promise it only gets better. Also, no part of this book should be published elsewhere without my consent. I worked hard to write this, so it's not fair to duplicate my work. Thanks.
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Scott stared at her for what seemed like eternity. The last thing he expected was for Zara to show up now. She had been avoiding him for the past few years. Even after she gave birth, she spared him no chance to see her child, let alone answered his biggest question. What in God's name brought her here today? With Herculean effort, Scott snapped back to reality and said calmly, "This is a closed-door meeting, Zara. I don't think you should be here!""How are you so sure about that, Mr. Brown? Don't you wanna know what happened to two of the shareholders?" Zara asked with a mischievous smile. A look of dread appeared on Scott's face as soon as he heard that. What was this woman up to now?Zara dropped her bag on the table and took her seat. "Well, the men you are waiting for won't be showing up again. I'm taking their place.""What?" Came the exclamations from the shareholders at the table. They looked at each other in confusion and then back at Zara, who relished their astonishment.
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Zara burst into tears the second she got into her car. She could feel her heart breaking yet again. No words hurt her more than the ones Scott said to her just now.Although she had always suspected that he blamed her for what happened to their parents, he never said it to her face. As tears streamed down her cheeks, her sinuses were triggered. Zara sniffed hard as phlegm almost found its way to her mouth.She rested her head on the steering wheel and stayed there for an indeterminate amount of time. She had come here to show Scott that she meant business. Little did she know she would be leaving in tears.By the time her eyes were sore, Zara finally wiped the tears on her face and cleaned her snot with a handkerchief. She started the ignition of her car. Just as she was about to drive out of the parking lot, she saw someone familiar.Dressed in a pair of jeans and a shiny blouse, Cora stepped out of a black Maybach. She then helped someone else out of the car. It was a little boy—a t
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In a split second, Scott grabbed his car keys and ran out of his office without another word to Zara. She stood on the spot for a while before she darted in the direction he went."You cannot trick me, Scott! I know you are just putting up an act to get rid of me. No one called you, right?" she shouted, accosting him in the elevator.Scott turned his head sharply and shot her an icy glare that could have frozen hell over. "I don't have time for your nonsense, Zara!"She grabbed his arm just as he walked out of the elevator. "You will have to make out time! I'm tired of you bugging my life. You think I'd just sit back and allow you scare the shit out of me again and again? Enough is enough!""Shut the fuck up, Zara! I have no idea what you are talking about. I can't do this right now. My son's life is in danger. I gotta go. If you have any sympathy in that hardened heart of yours, you will leave me the fuck alone!" Scott roared in her face.Zara shut her eyes in fear. Her hand slipped o
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A sense of dread coursed through Scott when he heard the sober tone of the doctor. He sat up on the couch as his palm suddenly became sweaty. "What is it, doc?""I carried out some tests yesterday. Cora said that Tommy had been stooling yesterday morning, so I had to take some of the fecal matter alongside his blood sample. I carried out some tests yesterday and..." the doctor paused."And what?" Scott's patience ran out. "What did you find?""It seems that Tommy has a kidney infection.""I beg your pardon? What the hell did you just say?" Scott felt he had heard wrong. But after the doctor repeated his words, his phone fell from his hand. He crashed back on the couch as tears stung his eyes.He turned his head to look at Tommy's sleeping face. How could this be? Why the hell was this happening? His precious boy was suffering from a kidney infection? This has got to be some kind of a mistake!With great doubt, Scott picked up the phone again and pressed it to his ear. The doctor was y
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A strange gust of wind blew into the reception hall after that angry voice. Scott froze when he saw his ex-wife scowling at him as if she was going to rip him apart any moment from now.Still oblivious, he uttered, "Zara, what are you doing here?"Zara tilted her head back in disgusted confusion. "What am I doing here? Did you seriously ask me that? You are holding my son's hand and you are asking me such a silly question!""What?" Scott looked down at Jayden and then back at his ex-wife. "This is your son?""Hey, Mommy!" Jayden squealed and ran to his mother before Scott could get an answer.Zara picked him up and held him tightly. She looked at him all over. "Did he hurt you, baby? I thought I told you not to talk to strangers. What were you doing with him?""He's not a stranger, Mommy. That's Tommy's father. You wanted to meet him on Monday, remember?"It wasn't until then that Zara realized what was going on here. The Tommy her son had spoken about with so much excitement was actu
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The grimace Cora had caused visible cracks in her heavy makeup. Her forehead had wrinkles as if she was some old hag. Oblivious to this, she stepped into the room while shooting Zara a hard glare. "Are you deaf? What are you doing here? And who the hell let you in?""I did!" A male voice came from the door before Zara could respond.Cora turned around and saw Scott holding two ice cream cones in his hands. He frowned at her as he walked in. "Have you forgotten that this is a hospital? Keep your voice down, will you?"In a fit of pique, Cora turned to Scott. "You knew about this? How could you allow her to come in? What business does she have with my son? With us!""Hold your horses, Cora." Scott shot her a searing glare. "How can I explain if you can't even keep calm for a second? Don't you know how to behave even in front of kids?"Hearing this, Cora's face flushed with embarrassment. She glanced at the bed and saw that Tommy and Jayden were looking at her with disappointed eyes."I'
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Half an hour later, Jayden reached out to hold his mother's hand as he lay on a hospital bed in a private ward. "Don't look so sad, Mommy. It doesn't hurt anymore. I am fine."Zara sniffed hard and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She had been crying since she saw blood oozing out of her son's mouth. While the doctor tried to stop the bleeding, she had cried with Jayden. Anyone who heard their wails from outside would have thought it was two people that got hurt.Now, Jayden was admitted on the doctor's orders so the swelling of his gums can be monitored. The little boy currently managed a smile as he stared at his sobbing mother."I'm sorry, dearie. I'll stop crying now," Zara said, sniffing hard.She then leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "I need you to be very honest with me as usual. When you fell, it was because Tommy's mother extended her leg in your way, right?"Jayden looked away briefly, unwilling to speak. But when his mother gave his hand a squeeze, he loo
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Ten months later."Wake up, Daddy, Mommy! It's morning already!"Scott and Zara, who were snuggled up in bed, woke up to the excited squeal of their son. Zara opened her eyes and yawned. She nudged her husband as he was already drifting to sleep again."Wake up or he will come jumping on the bed again," she whispered to him.Scott stirred and rubbed his eyes. "But I am so tired. You wore me out last night.""It's not my fault. The baby wanted to eat a lot last night and she refused to let me sleep until I satisfied the cravings.""You know that's not what I'm talking about," Scott chuckled. "How can a pregnant woman have so much energy?"Hearing this, Zara slapped his arm while blushing. "Shush! Don't let Jayden hear you or he will start asking questions again. Help me up, will you?"Scott pulled her closer and gave her a kiss. Looking at her slightly swollen face, he said, "Good morning, beautiful.""Me too! I want a kiss!" Jayden shouted, running into the room without shutting the do
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Time seemed to stop as Zara let out a scream that reached the ears of the policemen outside the gate. She lost the sense of her surroundings as she looked at Scott's face. Even the gunshots from nearby and the thud that came moments later didn't draw her attention.Her tears fell on his face. He stretched his bloodstained lips again, flashing his red teeth at her. Coughing, he muttered, "Take care of Jayden. I love you two… So so much."Zara nodded her head. "I will. I'll take care of him. But don't leave me. Let's take care of him together, okay? I can't live without you. Stay with me, okay? I love you, Scott. Always have."Still smiling, Scott raised his hand and touched her face. He held her gaze for seconds which seemed like minutes. His hand slowly dropped. Zara held on to it and continued to tell him to stay with her.But at this moment, his eyes slowly closed. Zara's cry increased in tempo alongside Jayden's. The little boy was just as horrified as his mother. Zara shook Scott'
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"That shoe!" Scott's eyes widened as he leaned forward. He zoomed in on the live footage to have a better look. The other men also opened their eyes wide. Their eyes were on Portia's pair of blue and white trainers."I have seen that shoe somewhere before," Scott mumbled as he began typing on the keyboard again. Another tab opened. He clicked on the surveillance video Portia had given to them. Without wasting time, he looked at the footwear Zara had on when she arrived at the Andersons' home. It was a pair of pink and black sneakers. Quickly, he fast-forwarded the video to when she was leaving. Strangely, her footwear was no longer pink and black. It was blue and white!Scott increased the brightness level of the screen and zoomed in more just to make sure he wasn't mistaken. The footwear had indeed changed."Holy smokes!" Anthony exclaimed at the mystery that was unfolding before him.In silence, Scott scrolled up the body of "Zara". It was at this moment he noticed that the body s
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The person she was looking at was Scott. She imagined slapping him in that hard face of his for all the pain he caused her child. The nerve of him to show up here after everything!"Mrs. Anderson... Mrs. Anderson," Detective Marshall called out, snapping his fingers.Finally, Portia drew her gaze away from Scott. She looked back at the cop and said, "Can't we talk here?""I'm afraid, no. I also need to speak to your daughter."Portia turned. "I could call her out.""No, there's no need. To the best of my knowledge, she's under house arrest, I don't want to stress her more than she already is. Also, she could get into trouble with her probation officer. Just let us in. Or is there something you don't want to see in there?"Hearing this, Portia's face changed immediately. She eyed him and then turned around. She walked into the house, leaving the door open. The four men walked in immediately.As soon as they entered, Scott's eyes swept around the house. He walked around while the others
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"Mommy!" Jayden screamed as soon as he saw Zara sitting on the chair with her head hanging low. A rope was tied tightly around her. There was a dry patch of blood on her neck. Wisps of her hair stuck to her sweaty face. Her hands were tied together in front of her pelvis. Her collarbone was visible at this time, it was deeper than it had ever been. At the sight of his mother in this state, Jayden leaped to his feet and darted to her. Before he could get through the door of the cubicle where Zara was, Cora pushed him down with a smack. He fell to the dusty floor, hurting his back yet again. He screamed, "Aaaah!""Shut it!" Cora roared at him, raising her hand to hit him again.Jayden held his lips as he looked up at Cora with fear. His pale face instantly turned red. He coughed hard but still didn't let go of his lips. Suddenly, something caught his attention. He looked away from Cora. He soon screamed again, "Mommy!"Cora turned to look in the same direction as the little boy. She
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Cora drew her head back. Looking up at the ceiling, she let out an evil laughter that reverberated in the entire living room. There was a bloodstain on the figurine. The sight of it made her more joyful. She looked down at Zara again and smirked. "Stupid bitch!"The patter of flip-flops suddenly came from the side. It was followed by a scream-whisper, "Cora! Why did you do that?"Cora looked at her mother with a smile still on her face. "I told you she was going to come, Mom. She was about to search the whole house. I had to stop her."Holding her forehead, Portia didn't know what to say for a while. She looked upstairs to make sure Steven was nowhere in sight, then she asked, "How did she get here? Did she come in her car or taxi?""I don't know!" Cora shrugged. "Why do you ask?"Portia put two fingers on Zara's neck. After confirming that there was a pulse, she said, "Use your head, Cora! We can't just let her go. And if we keep her here, the cops are gonna come here. You could be s
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The mood in the Hall family's home was sadder than it had ever been in more than fifteen years when Zara's parents died. At the time, many people were crying, but today, it was a one-man crying marathon.Zara, who hadn't taken a shower since the day of Jayden's kidnap, dragged herself from the sofa and sat on the cold floor. Her crying increased in tempo. She dragged her greasy hair and scratched her red face. She looked like a woman who had just lost her husband.Mia moved closer and reached out. "You need to stop crying, Zara. You have been crying for more than two days.""If I don't cry, what else can I do? Eh! What else can I do? My son is missing. And the police keep telling me stories upon stories without having a single clue as the where Jayden is. Yet, I am not supposed to cry?" Zara asked sniffing hard.She suddenly slapped Mia's hand off her shoulder. "Leave me alone. Let me cry!"On the sofa opposite the two young ladies, Karen was seated in casual clothes. Her eyes were he
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"Yes!" Scott punched the air as he stared at the masterpiece he had made. There was a big smile on his face at this moment. He had taken the day off work and spent the entire morning and noon painting the huge Spiderman figure on the wall of a spare room.With one of his hands on his hip, he muttered to himself, "I just have to put a child's bed here and make it more comfortable. Then, I have to convince Zara to allow him stay the night a few times."The thought of bringing up the topic made Scott shiver. He could already imagine her shooting him a deathly glare. But he was going to give it a shot anyway. "She can't kill me, can she?"Scott chuckled as he imagined her agreeing after his incessant pleas. "She can be very stubborn, but once I make her see the good in this, she will surely agree."As Scott continued to talk to himself, there was a knock on the door. The nanny's voice came from outside, "Mr. Brown, your phone has been ringing. Sorry to disturb you."Scott turned to look a
