14While the lines of worry lessened around Cole's mouth as the ladies seemed to notice his words, Claire scanned his face for visible lies.He could be lying to fool her. Unfortunately, all she saw was genuinity.Moreover, he had no reason to lie. He may be Hunter's best friend, he was supporting Claire."Nice excuse but my friend and I are not imbeciles. That woman and rape... What a joke!" Penelope said, her words reduced the impact Cole's announcement had created.She refused to believe that it happened. She cringed and added, "I'm forced to wonder whether you are involved with Zara to destroy Claire's relationship. Cole, tell me honestly, are you doing this because you are jealous of your best friend having a loving and faithful wife? You want to separate them because you never had a chance at true love. Ain't I right?""If you can't say anything good, don't open your stinking mouth, Penelope Baker." Cole hissed out. His eyes grew darker, and if looks could kill, he would have
15"Claire!!!" Penelope shrieked her name out of shock as she watched her friend go down on her knees.Claire was being helped by her when two strong arms came around her shoulders. A knot seemed to untie within her chest as a faint smile crossed her lips."Hun—" Her mouth hung open on a gasp as Claire observed the face mere inches away from her."Jesus Christ! You are burning with fever, Claire. Come on, get up. Let me take you to your ward." That was Cole furrowing his brows in concern at her.The dam of miseries seemed to unbolt in her heart. Claire flickered her heavy lashes. She looked behind Cole's shoulders at her husband, regarding her with a detached stare. Hunter didn't seem in his senses. Even if he was then he didn't care one bit about her. He was right there by the wall, in the same position, just his face's angle had lowered to look at her."Come on, give me your hand." Cole's words caused her breathing to fracture.While she was struggling to get up, another man was he
16 Penelope was too inflamed by Hunter's behaviour to keep her mouth shut. However, Cole eyed her dangerously. It reminded Penelope of the doctor's words. They should keep stress causing factors away from her. "Err... I was saying... I was saying that though Hunter was worried for Zara he didn't forget to check up on you, Claire. Hunter spent his nights sitting by you on this stool. He never left you alone for once throughout the night and his back is brutally stiff now." Penelope blurted out. She peered at Cole as if asking with her gaze if her lie was up to the mark. Since the doctor said they must not give her stress, the best way to avoid it was to give her happy news so her mood would be elevated. But Cole's blazing glare indicated that it was more than too much. Claire wouldn't believe that provided that Hunter hardly waited to see her when she last woke up. Even on that night when Zara was being operated in the operation room and Claire fell on the floor while getting
17"Yes," Claire answered with a grin that was neither relieving nor soft to the eyes. With trembling hands Penelope passed her phone to her and watched as she searched for Daniel Calvart, Hunter's lawyer's number. Both of them were caught by surprise when her phone blared loudly. For a moment Penelope lost her breaths as she thought it was Dominic, Claire's father. She couldn't afford to have him call his daughter now as she had lied to him that they were in Claire's house for a few days. She had assured him that when he saw his daughter next, it would be accompanied with good news of her leaving her heartless husband. Whatever had transpired with Claire was known by very few people. Nobody from Claire's family knew about her condition. About her being in hospital for being neglected by her husband and torturing herself with starvation. "Monty? Who's that?" Penelope asked as she read the name of the caller. "That's my detective friend from school." Claire answered as she though
18"Your instincts were right about her. Zara indeed contributed to her husband's demise. She included heart attack causing pills in his medication to get rid of him. It wouldn't have been tough for her to do it considering that she's a medical student. Faking his death as a heart attack was simpler for her because she was friends with a well-known doctor in Silverhills with whom she met during her marriage. More like friends with benefits.” Monty gave his insights while Claire and Penelope were reading Zara's husband's fake and real autopsy reports. Monty really did a great job. He got so many evidence, both faked by Zara and the real copy, along with his hand drawn connections and corrections in places where the information was inaccurate. "Zara left Hunter in greed of living an opulent life as her fiancé, Clifford Phillips, was at the peak of success and Hunter was still climbing the ladders to the same position. Hunter may have been an heir to the wealthiest family in Bloomcrest
19Zara was startled. Her eyes aimlessly stared at the floor while the position of her head froze to an angle overlooking the white tiles to her left. She refused to blink as the pain from the slap spread throughout her skull, making her cheek throb."Don't you dare try to lure me with that melodiously sweet voice of yours. I am not Hunter and it will not work on me, bitch!" Claire hissed, her voice full of malice.Zara slowly lifted her face, her eyes perused the woman standing in front of her closely. She saw a beautiful woman during her lowest. A woman who could have been the strongest if only the person she loved the most supported her.Claire kept her chest from heaving. The back of her eyes was searing. She tried to blink it away as she maintained eye contact with Zara."I know what you are, Zara Levine, and what intention you have come here with. But know that I will not back away easily. You can be a cunning whore for all I care. In front of me you are nothing." Claire said in
20Seeing her twisted expressions and hearing those mind-rotting words, Claire felt a shockwave pass through her. Even though she was aware of what she said, it still sounded disgusting and heart wrenching to her. She fisted her hands on her side and gritted.Was she even a human? A woman? She can't be. Because a woman would never talk like that to another woman let alone do it. Unless the woman is a loose woman. And to say, Zara seemed to be godmother of them all "You can never win from me." Claire stated. "Haha, you cannot win what is already a lost battle, Claire. This was a one sided battle from the very beginning. Don't embarrass yourself more. Be a good girl and stop thinking about Hunter. Divorce him and find yourself another guy." Zara said haughtily. "You better alter your intentions. Hunter will never be yours as I will not let your plan work.""Really?" Zara raised an eyebrow while her lips upturned into a smirk resembling Pennywise's smirk from IT. "Let me give you a
21Claire was brought towards a bench near her ward to the opposite side of the corridor. She was made to sit, which she ignored, as her chest was burning. Getting out of the hold of Cole, and turned to the whitewashed wall. Upon the blank wall she could see the scene playing. She thought back about how Hunter kissed Zara before the door closed, the burning sensation that was only in her chest began to envelope her entirely. "Claire, Claire..." Someone was talking to her. Although she heard Cole's name in Zara's ward, she still hasn't seen who it was. She only felt hands tugging at her wrists, trying to make her sit. "You are pale, Claire. Breathe deeply." She went back inside that ward homing that witch psychologically, her eyes brimming with new tears. Her body convulsed and the tips of her fingers burned with chills. The realization that the scarlet, beautiful flower has bewitched Hunter to hold it made her lips tremble. He was pricked by the flower's thorns. Its poison was
200"This is all, but I swear, I haven't seen any other woman since that encounter with that wench. It was after that incident I started noticing you. The second year of our marriage consists of me observing everything you did. That's how I learned your favorites, although I never let it show until now."Hunter tried to close the gap between them with small steps, hoping that when he was standing before her, Claire wouldn't push him away. After all, he had a huge list of extra marital relations. "When I started learning things about you, it slowly came to my understanding that you were exactly how I would have preferred my life partner to be. You were firm with a touch of boldness. You could be extremely caring at times and extensively outraged if annoyed. You didn't hesitate to make me pay for my ignorance and then you also came to show your love to me when you felt that I wasn't going to do it. You held the torch in our relationship and lives, and radiated it with your resilience."
199"I was mentally dead. Although I married you, I didn't feel the excitement as that of a married man because you weren't the woman I want. So, I just spent my time at the club with Cole and other friends.""Even if you weren't the bride I saw myself saying 'I do' for, I was determined to never stray. But that night, that night something got into. I was not heavily drunk but I kissed a woman who sat in my life. I groped her even though Cole and my friends warned me of having a wife. I didn't know what I was doing."Claire's stare became painful. She internally lamented as her heart yelled from the pain of his treachery. His confession now hurt like a third degree burn. She didn't know when she started sobbing, but that was the only sound she heard. She felt as though she’d suddenly jumped off a cliff. What she was feeling was beyond anyone's imagination. Accepting Hunter's infidelity before marriage was bearable. But thinking of him doing the same in the first week after he was dec
198"It happened a few days after Zara left me. I was heartbroken and mentally disturbed. The blaring music of the club became my companion as I found solace in alcohol. I would spend the days at office and my nights at the club." Hunter began. Now that she asked him to be honest, he was not going to skip anything. She also warned him to share it even it's hurtful, so he would do that too. As long as it convinced her to stay and be with him, he would do anything. Although that's not what he thought he would be compelled to do when he left his house to find Claire, he had no other choice. Hunter's heart raced in his chest. He was making mistake after mistake recently. One action he took to soothe his nerves ended up causing a ripple effect of consequences. Hence, he wasn't going to make another mistake by skipping any detail of his infidelity. The air was cool, and yet he sweated profusely while his face remained as white as the moon. "But I was never alone. Cole was there with me.
197A thunder clapped in the sky with lightning, illuminating their faces for a nanosecond. Hunter was panicked by her words and the expression he caught in the light from her face made his blood rush to his head. He moved closer. He pulled her to his chest and leaned his face near hers. Claire squirmed and wriggled like a fish taken out of water. But she calmed down the minute he pinned her to the tree and rested his forehead against hers, his mouth aligned with hers while his thrumming heart synced with her own. The air seemed to turn colder as darkness increased. They couldn't see each other. But in the back of their minds, they pictured each other's expressions and emotions as they breathed heavily in sync. "You are a jerk... And I hate you." Claire sobbed. Her body was shaking in misery. She was crying because of his disappearance and caressed her back. He moved his mouth to her jaw and trailed a line of kisses along her jaw to her neck as he whispered sorry to hers. Claire
196Claire dashed a hand over her cheeks to wipe her tears. She didn't know where else to go— where she could cry without being interuptted by her loved ones or well-wishers— so she came to the only place she thought would offer her the privacy and quiet she needed during this phase of her life... The lake.The same lake that was her companion during her teenage years. The same lake around which she touched herself for the first time while imagining Hunter. The same lake that soothed her heart and brought delight to her face whenever she came here in the past.However, she felt cold in her heart tonight when she came here. Her eyes stung from tears that build up. Stopping near a tree, Claire slumped down. She was tired of feeling disappointed at how her life was unfolding.Twists and turns aggravated her. It was like every month her life took a turn. While one month she was all gloomy and struggling to focus in life, the other month she was too exhilarated to contain it. The changing
195There was silence on the line from both sides. They contemplated where their siblings would go at this hour of night. A thunder roared outside and they both returned back to their senses. "It's completely okay for Tyler to stay out at this hour of night. It's not the first time. But Claire..." Shawn trailed off. "This isn't like Claire. Something's wrong." "We have to find them. Now. I'm coming to your place, Scott. I'll pick you up and we'll go together." Shawn announced."Let's go find them. I need to know what's going on. Claire would never disappear without a word." ***At Hunter's Mansion, Cole sat on the patio, his weary figure slumped in a chair. He was smoking while scrolling through his face. His face was grim while his lips twisted at the posts he came across on his feed. Tyler and Claire were trending. Some stupid social media manipulator started a rumor and it was going awfully viral now. Although Cole understood that it was fake, it sparked widespread frenzy. Us
194Shawn brought his mother to a restaurant located in a remote area with quiet surroundings. It took them about an hour, except that Tia wasn't fazed one bit. The sound of crickets served as background music. Tia was impressed by the warm atmosphere. She walked with her hand around Shawn's arm not like his mother, but like a friend.She was thrilled to see eyes following her and Shawn. Some women stopped all motion to take a glance. When Shawn pulled a chair for her, she heard a woman from the neighboring table praising her hairstyle. They ordered a five course meal. Before it arrived, Shawn excused himself to go to the restroom. He paid the waiter who took their order to praise his mother's beauty. When he came back to their table, the waiter followed suit. He brought a bottle of wine with two flutes and smiled politely at Tia.He gazed at Shawn and Tia with a bow and repeated the words he was directed to deliver, "Sir, madam, you are our fiftieth couple of the night. We have thi
193. At Murphy mansion,Tia glanced at the clock on the wall with a frown. Then her gaze shifted to the door as she impatiently turned the pages of the magazine in her lap. She seemed annoyed by something but was surprisingly quiet, not taking it out on anyone like she was accustomed to.Shawn, who was sitting next to her, was perturbed by her behavior. It wasn't in his mother's nature to stay quiet while she was annoyed. She would rather split the house apart with her loud screams and scoldings."Someone is constantly checking the clock and staring at the door. Is someone precious expected?" He gave a girly gasp to irritate Tia and added, "Maybe a lover who is supposed to visit behind dad's back!""Damn, dad will be so exasperated. Grandma will be more furious than him, knowing that her daughter-in-law is cheating on her son." He seemed to think deeply while stroking his jaw. "What would she do if I told her? Kill mom? Nah, that'd be the easiest way of punishing her." He talked to h
192Tyler came down to the parking lot with a twisted face. Claire's words were echoing in his mind. Every allegation seared through him. He gritted his teeth amidst a scoff and frustratedly slapped a pillar next to him."What does she take me for? The nerve of her, accusing me like that." He growled to himself. "I shouldn’t have shown her any kindness. Because I’m her ex’s rival, she misinterpreted my intentions and used the moment to humiliate me.""I feel like a fool. No one has ever humiliated me the way she did. I just..." He sighed as his anger dissipated.Tyler slumped against the pillar and closed his eyes, "I really can't blame her... Since it's all my fault. Why did I have to fall for my rival's ex-wife?"He reached out in his pocket for a pack of cigarette. He lit one and brought it to his mouth. Taking a long drag, he stared in the darkness, thinking about the encounter he had with Claire.Tyler was not hurt... But his heart ached. He had been waiting all day to see her. Ju