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
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
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
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.
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
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."
201Outside the Argent Villa,Scott and Shawn met each other outside the former's house. Their faces were dull with worry and in the rain storm, they stood soaking wet."Did you find anything about your brother?" Scott asked as he wiped a hand on his face to clear his vision."Yeah, he's at a pub.... With a woman." Shawn uttered the last three words between clenching teeth.Scott wasn't surprised. He was aware of his best friend's elder brother's way to avoid media attention concerning his personal life. He was just slightly affected that Tyler lied to go to pub to find a random chick to click with, so he could post fake dating news with her, instead of attending a dinner with his family.They've been waiting so restlessly to have him at home. The look of sorrow on Andrea's face was pitiful. Scott recalled that expression and exhaled a sigh. His mother had been overly excited to have Tyler at home. She had prepared so many dishes for him, which they had to eat alone and in silence. Cl
202"SCOTT, NO!" They exclaimed in unison, but Scott was already charging towards Hunter like a madman.Claire, who had been sobbing against her father's chest, snapped her head up at Hunter's mention. Color drained from her face witnessing Hunter at the doorstep with crimson-rimmed eyes. Their gazes locked, and everything he had said to her came flooding back to her in an overwhelming wave. Despite the look of pleading on his face and apology in his eyes, she remained hard-hearted. However, the part that loved her once... The part that basked in the sight of him being praised and respected by her family became distressed. Scott was a decade younger to Hunter, and even though the latter treated her like a doormat wife with zero worth in his life, he was still related to her. Ex-husband... But still they had a past. Claire stepped out of her father's arms as Scott dashed towards Hunter, driven by instincts. "Hunter MacIntyre, you've hurt my sister enough. Time to pay back!" Her hea
210It was already morning when Hunter returned back home. The morning sky was pale with no sight of sun and the atmosphere was shrouded in haze. Gray clouds floated overhead as a quiet, eerie stillness pervaded the morning air as if the fog had muffled all sound, leaving only a deep and foreboding silence.Cole, who had been waiting in Hunter's house for him, saw movements in his peripheral vision and rose desperately. He heaved a sigh of relief and walked over to Hunter."Where the hell have you been, jerk? I asked everyone I could to reach out to you." Cole said tightly as his eyes roved over Hunter's features.Seeing the dull look on Hunter's face, the redness under his eyes and how ghostly pale he looked, his eyes shot up in daze."Hunter, buddy..." Cole touched his arm and was bewildered to find him wet.The t-shirt appeared dry at first, but it was damp beneath his fingers... And he was cold. Cole dragged Hunter to the couch and made him settle down. He wasn't waiting in the ho
209Their lips were aligned on the same level, a few inches away. He eyed her darkly, warning her to drop the act."I'm dead serious, Claire. Tell me why are you here?" His hard voice made her face turn pale. But she maintained her friendly demeanor and said, "I could have gone away with Penny, my only friend. But you see she's dating Hunter's best friend Cole. So I am strangled. I really need a change in environment, Tyler, and I hoped that maybe I could count on you." "Despite the fact that I like you? What are you trying to do, Claire?" His face drew a little closer as he bared his teeth. Claire's stomach twisted into a knot. She could see Tyler was another danger she had come to encounter. The only thing different about him was that when she was enraged, like a gentleman he was calm and endured her angry lashing. But that didn't change the fact that he was dangerous. However, he didn't freak her out. Because he was the man who introduced light in her dark world when she needed
208A beat later, he resumed, "If all you need is someone to take the verbal blows for Hunter's mistakes, just say so, I'll stand here silently until you're finished."Claire silently cried. She looked away and even turned around to face the other side. Her tears struck his heart like poisoned arrows.Tyler hesitantly walked up to her, pausing behind her. He thought twice whether to touch her shoulder or not, then let his hand hang idly at his sides. "Look, Claire, I really like you. And I'm sorry that you have to go through this. But trust me, my intention has never been to hurt you. Please don't cry.... it's hurting me too.""I don't know what's wrong with me but I can't see you in this pain. I can't touch you either as I'm afraid you'll accuse me of inappropriately touching you." Hearing his last few words, Claire spun around with blazing eyes and her mouth trembling insanely. "Sorry? You're just sorry that you got caught up in my mess. You're sorry because you have to put up wi
207Shawn stopped wiggling the moment he sensed a shadow falling on him, and thus, giving him a cover from direct sunlight. He craned his neck to take a gander at the person and his mouth really touched the ground. He turned to his belly, his hands going under his chin. He rested his head on the back of his hands as he watched his brother's dreamy expression. Claire looked a little disturbed in comparison to his brother. She sniffed softly and her slightly red nose made her look cute. However, Shawn knew that the reason for her crying was far from being cute to her. It was atrocious. He coughed to severe his brother's trance and jumped to his feet. Stopping behind his brother, his lips framed a bright, shining smile. "Hey, Claire, it's good to have you here on our estate. Wait, estate! OUR ESTATE!!!!" Shawn's eyebrows hit his hairline as he fearfully started biting his nails. "Tyler, she's at our place. Claire is at our place.... And mom is inside!" He said hurriedly as he shifted
206"Tyler Murphy..." Claire reiterated the name with her eyes amplifying in shock.Like pieces of puzzle falling back in place, everything started making sense. Claire could perceive the reason behind starting a partnership with the Murphys.Scott and Shawn had been childhood friends, and yet, their companies never got into a contract of partnership at all. But now Claire knew why it was happening— and why Tyler was specifically handling the project his company signed with her father's."Look, Claire, it may seem unpleasant to you now because Tyler is that bastard's business rival... And the users online may create stories on you three and gossip about it for months... But look at the bigger picture, baby." Andrea's face was full of vibrancy.She was hopeful that the life she pictured out in her mind for her daughter was picture perfect. However, the color that drained from Claire's skin showed how disgusted and stupored she was upon hearing Tyler's name."Tyler will never cheat becau
205Two days later, Saturday morning,Dominic and Andrea sat silently on the breakfast table. The maids filled their plates as Dominic observed his wife. It's been two days since that Wednesday night when Hunter came to their house to talk to Claire, and still Andrea hadn't forgotten. Her silent protest showed that she was against the deal Dominic had with their daughter's heartbreaker. She hadn't uttered a single word to him no matter how hard her husband tried to explain things to her. She just said one thing: What he did was wrong! It was a mistake giving someone like Hunter another chance. Andrea was firm on her belief that it should have been Tyler getting a chance with their daughter. He was the right one for her. As much as Dominic inferred that would have been the best thing, the question remained intact— Would Claire have accepted him if her parents chose him for her? "Where are Claire and Scott?" Dominic asked to shatter the silence between him and wife. In reply, Andre
204Claire had sunk to the edge of the bed, clawing at the mattress with her nails, to contain the surge of emotions threatening to overwhelm her. Her body convulsed in pain. It rippled and grew cold. Her heart felt like a bucket full of wet clothes in her chest.She didn't know how to reign in her composure. Her face was numb from shedding uncontrollable tears whereas her lips trembled like a weak leaf about to fall off a branch.She was crying recalling each word Hunter shared. It was unbelievable. While she had assumed he was only distant and ignorant, she hadn't realized he could also be a master cheater. Not once... He cheated on her five times. Five times while she was hopefully waiting for him at home with food turning cold on the dining table.It wasn't 'just' five times! It was those five times he knew he was betraying his marriage and insulting the vows he took towards a wife he loved him honestly. And yet, he did it."Claire, please open the door."Desperate knocks sounded
203"Mr. Argent, it's very important for me to see your daughter. Allow me this one time, please. It's about our future." Hunter said ignoring Andrea as he addressed Dominic. Feeling insulted, Andrea spoke with disdain, "What future? My daughter's future is better off without you. You left her when she needed you the most. Now that we are trying to set her up with a far better match, you want to waltz back in her life. Dream on, Hunter. It's not happening. Her parents are standing in between her and you. We will never let you get to her again.""Did you really think you could slink back into Claire's life after your ex's true nature was exposed? You're delusional if you think that's possible."Hunter gave her a stoic look, although his red eyes showed his turmoil."And do you think I'm coming back only because Zara's arrested now? It's you who's dreaming, Mrs. Argent. Claire and I've never parted ways even after the divorce. Our separation brought us closer— me actually.""I realized
202"SCOTT, NO!" They exclaimed in unison, but Scott was already charging towards Hunter like a madman.Claire, who had been sobbing against her father's chest, snapped her head up at Hunter's mention. Color drained from her face witnessing Hunter at the doorstep with crimson-rimmed eyes. Their gazes locked, and everything he had said to her came flooding back to her in an overwhelming wave. Despite the look of pleading on his face and apology in his eyes, she remained hard-hearted. However, the part that loved her once... The part that basked in the sight of him being praised and respected by her family became distressed. Scott was a decade younger to Hunter, and even though the latter treated her like a doormat wife with zero worth in his life, he was still related to her. Ex-husband... But still they had a past. Claire stepped out of her father's arms as Scott dashed towards Hunter, driven by instincts. "Hunter MacIntyre, you've hurt my sister enough. Time to pay back!" Her hea