Sorry for the delay!!! I almost lost these chapters and then one day off for movie turned to two. Sorryyy! But what i watched was really motivating. I believe all of require such break. Expect more chapters now. Make sure to leave your reviews please so more people can find the book~ Lysm.
43The sky was bluest blue and the squawking of birds flying above made Claire feel thrilled. Being able to walk without cameras following her was a new feeling. It was like she was independent again. Excitement danced with abandon in her spirit as she moved further. The reason she was alone here was because of the significance of this place. She had come upon a bridge above the river of blessing.She recalled Shawn's words, "The river of blessing has changed the lives of many believers, Claire. You throw things you don't want in your life in the river and it blesses you with whatever you want. Just make sure that you make your wishes wisely." Although he also said that it was a great tourist attraction, she was a little doubtful. She grazed the surroundings around her and realized that not a single soul was present here. There was just her.It was surprising for a place of tourist attraction to be void of breathing souls.Anyway, she headed further upon the bridge until she was in
44 "What? Scott!" She bellowed with eyes becoming the size of saucers whereas Tyler chuckled. Her words rhymed. "I don't believe you. Why would my brother come to you to be my boyfriend? Like really... YOU! Of all the men on this planet they chose you." She turned to him and gave him an accusing stare. "It couldn't be a coincidence. You are my ex-husband's biggest enemy and he chose you. Tyler Murphy, if you think I am foolish then you have not really known much about me. You are...." Claire trailed off and fisted her hands on her knees. She was blurting out everything that came to her mind. Tyler was also Shawn's elder brother. She had known him for more time than she knew Hunter. Shawn often came to their house when he was a kid and then his brother would come to pick him up. So it was really silly of her to blame him for that. Tyler would never do that. He wasn't from the men who use their enemy's wife and children to hurt them. He believed in striking openly. They ar
45Claire stood behind him and grabbed the back of his white shirt. She yanked at it until he was half turning towards her."Are you purposely doing that, Tyler?" Her eyes blazed over his.Although Tyler was not even one percent affected, both their brothers froze with their jaw slackening. They refused to blink their eyes or close their mouth even though there were weird flies flying around them."How could Hunter not fall for your sister, bro? Her boldness is to die for." Shawn softly mumbled to Scott who was in a state of stupor.As a brother he should hate how intensely hot they looked together. But there he was, frozen amidst doing push-ups with dumbbells of ten kilograms each on his back, enjoying how his sister had grabbed his best friend's brother by the collar and pulled him towards her.Their chests brushed but considering Claire's mounting anger and Tyler's equally challenging hard grimacing... They both barely noticed it."And your brother? I think you told me once that he
46When Claire came down to the living hall, Avery was being summoned by her husband for her opinions.She left Tyler alone in the living hall. Claire took a one eighty degree gaze around her and realized it was just them. She immediately made a beeline towards him.Folding her hands, she coughed to get his attention.She felt her knees strangely shivering when he ever so uninterestedly bought his eyes up to meet hers."Do you need anything, Mrs. MacIntyre?" Claire's lips twisted.She saw the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. He was teasing her."I want to know how you took your revenge on Ezma?" She asked, avoiding his playful mood."Revenge? Why would I take revenge on her?" He sat straight."Come on, don't act all gentleman. I'm sure you did something to Ezma to become how controlled and focused you are today." Her eyes flitted up and down his body in reference."I didn't take any revenge on her. There was no need to." He offered with a slight lift of his shoulders.Claire scof
47 Bloomcrest, Hunter was working on his laptop. He was engrossed in his work when his phone blared loudly. Lazily he lifted his eyelids and located his phone beside his mug of black coffee. Zara calling... A small frown settled between his eyebrows as he stared at it. Since that night he unwillingly spent with Zara watching a movie, she was after him like a shadow. Asking him about his days and work, about his meals, about everything he didn't want to share with her. He wearily grasped his phone and put it on silent. Then he placed it behind the heap of files on his left so that even if the screen lit up with another call he wouldn't be able to see it. Hunter went back to focus on his laptop again. But a knock on the door interrupted him. He asked whoever it was to come in and heard, "Sir, Mr. Wordsmith is here to meet you. He says it's important." "Let him in." He replied and resumed his work. Hunter was least interested in Cole's reason to visit him. Since his divorce, Cole
48RavenMoore, Tyler was waiting outside his establishment to receive Claire. The sight of him left her knees trembling. He was surely one of the most handsome men she had laid her eyes on. And with the three piece gray suit clinging to his body, he gave her like those fictional flawless male lead vibes. Claire rubbed her hands on her black skirt. She chose a formally decent attire for today. A dark blue chiffon top with a fitted skirt ending above her knees. There was also a huge bow in the front. She made her way towards him with a soft smile touching her lips. "Hi," Her voice was small and she couldn't perceive why she was feeling this way around him. "Welcome to my safe haven, Mrs. MacIntyre!" Her smile diminished into a scowl. Tyler raised his hands as he chuckled, "I'm joking. I thought you'd need every bit of mood lift I could offer." "Thank you. I'm really nervous." She said as they went inside. The building was as gorgeous as from the outside. All the heads turned to
49Anyways, she pulled his laptop closer to look at the projects he left for her to study. Claire was deeply engrossed when her phone lit up with someone's call. She didn't let her eyes avert as she accepted the call and drew the phone closer to her ear. "Hello?" She was captivated by the project flashing on the laptop which is why she didn't register that a minute had passed and still the one on the other end of the phone call had not uttered a word.It was the whispering coming from the other side that tottered her focus. She tore her gaze away from the laptop screen to take a glance at her phone."Hello?" She spoke again as it was an unknown number."Hello, who's this?"When no answer came, she decided to disconnect the call and focus back on the project. "Claire," Just as she pulled the phone away from her ear, she heard a fading out voice calling her name. She put the phone back to her ear and this time she was able to listen to the voice clearly and recognise it too. "You
50 Claire's body froze. She drew in a sharp breath while attempting to flash a smile. "Mrs. Murphy, I..." Tension failed her. The complaint in Tia's eyes was palpable. She didn't try to hide her disdain when she sneered. "I have been fond of you always, Claire. You are like my daughter. I truly sympathize with you for what you suffered. But," Tia grasped her hand and squeezed it spitefully. "I do not appreciate you dragging my son in your mess." "Mrs. Murphy, I don't know what you are saying. I didn't—" "I will cut to the chase, Claire. I saw the article and the pictures and it is too much for my bearing. How could you kiss my son?" A startled gasp burst from Claire's mouth. She blinked her eyes frantically as she shook her head in dissent. "I didn't kiss Tyler, Mrs. Murphy. The pictures are taken from deceptive angles to make it look like we kissed. But trust me, it's not like that." Tia sniggered cruelly. Gone was the woman who was earlier consoling Claire that things wo
237There was slight fog outside the window when Claire opened her eyes in the morning. She felt goosebumps on her bare arms and her feet stung the moment she put them on the floor. There was no sun out and the sky was gloomy just like her thoughts. Claire hugged her arms and let out a sigh. Her temples were throbbing. She hadn't gotten the best of sleep last night. Her mind was occupied by the event of the afternoon, Hunter's images making her mind numb. She cried even on her pillow after Tyler left. His company was soothing. He made her feel better, but when he stepped out of her room, the air had become tense and stuffy again. She spent most of the hours twisting from one side to another. She recalled it was during the lift of darkness when she drifted off to sleep. Claire looked at the clock on the wall. Not much time has passed since she slept. Just two hours. She was gazing out when something crept within her, making her lean on the sill of the window and look out to her righ
236Claire was taken aback. She chuckled, realizing Tyler was siding with Hunter. She didn't call him out for defending Hunter and kept the conversation going. "Yeah, Zara and her leave... I know that. He was depressed by her departure." She said so flatly that Tyler couldn't help but wince. "God, I think I know why you're so pissed. You have two solid reasons. One is obviously Hunter's confession and second is Zara. You're holding those both against him to make him pay, aren't you?""It was never a secret!" "It wasn't, I know, but Claire..." Tyler heaved. "Well, as a person who was cheated and abandoned by his lover, I can understand both of your feelings. I know what it feels to know when your lover has betrayed you. And I also know what it feels like when they leave you without a proper closure.""So Claire..." Tyler stiffened his shoulders. "From a man's perspective, I don't think what Hunter did was wrong. I mean, it was wrong to you but as a man we don't have many ways to take
235"Shít! I'm sorry, Claire. I didn't think it would tear. I'm sorry." Tyler spoke ruefully. He watched as Claire's face paled and some tears strolled out of her eyes. The room was engulfed by vulnerable silence again and the tension returned. Despite that Tyler smiled seeing her reaction. 'You're very lucky, Hunter. How much I wish Ezma felt this way after sleeping with you. But that bítch had no remorse on her face. She even seemed relaxed about getting rid of me.' He mused and tried to take the letter from her. He reached out for the two pieces of the paper. Claire gave him a warning look as if it was her heart he was asking for, not the letter. The cracks on her lips amazed him, prompting him to smile wider. 'Claire even wounded her mouth for kissing me. This is the love I desire in my life. On the other hand, I tasted ugly betrayal. Ezma hadn't even tried to cover herself when I found her naked in bed beside your sleeping figure, Hunter.' The faint ache in Tyler's chest from
234Claire glanced at the clock in the room for the Nth time with her burning red eyes. Tears never stopped and no matter how much she tried to distract herself, she was thrown back into the setting at the tourist spot with Hunter on his knees in front of her while she arrogantly waited for him to apologize in the crowded place.She hadn't assumed Hunter would do it. He was a man who wore his pride as a crown and not once did he let him head lower. He was invincible and extremely powerful.Alas, she made it happen what even his powerful enemies couldn't do after spending millions of money. She brought him on his knees and even had a vlogger record his video. She was afraid to check the social media and all the comments on the posts regarding Hunter's apology making rounds online.Claire was hyperventilating as Hunter's images didn't let her relax. She tried to get some fresh air and walked towards the window. The winds were cold but she was still feeling suffocated. She tried to medita
233"But, baby, I am happy that I took it off, else it would have been sitting like a huge rock on my chest. I wanted you to know about those times so we could start afresh. My only mistake was that I shared it at the wrong time... And you were not ready for it. I shouldn't have—" "Cut to the chase, MacIntyre! Apology. I want your apology, not your boring 'I am guilty' speech." Claire raised an eye arrogantly while the crowd around her twisted their lips or showed their annoyance in different ways.My speech was touching them, possessing their hearts and Claire probably noticed that and cut in. Even the girl with the camera scowled but her face softened when she looked at me. She whispered something into the mic on her collar as I focused back on Claire. My eyebrows creased seeing her looking behind me with a red face as if she would burst into tears now. When I chanced a glance behind, my heart stopped beating and fear engulfed me. Bloody Murphy! What was he doing here? How did he
232Also, there's one thing I realized. She wanted this... But not with the man who cheated on her. I felt as though I was being ripped apart. I felt that it would have been better to come under a truck than be here in the car with Claire while she was cowering away from me. I can't describe how I felt as I moved away. I pulled my t-shirt back to wear it. Once it was on, I hesitated to make her look at me. Claire was staring in the space between her knees and chest as she sat with her arms locked around her knees. She was so pale that it ached to see her. The thought of touching her scared me as if I would hurt her with my touch. "What do you want me to do, Claire?" I sighed as I was totally blank.I haven't even started a day ago and it's already wearing me out. Will I ever seek her forgiveness? Seeing how she's shivering from my forced kiss, it seems like she was molested.Her pale face made me feel worse as her lips appeared swollen and assaulted. I stretched a hand out to make h
231Hunter's POV"HUNTERRRRRR!" A loud shriek left Claire's mouth before she leapt towards me.Her arms curled around my neck as she tugged me back, away from the line of the truck. We missed it by a few inches. The driver yelled at me from the side mirror, calling me an idiot, before he sighed in relief.Indeed, a dangerous accident was avoided by mere inches. Thanks to my Dove.I was on the ground, ice under my back. As much as I wanted to shift away to get rid of the frosty pangs I remained stock-still. A smile crept on my lips as I wrapped my arms around Claire who was on top of me.Her head was on my shoulder as her face stayed pressed in the crook of my neck. Her heavy exhalation sent a current to my dick as it compelled me to embrace her more tightly.I'm such a dick head. My stupid attempt overwhelmed her to an extent that left her trembling intensely. Her chest heaved against mine and her sobs rang in my ear like a loud clap of thunder."Dove," I hated to interrupt this momen
230Hunter's POV "I'm the one bleeding and it's your eyes that are shedding tears. Isn't it a little weird, Dove?" She froze, I saw her knuckles turn white from clenching her fingers too tight to keep her emotions in check. But she failed and it made my body hum in gratitude. It's a relief that her heart still cares even though her eyes show deep hatred. "Your curses... I've been thinking about them since you first cursed me, Dove. I won't hide how much it hurts to hear all those words. They make my heart bleed. I wonder if you are really so desperate to see my blood. But... Is this how it’ll be when I’m bleeding and suffering in torment?" I moved back so I could look at her face. My darling was glowing red. Her cute nose seemed like a cherry tomato while the rims around her eyes shimmered a pinkish red. Her wet lashes shadowed her admirable cheeks as her full lips quivered from each sob that left them. "Gosh, if this is how you're going to cry, I swear I'll throw myself under a t
229Hunter's POV Pain clawed through my chest as a smile of agony unrolled on my lips. My eyes weren't moist but the bite of her words made my eyes burn. So much hatred? This should not stun me, but damn, it did. It did more than I was capable of describing it in words. I gazed at her, trying to force a smile despite the deep pain in my chest. I reached out a hand to grab hers and put it back on my bleeding forearm. "Why wait for karma to do what you can do to me now, Dove?" I guided her long nails to my skin and made her scratch me. She gave me a look with her left brow going high, "Are you challenging me? I'm not the old Claire, Hunter MacIntyre. She was easy to fool and manipulate. Don't even dare to think that the thought of hurting you would cause my mind to spin.""All I'm trying to do is bring my old Claire back..." I kept the smile which I could see was aggravating her. "And if this is the only way... Then be it." Her nails pricked my skin enough to cause a burning sensati