98There was blood that washed down with rainwater, cleaning his hand like it was never smeared with red before. Meanwhile Claire and Kent have returned their attention to him. They saw him touch a hand to his back and bring back a bloody palm. The need to hold him plowed within her. Claire attempted not to lose her patience as she observed his face turning whiter and whiter while he gritted his teeth to contain the affliction. She almost took a step forward when a certain name echoed in her mind. Zara. Just four letters. Such a cute name. But the person who was named it, appeared smiling foxily in her mind. "Hunter will get rid of you soon! Save yourself the humiliation and leave us alone." Zara had sniggered at her face once, she was super confident that Hunter would abandon Claire for her. He did it. Not just that, he also insulted all the time she assumed he was being honest with her. Tears formed in her eyes. However, it wasn't detectable whether she was crying or it was the
99Claire sat like a corpse herself as Kent drove in silence. He has been studying her features since the minute they left Hunter outside the restaurant. Claire was trembling, and though he blamed it on the heavy rain for drenching her, he knew what the real deal was. She never sat still for a long while in one position. Her fingers bit and banded around her arms, her feet were restlessly tapping as if she was unable to suppress feelings that she should otherwise let freely flow through her. Her Complexion grew waxen and salty torrent perpetually streamed down her face like she was regretting something she did or said. "Claire, are you okay?" Kent decided against his will and asked her. "Just take me home quicker." She assured him with her dipping head as she wiped her tears. The look of hurt on Hunter's face was flashing in her mind endlessly. She didn't like it one bit. But she did it to punish him. If not with actions, she could hurt him with words, couldn't she? It was nothin
100Using her trembling fingers, she typed. Claire: He is shot on his back. Take him to a hospital soon, Reggie. She was crying and sobbing simultaneously by the time she finished. Claire touched a hand to her heart and was dazed, listening to the beating of her heart. It was a mess. Her chest was shaking and her breathing was ragged. Just then Reggie called her. Since her fingers were twitching and typing was proving to be a difficult task, she picked the call even if she knew she would sound pathetic on the phone call. She put the phone to her ear and heard Reggie's panic-stricken voice, "Sir is shot? How? And when? He seemed completely fine to me when I visited him in his cabin ten minutes ago." "Are you saying that I am lying?" Claire's voice was heavy and shaky, but her undertone was packed with fury. "Obviously not, madam. But I can assure you he is okay. He's attending an online meeting now." A gasp shot out of Claire's mouth. More tears left her eyes as she knew what he
101'Reggie calling...'Claire frowned looking at the name. She wondered why he was calling her now. She had buried the emotions of the night with the night and welcomed the new morning with new hopes.Pulling the car over to the side, she heaved a breath. Even if she was afresh with new excitement for the new day, concern for Hunter remained etched in her chest. She couldn't draw it away. And Reggie's call doubled it."Hello?" She spoke in a monotonous tone after taking his call."Good morning, Madam," His tense voice sent her blood pumping.To increase her adrenaline, it started raining again and the pelting rain reminded her of the blood she had seen washing away with rain from Hunter's palm last night.Everything before her became a blur. Claire switched the vipers on and held the gear to brace herself to listen to Reggie further."I want to apologize beforehand for the inconvenience my call may have caused you, Madam, but sir left me no other option. He's turned deaf ears to my re
102The subtle rebuke in his voice caused her to clench her teeth. His indifferent behaviour took her back to the initial days of their marriage. Even the thoughts of facing the cold and ignorant Hunter shook her limbs. In reflex to the memories, Claire propelled her hands against his chest and roared, "How could you do this to me? I thought you married Zara after our divorce. The trauma of the same took my child's life. But from Reggie I get to know it never happened." "How could you do this to me, Hunter? I loved you. Even if you wanted to get rid of me to be with her, you could have just told the truth. My baby would have been with me then. I wouldn't have lost him." When she looked into his eyes she saw the control he was trying to keep on himself. The push stretched his muscles, reawakening the pain in his shoulder, thus moistening his eyes. But that was all... Moist eyes. He stood erect, his face red and eyes deeply staring into her soul. "And you believe him?" The hardness o
103"Hmm, interesting!"Hunter kept his face straight as he watched his doctor, aka one of his close friends, Caine, raising his eyes in amusement.He peeked over Hunter's shoulder at Claire who was sitting in the visitor's chair across from his desk. She was pretending to stay busy with her phone. But Caine can see the redness darkening in her cheeks. She was trying not to fluster as she sat rigidly in the chair.The fact that she accompanied Hunter to his doctor alone was surprising, talk less of her swollen lips. Caine's lips arched in a teasing grin as he brought his eyes to Hunter. He winked and whispered to him. "I thought Zara got you in her vice grip. But Claire's swollen lips and some of her gloss on your own says a whole different story. I like it!" "Check my wound." Hunter said in a faked steel voice as he didn't make any attempt to hide his smile. He purposely left his lips untouched. He had felt the smooth texture of her gloss on his lips right after they parted. Even
104Her heart thundered away in her chest, her hackles rising in delicious delight. Claire was supposed to hate this but all the more it made her feel good. She didn't know when it happened, but her fingers went in his hair. Her stomach fluttered and mouth sealed tightly to prevent a moan from escaping. She didn't want him to know that she was enjoying it. She didn't want him to realise that his touch still caused her system to go haywire. Few minutes later he stopped and joined their foreheads. They stayed in that moment, in that position as he arranged his breathing. Hunter's fingers shivered on her waist. She could feel it. Then as they pressed into her flesh, his face tilted to look into her gorgeous blue eyes. "Please kiss me, Claire." Claire shook her head in a no. "Please, I want to feel your lips moving against mine." She closed her eyes for his words were making her core shudder. This was his effect on her. Even though he didn't use any dirty words or acted dirty, her bod
105The happenings of the morning became a distant memory when Claire woke up. She was, for unknown reason, feeling happy and refreshed. She came down to the kitchen upon her mother, baking muffins. The warm aroma of chocolate was in the air. With the fragrance of muffins baking in the oven, and the pattering of rain outside, the environment transformed into the one Claire basked in. She was glowing as she requested her mother to let her help her. "Do you remember the baking contest I once had in school?" She asked Andrea while mixing a new batch of cake-mix in a bowl with a spatula. Andrea smiled in response, "In your seventh grade, right? How can I forget it. Your father and I both had arrived not aware of the other's possibility of coming. We both were busy and we both made time to come, much to each other's shock. Then he had to sit in the audience while I joined you in the contest. Clearly because I'm the best baker among us two." Andrea gave a smug raise to her eyebrow, showin
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
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
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