Part 81

Antony was quite surprised that afternoon when suddenly his finance manager walked into his room and asked for a waiver of the penalty f*e for leaving one of his employees without prior notice.

"She has done a lot for our company, sir. I'm just asking for leniency on the penalty for the offense she committed." Shelly said straight to the point.

"Who resigned? What was the reason?" Antony asked inquisitively.

"Miss Hampton. The reason is health." Shelly said which was more like a thunderbolt in Antony's ears.

"Claire?" he asked incredulously. Shelly instantly nodded her head. "She resigned? Today?" he asked again. Shelly nodded her head again. "Where is she?" Antony asked as he got up and looked for her.

"She went home a while ago, sir." Shelly said again.

Antony looked back at Shelly with his piercing gaze. He wanted to be angry at the woman who was older than him. But Antony knew that it wasn't his fault because Claire's resignation was entirely Antony's fault.

"Alright, you can go." Antony said as flatly as he could. Shelly nodded her head but before she left the room, the woman looked at Antony seriously.

"I know this is not my domain, sir. I also have no right to interfere in your affairs with Claire. But as someone older than you. As someone who also knows Claire's character, I just want to tell you that Claire is not someone who does things without thinking.

"He resigned for sure after considering everything from all aspects. And you need to know too, she's not an easy person to persuade and she's a typical person who hates lies. She's not your average girl who likes surprises or gifts. She's someone who would rather prepare herself than be surprised." She said without the slightest intention of patronizing.

Antony just looked at Shelly speechlessly. Lied to? That one word Antony took as a strong insinuation to him. But he had absolutely no intention of lying to Claire. He just wanted to make everything perfect and surprise her. And he did that because he had everyone's support. This idea did come from Gian, but all of Claire's siblings agreed to it.

What should he do now?

Even yesterday, he could see the disappointment on Claire's face when he didn't say anything about the plan he, Gladwin and Richard had made. But Antony had given Claire the chance to ask and Claire herself had said that she didn't want to know.

Or should Antony have said it all back then even if Claire didn't want to hear it?

But he was trying to win her over. He didn't want her to feel disgusted or hate him if he talked too much about things she didn't want to hear.

But how could Claire not trust him, when Antony had shown her that he had everything ready? He even asked her to choose where they would get married and asked her about what kind of party she wanted. But she's also the one holding him back from going further.

And now Claire suddenly resigned?

Of course the reason must be Antony. Claire left because she hated him and didn't want to see him. Oh my God. Now what was Antony to do. He had even tried to persuade Flavia to hold back and keep the surprise they were going to have next week a secret from Abigail.

But apparently, that surprise will never happen because he has to tell Claire everything right now.

It was better to appease an angry Claire than to lose her forever.

Antony immediately left his office. He even ordered his personal driver to return to the Quirino residence by public transportation because he wanted to go straight and confront Claire one-on-one.

Unfortunately, Claire's private house was empty and Antony didn't even see any light from either the porch or the inside of the house. And Claire's car was also parked there when she should have been back home if she had returned earlier. Where did Claire go?

Antony reached for his cell phone and dialed Claire's number but she didn't pick up at all. Antony then called Gladwin. But Claire's twin was working at the hospital and had no idea where Claire had gone. Antony then contacted Richard, and his old friend also did not know Claire's whereabouts.

Shit! Who should Antony call now?

Antony banged his head on the steering wheel in confusion.

Claire. Claire. Claire

He kept repeating that name. It was like a mantra that he kept muttering in the hope that Claire would just appear in front of him.

While elsewhere

"What happen?" Bella asked curiously. Claire just smiled and shook her head. She chose to turn off her cell phone and put it back in her bag. "What's going on with you? Why haven't you said a word since earlier?" Asked Bella who was starting to worry about Claire.

"It's nothing." Claire replied softly. "If I were to take you on a vacation, would you want to?" Claire tried to change the subject.

"Where are you going on vacation? Out of the country?"

"That's the same as blackmailing me." Claire's chuckle.

"No problem, since you're a wealthy heiress." Bella's mockery made Claire raise the corners of her mouth.

"I want to take you on a vacation and I'll cover all the expenses as long as..."

"Provided?"

"As long as you turn off your cell phone during the vacation." Claire offered with a serious expression.

Bella instantly looked at the cell phone in her hand and shook her head. "It's good. I'd rather not shower for a week than have to give it up." She refused immediately which made Claire laugh.

"Yeah, I forgot that you're such a maniac that even when you defecate you'll have your cell phone with you."

"As if you didn't do it." Bella mocked again which made Claire laugh again. "I also want to go on vacation because I need to relax my brain and body. But this weekend I already have an appointment to see my parents." Bella answered honestly. "Where are you planning to go?" she asked again.

Claire just shook her head. If Bella didn't want to come with her then she wouldn't say where she was going.

"I'm going home." Claire said to Bella in the end.

"Why, we just arrived." Bella said with her forehead wrinkled in confusion. Claire just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'll take you home." Bella offered, the girl moved to stand up but Claire shook her head.

"No need, I'll just take a taxi." She politely declined. She grabbed her bag and then turned on her cell phone.

Claire was quite surprised when she saw the number of missed calls from Antony on the screen of the cell phone that she had made in silent mode.

'You want to play, we'll play.' Claire snorted inwardly.

He ignored the call again and opened the online taxi order application. When the call was turned off, he immediately ordered a taxi with his home address as the delivery point.

Claire put her cell phone back into her bag as she waited for the taxi to arrive. She chooses to ignore Antony as a form of revenge and she also plans to go somewhere without Antony knowing.

Some time later, Claire's taxi arrived at her neighborhood. From afar, Claire saw a car parked in front of her house and she guessed that it was Antony's car. She quickly patted the driver and ordered, "Don't stop, just keep going. I'm paying offline." who, despite looking confused, pressed the accelerator and drove away from Antony's car.

"Where are we going, ma'am?" Asked the driver with the engine still running.

Claire mentioned one place that came to mind. "I will pay for your services offline, let's say I rent your car along with the services." Claire said, to which the driver nodded.

"But I'll finish this order first, ma'am." The driver said, to which Claire nodded.

If Claire decided to disappear, then she would really disappear without anyone knowing. Claire was not one to half-ass things when she wanted to do something.