" Henry!" his wife scolded, seeing that an argument was about to brew up between the two. She turned to Carl with a smile." Have a safe trip son, make sure you don't overwork yourself and take good care of your health. . . okay?."
" Mm." Carl nodded with a smile then stood up and glared in Zach's direction who cringed and quickly followed behind him.
Vivian watched his back longingly and sighed inside. Seems like she was going to work harder. " Uncle, Auntie. . . I'll go upstairs and rest, I'm slightly tired from the flight." she turned to the couple with a soft smile then stood up and strolled upstairs.
" That boy!. . ." the man stared at Vivian's back and sighed heavily.
" Don't worry Henry, just live it to the kids. . . and. . . don't try to force him into this. . . please?. . ." the woman patted his shoulder and also sighed.
_____
Zach ran toward his brother who was about to enter his car and quickly said, " Big bro. . . I wasn't really bullying her, it was__"
" About the mole. . . " Carl cut him off with a dark gaze.
" hehe big bro, our men are still looking into it as they had not made any movement recently," Zach replied with a chuckle seeing that his brother has changed the topic.
" Don't worry sister-in-law is safe as our men are watching over her, " he added with a smile.
" Mm." Carl nodded then entered his car. " Go to the basement and make sure they found him before I return, " he ordered gravely and then drove off.
" Huh,? big bro. . . wait, wait." Zach shouted and watched the car as it drove out of the gate with mouth agape. He should have seen this coming. His brother obviously wanted to cage him in that cold forest because of Lucy. " Ah! " he shouted and kicked the air, it was all Vivian's fault.
He knew that fox would never change and he pitied Lucy who was going to be with her in the mansion.
********
__ Two Weeks Later __
Clara was sitting on a long metallic bench at the bus stop. The street lights were flickering above her head and the sound of cars passing by made her look up expectantly now and then. She stared at her wristwatch with a sigh and wondered why the bus had not arrived as she had spent almost thirty minutes there.
Her eyes were still down, looking at the wristwatch with a gloomy expression when she sensed a car stopped in front of her.
She heaved a sigh of relief and excitedly looked up but a frown settled on her face.
Instead of the bus, she saw a very familiar car and wondered what he was doing there.
Jack walked out of his car and strolled toward her with a smile. " You forgot this in my car yesterday." He handed her a document and Clara's eyes brightened.
She had looked for this document which contained the blueprint of the last comic she was working on everywhere and thought she lost it. 'So it was in his car'. She quickly took it from him and smiled. " Thank you."
Jack chuckled lightly and opened the car's door for her then he walked to his side and sat down.
" Hmmm Clara, Is something going on,? what is happening?." He looked at her worriedly and Clara instantly looked down, avoiding his gaze.
Jack sighed and started driving. He had noticed her spacing out for the past few days whenever he picked her to work, she was not as cheerful as before and had even lost weight as her face had turned slimmer.
" I... I'm fine, " Clara replied softly and sighed inside. Her mind had been occupied with Carl's thoughts since that day and she would even wake up in the middle of the night after having nightmares about that moment she was trying so hard to forget. She bit her lip and heaved a sigh subconsciously. How can she tell Jack that she had been thinking about a man who doesn't love her, he would surely scold and tell her to forget him which she doubted as she was not in control of her heart anymore.
She looked up and noticed that Jack was driving in a different direction. She turned to him and softly asked in a barely audible voice, " Where are you taking us, Jack.? "
Jack sighed and stopped the car in a corner, Them turned and stared into her lifeless eyes. " Clara I'm taking you to the hospital. . . please don't say no. . . I don't want to hear you're fine, " he muttered with knitted brows.
Clara avoided his eyes once more and looked down. " But__"
" You're obviously sick Clara, please let's go, " Jack pleaded. He hated seeing her like this as his heart always ached when he looked into her lifeless eyes.
Clara stared at him for some seconds then slowly nodded. " Okay, " she said softly with a half-hearted smile and rested back on the seat. Maybe she needed to see a doctor because she had been holding it in for so long. She needed to take care of her health too as it was the most important thing for her to survive.
Jack heaved a sigh of relief and a small smile appeared on his lips, feeling happy that she had finally agreed, then continued driving.
______
When they reached the City's hospital, Jack drove the car to the parking lot and turned to Clara who had her eyes closed.
" Clara," he called out softly to wake her up.
" Clara " he repeated a little louder than before seeing that she did not respond.
His brows knitted and he called out again then slightly shook her when his eyes widened tremendously.
" Clara!!! " he shouted as he watched her body slumped sideways with her seatbelt holding her from completely falling.
Jack dashed out of the car and ran to the other side then quickly opened the door and scooped her in his arms.
His heartbeat was accelerating wildly as he ran inside the hospital with her, and three nurses quickly rushed toward him with a stretcher and pushed her into the emergency room.