No Strings Attached

The pain was so intense that he found it hard to breathe. He immediately clutched at his chest, opened a bottle of water, and took a few sips, but the symptoms barely eased. Dawson immediately expressed his concern, "Mr. Hayes, are you feeling unwell? Should we head to the hospital?"

lan waved him off. "No, it'll pass in a bit."

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to gather himself, but the symptoms didn't just fail to improve; they grew worse.

Images, dark and disturbing, began to swarm his mind. All of them featured Clara, bloodied and lying on the ground.

lan suddenly shot up from his chair, unable to help himself from shouting, "Clara!"

Dawson immediately asked, "Mr. Hayes, the plane is about to take off in five minutes. If you need to, we can call it off right now."

lan hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "I have a bad feeling. Cancel the trip. We're heading back home."

"Right away, sir."

though she assured him she was fine, he couldn't shake his unease. He needed

also felt an inexplicable anxiety. Perhaps it

Instead, she continued to check her hospital

bottles, pacifiers, a bottle sterilizer, a breast pump, sanitary pads, diapers, baby towels,

Looking at these items filled her eyes with a blissful light.

if the baby

lan. She also wondered if childbirth would be as painful as depicted on TV, where women scream in agony. Despite the anticipated pain, the thought

are you going to check? Everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared. Don't worry. Even if we forget something the hospital

feel happy looking at these things and always want to check them again. Dad, look at this locket, isn't it beautiful? Katherine designed it for the baby. It might be

to have

this, Casey also smiled. He put the groceries in the kitchen, but

had made that locket for the baby. If Connor could have tampered with

thought, Casey immediately rushed out of the