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."

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

also felt an inexplicable anxiety. Perhaps it was

didn't dwell on it. Instead, she continued to check her

sterilizer, a breast pump, sanitary pads, diapers,

blissful light. She couldn't help but feel thrilled at the thought of meeting this new

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

the items again and chuckled, "How many times are you going to check? Everything that needs to be prepared has been

to check them again. Dad, look at this locket, isn't it beautiful? Katherine designed it

to have

this, Casey also smiled. He put the groceries in the kitchen, but as soon as he did, he felt something was

baby. If Connor could have tampered with Katherine's hairpin, could he have also tampered with the baby's

immediately rushed