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."

fine, he couldn't

up the phone, Clara also felt an inexplicable anxiety. Perhaps it was lan's emotions affecting

on it. Instead, she

pump, sanitary pads, diapers, baby towels,

off her list. Looking at these items filled her eyes with a blissful light. She couldn't

wondered if the baby would

She also wondered if childbirth would be as painful as depicted on TV, where women scream

He saw her checking the items again and chuckled, "How many times are you going to check? Everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared. Don't worry. Even if we forget something the hospital has everything for sale. Can't I just buy whatever is

always want to check them again. Dad, look at this locket, isn't it beautiful? Katherine designed it for the baby. It might be silver, but the gemstone

to

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

tampered with Katherine's hairpin, could he have also tampered with the

Casey immediately rushed out