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."

lan hurried off the plane and immediately called Clara. Even though she assured him she was fine, he couldn't shake his unease. He needed to see her with his own eyes. The car sped out of the airport.

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

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

Baby bottles, pacifiers, a bottle sterilizer, a breast pump, sanitary pads, diapers, baby towels, and a small basin.

Clara checked each item off her list. Looking at these items filled her eyes with a blissful light. She couldn't help but feel thrilled at the thought of meeting this new life in just a month.

She wondered if the baby would look

more like her or 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 filled her with happiness.

Casey walked in, carrying groceries. 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 missing?"

Clara smiled, "I just 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 silver, but the gemstone embedded is quite rare. She personally designed it, and I want

our baby to have it."

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

Katherine had made that locket for the baby. If Connor could have tampered with Katherine's hairpin, could he have also tampered with the baby's locket?

With this thought, Casey immediately rushed out of the kitchen.

He didn't want to alarm Clara, so he refrained from calling out loudly. Instead, he quickly walked over to Clara and snatched the locket from her hands to examine it closely.

Clara, puzzled, looked at him, "Dad, what's wrong? Is there something amiss?"

Casey held the locket up to the light. Just then, he noticed a small black object inside.

He was about to open the clasp to remove it when he heard a ticking sound coming from within. He instantly knew something was terribly wrong.

Holding the locket, he ran outside. "Clara, there's a bomb in the locket."Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to get as far away from Clara as possible so that if the bomb exploded, it wouldn't harm Clara or the baby. But before he could get far, the ticking sound became more urgent. In a moment of desperation, he threw the locket away. With a loud 'boom,' the bomb exploded.

The entire villa was engulfed in a deafening noise.