Seeing that Clara’s face changed after hearing Diane’s words, someone quickly said, “We can’t be sure it’s 100% safe here. I think we should go look for them.”
They were here on vacation and the company was paying, if Diane and Clara argued, it would ruin the trip.
Someone else soon echoed, “I agree. We should go find them instead of waiting here. What if something happens to them?”
“They had been out for a long time. We should go look for them.”
…
Hearing their words, Clara couldn’t help but feel worried as well. “Sarah went alone, it’s indeed not very safe. We should head out, divide into group and look for them. Remember, three people as a group, don’t be left alone. Put your own safety first.”
“Got it,” everyone responded before heading out for the woods.
Diane went with a male and a female colleague. Seeing that the others had left, the female colleague asked her, “Diane, why did you say those words? Miss Hutchinson might get back at you at work.”
“I was just telling the truth. Harper is a young and pretty woman while Horace is a single man. Why couldn’t them be enjoying themselves out there?” Diane said indifferently.
“I get it. But you know about the story between the two of them. In my opinion, Mr. Kirkland agreed to come with us on this trip to get Clara back. So, why did you upset her with those words? She is the managing editor here, what good would it do you?” the male colleague said.
“If it weren’t for her family’s connections, do you think she could make the managing editor here as soon as she came back from abroad? This position should have been mine!” Diane was even angrier when she heard his words.
“That’s not true. Clara is a capable woman. See, since she took over the company, we have ranked the first in sales twice recently,” the male colleague refuted her objectively.
“That has never happened before and I don’t think it’s something she could manage to do with her family’s connections. We should thank her for getting us this opportunity to go on a vacation here for free.”
Hearing his praise of Clara, Diane couldn’t stand it anymore. “You are just putting in good words for her because you think she’s pretty. But don’t you forget that even if she has been divorced, she’s the daughter of the Hutchinson family and you will never have a shot at dating her!”
“What did you mean?” the male colleague was pissed. “I said those words out of kindness, you didn’t have to be so mean. How did you get the idea that I wanted to date Miss Hutchinson?”
“You know what you want!” Diane was in a fit of anger and didn’t care about others’ feelings at all. After she shouted out those words, she left for the opposite direction.
Seeing this, the female colleague quickly grabbed her arm. “Diane, Miss Hutchinson said three as a group, where are you going alone? What if you run into dangers?”
“Miss Hutchinson, all you ever talk about is her! Are you all her stupid followers? You listen to everything she says?” Diane shook away her hand and said in agitation.
Seeing how ungrateful she was to her kindness and how she degraded her, the female colleague was pissed and trembled with anger.
She didn’t want to say anything more or care about Diane, grabbed the man’s hand and left. ‘How unbelievable was she? Why did I stop her? I was asking for it!’
Seeing their receding figures, Diane couldn’t help but feel aggrieved and extremely jealous of Clara.
‘Clara, it’s all because of you! You stole my position as managing editor! You are the reason I fought with them just now! It’s all because of you! I hate you!’
Clenching her fists, she looked terrifying with her face twisted with anger. “Clara, just wait. I will teach you a lesson and let you know I’m not to be messes with!”
“Sarah! Sarah!” Clara and Stephanie shouted Sarah’s name, but there was no response.
“Clara, we have been looking for her for a long time. Did she run into dangers for real?” Stephanie asked worriedly.
“I don’t think so. Let’s not jump into any conclusion for now.” Although Clara was worried as well, she knew she couldn’t panic now. “Let’s head back first. Maybe the others have found her and they have gone back. Maybe that’s why she didn’t hear us calling her.”
“I agree. She must have gone back with the others! Just forget what I said. She must be safe and sound.” Stephanie was much calmer now after hearing her words.
Soon, they went back to the camp site and saw that almost everyone had come back.
“How was it? Did you find Sarah?” Clara hurriedly walked up to them and asked.
“No.”
“We didn’t see her. And Mr. Kirkland and Harper haven’t come back either.”
…
Seeing that everyone was shaking his head, Clara felt even more nervous. How should she tell Sarah’s family if something really happened to her?
“Miss Hutchinson, some people are still searching for them. Maybe they can find her,” a man comforted her when he saw how panicked Clara was, “We can try again. This isn’t a deserted island, there shouldn’t be any dangers. Perhaps she just lost her way.”
“What about Mr. Kirkland and Harper? The water place isn’t far away and is right down the road, but none of them came back,” another complained. He was both worried and angry, wondering how three adults could keep them worried for so long.
Hearing their words, Clara somehow imagined how Horace might be flirting with Harper at the moment, the two of them laughing and smiling.
She couldn’t help but feel jealous. Clara shook her head hard, trying not to think about it.
“We should wait here for the others. We don’t want to more people missing,” Clara asked everyone to stay put, afraid that someone might get lost again.
After a while, none of them came back and Clara couldn’t help but feel anxious. When she was about to go search for them again, she saw Diane running back in a panic.
“What happened? Did you find them?” someone rushed up and asked.
“No. But I seemed to have heard Sarah shouting for help just now,” Diane said, panicking.