But he didn’t mind that. He got up and went into the bathroom. Soon came the sound of running water.
I lay in bed, feeling sticky and uncomfortable. That always seemed to be the case lately.
It was a little wet under me. I initially thought Dennis had left it outside, so I got up and turned on my bedside lamp to clean it up with a tissue.
Suddenly, I saw blood on the white sheet. I was stunned, my heart clunked.
When the bathroom door was opened, I instinctively tried to pull the quilt over it.
But it was a short distance away, and the blood was so visible, and Dennis wasn’t blind, how could he not see it?
His eyes dimmed slightly as he walked over to me, his gaze resting on the blood I had covered.
I expected him to take a look at that, but he didn’t. He just wiped his hair, looked at me with warm eyes and said, “Go take a shower!”
I nodded, got out of bed wrapped in a towel and took a quick shower. I was thinking about Clariana, and I put on the clothes I had washed and dried last night.
When I got out of the bathroom, Dennis had already changed. The clothes he was wearing were not from yesterday. Apparently, someone delivered the clothes.
When I came out, he looked up, handed me a brown bag, and said, “Here are new ones!”
I shook my head, “I changed it. Don’t bother.” It had been washed anyway. I didn’t want to bother.
I found my cell phone and called Mario directly. It didn’t take long to get through.
He said, “Clara!” By the sound of it, he had not slept all night.
I suppressed my emotion and said, “Let’s meet, downstairs at the Victoria Hotel, in half an hour.”
“Okay!”
When I hung up, Dennis looked at me, he looked solemn but he didn’t say anything. I asked unconsciously, “What?”
“We’ll go to the hospital later.” He said, raising his hand and moving the broken hair from my forehead to one side.
I started, almost instinctively, and said, “No, we need to find Clarie first.”
He frowned, “Clara…”
“I said, we need to find Clarie first.” With that, I headed straight for the door, but he grabbed me by the wrist.
He frowned and said helplessly, “I’ll find out about Clarie. You need to go to the hospital, oaky?”
I looked at him with a strange anger in my heart. I shook him off and, almost without thinking, said, “Will you? You didn’t raise her. You don’t give her your heart and love. She’s not your baby. You just said you were going to her and that’s it? Dennis, do you think I can go to the hospital right now? Or do you think that because Clarie’s not your biological child, it doesn’t matter if she gets lost or not?”
This was said out of anger and impulse.
I regretted it when I said it.
There was a chill in Dennis’s dark eyes. He looked at me, his lips pursed, his eyes cold, and he said, “Am I that cold in your heart?”
I said nothing, knowing in my heart that the words hurt him. But stubborn as I was, even when I knew I was wrong, I wouldn’t apologize.
I lowered my eyes slightly, bit my lip, and finally said, “I should go.”
Such an evasive answer would inevitably irritate him.
Sure enough, before I took a step, he grabbed me by the hand. His voice was low and cold, “Clara, am I no better than anyone you know?”
He was angry.
I could have spoken well, but instead, as if in a trance, I said, “Yeah, I mean, everyone around me is more important than you. They are the ones I cannot part with. Clarie is, the Kennedy family are, even the Lewis family. But you, I can give you up at any time. So, Mr. George, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find someone I can’t give up.”
Looking at his eyes gradually dimmed, I froze for a moment, but still pulled him away from my hand.
I turned away from his face and went straight out of the hotel room.
I didn’t let my face down until I got into the elevator. I felt like slapping myself. How could I speak without thinking?
How could I just say that without thinking? How hurtful it was!
But the word was out, and I couldn’t take it back.
Instead of pursuing the matter, I went to the cafe next to the hotel.
I sat by the window. Mario was not blind. He could see me.
When Mario came in, Dennis followed him. Apparently, the two of them had talked to each other on the phone earlier.
I smiled at the two remarkable men, trying to keep the look on my face as normal as possible. “Mr. Bennett, can I speak to you alone for a moment?”
Almost subconsciously, Mario looked at Dennis. Dennis’s cold eyes settled on mine, then he pursed his lips and consciously walked to the other side of the table to sit down.
We sat opposite each other. The waiter asked if we need some dessert. Mario looked at the americano in front of me, paused, and ordered a cup of coffee and dessert.
Then, after a moment’s silence, he looked at me and said, “I’m sorry about Clarie!”
I looked down at the dark coffee in front of me, raised my hand and stirred it slightly for a moment. Then I looked up at him and said decisively, “I don’t accept your apology.”
His apology was not accepted.
He nodded and opened his mouth slightly, but said nothing.
“I don’t care what you do, what you pull, you find my daughter. Otherwise, Mario, LIKE I said, without Clarie, I’ll be at odds with you and the entire Bennett family for the rest of my life.
“No matter what you do, or who you contacted with, you must find my daughter. Otherwise, Mario, like I said, without Clarie, I’ll never end with you or even the Bennett family.
He looked at me, frowning. “Clara, you know I’m as worried as you are about what happened to Clarie.”
I sneered, “So? She was with me for four years, and I followed her all the time, holding her in case anything was wrong. And now she’s been with you for less than half a month, and suddenly you told me she’s lost. Mario, do you think you’re qualified? Are you qualified to be her father?”
Mario’s face went pale. The waiter brought coffee and dessert.
He gasped, pushed the dessert toward me, and said in a low voice, “Clara, this is my fault, but all we need now is to find Clarie.”
I pressed my lips together and looked at him, waiting for the next words.
“I’ve checked the Bennett family’s security cameras and all the cameras on the road, but there’s still no sign of her.”
Here he stared at me and became serious, “Clara, do you have any enemies?”
I frowned, stunned, and looked at him, “You think someone took Clarie because they hated me?”
He pressed his lips and said, “Few of the Bennett family know about Clarie. The Bennett family’s nemesis couldn’t have known about her so soon.”
I sneered and looked at him, laughing, “Mario, I always thought you weren’t stupid, but it turns out you are. If you said they took Clarie away because of me, then I’ve been in HL Area for four years, why didn’t they do it during that time? Why do they have to be in a secure place like the Bennett family?”