The Sacrifice -II
***Massive Trigger Warning ⚠️***
(The following chapter contains disturbing content, proceed at your own accord)
************Time skip ************
"I'll do the rest"
The maids bowed and backed off, slowly leaving the room.
Clara sat infront of the mirror looking at herself in the white bridal gown. For a bride, she had a gloomy expression upon her face that intensified as she'd heard the voice that excused the maids.
Raina Strauss stood at the entrance of the bridal room. Clara couldn't dare look back at her, all she could do was steal a few glances from the mirror and then lower her head.
Raina walked upto her back and took the pins from the dresser, starting to fix Clara's veil for her.
"You don't have to do this" Raina started off.
"You're the one who told me to protect what you've left behind" Clara whispered after a while.
" There are other ways to protect, I don't want you to hurt yourself any more than this" Raina spoke calmly to Clara's annoyance.
" I'm already hurt... I'm... already hurt..." Clara gave somewhat of a mocking smile.
" And that's no reason to drag him down with you..." Raina finished fixing her veil.
" He's the cause of it all...if it weren't for him..." Clara stood up and turned to Raina, extending her hand towards Raina's neck, pressing her fingers against the claim mark.
"If it weren't for him...you wouldn't have ended up like this..."
" He's... family..I couldn't help it" Raina held the other girl's hand, moving it away from her neck.
"Don't do it... it was wrong of me to ask you..."
" Why shouldn't I? He should know the sacrifice you made for him, I will make him pay for it for his whole life-" Clara got a bit annoyed.
" Absolutely not! He should never know anything about any of this ABSOLUTELY!" Raina raised her voice surprising Clara.
Clara gritted her teeth...even now, Raina was thinking more about him rather than herself or Clara...it annoyed her even more.
She turned away from Raina, the two had nothing more to say.
Besides...
It was almost time....
"Care to walk me to the aisle?" Clara asked Raina with a painful yet irritated look on her face.
"You're...cruel" Raina replied staying back, she was unable to do it, so Clara just opened the door letting the maids in.
They helped Clara hold the gown while she walked out with the flowers in hands.
She'd been boiling up inside...she was too angry...even now Raina wouldn't stop her properly, somewhere inside her she'd hoped that Raina would chase after her and they'd both run out of this wedding holding each other's hands without turning back.
The closer she'd got to the stage, the angrier she felt..
It was all this guy's fault....
She stood before him, he'd been dressed handsomely, his red hair had been nearly slicked back making him look a little bit more mature than he actually was.
It was this guy that took everything away from her...
It was his fault....
She hated him so much!!
She wanted him to suffer like she did!!!
Through the whole sermon, she couldn't stop glaring at him, though he never looked up once, he kept staring at his shoes shyly.
"Do you Naoyuki Joshua accept Clara Hughes as your lawfully wedded wife?"
He took a little time but after some hesitation he'd whispered "yes" with a slight nod.
She'd decided, she'd make him suffer all his life...
"Do you Clara Hughes accept Naoyuki Joshua as your lawfully wedded husband?"
She turned to the crowd, her gaze searched for Raina but she couldn't spot her anywhere...
She was frustrated...the crowd was waiting for her response too...
Raina hadn't shown up afterall....
So that was her answer....
So be it.....
"Yes"
She responded with a hateful look in her eyes towards the man before her.
"I now pronounce you as a married couple! You may now kiss each other" The priest's words made her clench her fists.
Neither of them moved from their position, it was an awkward situation for everyone.
She didn't want to kiss him..this whole wedding was a huge farce.. marrying the man she'd hated... the man that took her first love away from her...
What was she doing?
In that moment Josh moved forward since everyone was anticipating it.
She was taken by surprise and ended up closing her eyes only to be dumbfounded that this guy kissed her cheek instead.
The whole crowd was pretty much dumbfounded.
Clara opened her eyes being rather shocked herself.
It was the first time she looked at his eyes. His face was completely red, she didn't see it before.
They were facing each other now, Josh had finally looked at her and so did she.
She blinked rapidly looking at her cluelessly, his gaze also appeared confused...
"You're supposed to kiss on the lips" The priest whispered to him and he went white in the face.
"You can't kiss on the cheek??!" Josh whispered back asking him genuinely.
Was he dumb?
She pretty much turned to look at the crowd that was either laughing or trying to keep themselves from laughing.
This fukin clown! She thought and moved forward grabbing his face by the jaws
"This is how you kiss"
She whispered with an annoyed face and pulled his face towards herself, kissing him on the lips to which his whole face heated up.
He parted from her holding his mouth tightly with a flustered look on his face.
The crowd broke into an applause.
Far apart... At one particular corner.....
Raina stood watching this parody of a wedding...
"Take good care of him"
************Time skip ************
" Moving to the capital?"
"Yeah"
Clara Hughes was organizing her shelves. She had a reading glasses on, it suited her face exceptionally well.
It had been almost a month to their marriage..
Their wedding went exceptionally famous for the groom who kissed the bride on the cheek instead of lips.
Ever since that time and now... nothing had happened really...
Even on their first night together, Clara slept early. Not that Josh hoped much but he did feel a bit disappointed. Not that he could say it though...
Over those three and a half weeks, all they'd do everyday was sleep on the same bed, eat together and spend time in Clara's study room.
Josh always had a thing for books, but he couldn't turn to that due to his circumstances. Though now he would openly indulge himself into studying various things.
Sometimes he and Clara would debate on literary or political topics.
Though this one particular day after Clara had returned from the hospital with Raina...she brought something like this up...
"An omega???" Josh wasn't surprised but rather worried.
" Yeah, we did the test, it's registered under my name.." Clara told him.
" What are we going to do! An omega child... they're going to sell him off!" Josh got all hyper.
" I've already discussed this with Raina... we're going to take the child and move to the capital" Clara told him.
" Huh?? Do you think he'll allow us? That man is pure evil!!" Josh argued.
" About that..."
Clara told her about the plan to pay off the doctors to claim that a still born child was born and take the real child with them to capital...the child was already registered under Clara's name due to the testing...so it wouldn't be a problem if they'd pretend it was her and Josh's especially if they were to move to the capital with the kid.
"Isn't that dangerous...." Josh wasn't exactly against the plan but he really wondered if this was the only way.
"Do you have any other suggestions?" She asked, though he didn't.
He shook his head.
" I'm gonna sell off my property... I have a house in the capital...it belongs to my mother.. we'll settle there and raise this child" She told him with a gentle look on her face.
He was in somewhat of an awe...
This girl was so kind, he thought.
"Then when we get there we won't have any maids...so can I cook?" Josh asked her.
" Eh you want to?" Clara asked.
" I've been wanting to from the start but nobody lets me..ah I also want to do a job, can I?" He asked.
" Why are you asking me?" She smiled a bit " Do what you want to do"
His eyes lit up with excitement.
" I'm gonna raise this kid to be really powerful, nobody ain't ever gonna look down upon him!"
Clara Hughes had a gentle smile on her face. Sometimes she'd make that gentle face towards him too.. even though normally she'd be rather dry towards him.
A maid brought in some drinks and put them infront of them.
Clara took hers but Josh let it be, he'd been moving a bit restlessly but wouldn't do anything about it because he was trying to finish this one page of a book.
Clara lightly smacked his head
"Just go to the bathroom, stop holding it, you'll ruin your bladder"
" But this one page!" Josh argued.
By now Clara was used to this, he'd often avoid going to bathroom when he was reading.
"Go before I confiscate this book" Clara warned him.
" Okay okay..." He got up and left the room.
He used the washroom and washed his hands, coming out though, he accidentally saw a few maids standing in the hallway so he hid himself.
"Heh for real...?"
"Yeah I've been changing their sheets, I know...the mistresses definitely doesn't hold that omega.."
" Wasn't that obvious from the start, he's still wearing a collar.. he's still unmarked"
" Why did the mistress even marry him?"
"I heard she did it because of Raina sama...she probably still loves her"
Josh had had enough, he walked away. This wasn't the first time he'd over heard such a gossip...
It did surprise him when he heard about it for the first time in the beginning but later on he got used to it....
It made more sense that way anyways....but it still hurt....
The first time he'd heard about he did cry himself to sleep but he didn't have the courage to talk to Clara or Raina about it...
Neither would they have wanted it....
He ended up not returning to the study room and went to their bedroom instead, sitting on the ground hugging his legs....
This was also one of his habits...
It was only at night time when Clara returned to her room. She almost got freaked out seeing Josh sitting there in the dark.
"What are you doing, you never came back" She said relaxing her heart, his eyes were all puffy and nose was all red.
She'd noticed it, she walked up to him and squatted down resting her hand over his head. She'd always been soft to tears...it was a natural reaction for her...
"I'm sorry..." He mumbled on his own.
" What are you sorry for?" She'd asked though he couldn't really reply.
She sat down on the ground infront of him.
He'd calmed down a little by then...
"My heat.. it's in a few days..." He told her.
"Why are you sorry about it..?" She asked.
"No, I mean... I'll need suppressants...they didn't give me any because you're supposed to be my partner....but I don't think you want that... so I'm sorry..." Josh whispered.
" Sorry for being a burden on you too..."
Clara realized what had been bugging him, she was quite perceptive in that regard...
She didn't have to do it indeed...it was afterall her promise with Raina that made her do this... protecting was as far as she wanted this relationship to be...but for some reason, she'd gotten fond of this guy in such a short while...
She understood him...she could tell what he was thinking most of the time...they had so much in common...their interests in books was similar, so were their hobbies....they had understanding of each other's temperament....
He was completely different from Raina who was more of a mysterious and an unapproachable woman...
"I'm sorry...." Clara ended up muttering without realizing.
She couldn't do it properly...she couldn't hate this guy like she thought she would...
Why was she supposed to hate him again?
It was a foreign feeling, an urge... what did she want to do to him anyway?
"Can I kiss you?" Clara asked him without realizing it... to which he turned red in the face.
"I'm yours....to begin.. with" He stuttered a bit and she was surprised
This guy... definitely knew how to pluck the strings of her heart....
"It's only respectful to your partner to ask their consent first" She replied smiling a bit... and he got further embarrassed.
It was this...the fact that he'd completely devoted himself to her...she couldn't avoid him...she couldn't help but take an interest in him...it was a physical interest for now....but.....
"Please do..." He answered.
She moved forward and held both his hands in hers, pressing her lips against his.
He responded back. A slow and gentle kiss, Clara tilted her head to get a better angle at his lips. They were completely amateur at this. It was a rather pure and soft kiss.
They both parted with a blush.
"I'd always thought..." Clara spoke up " that once I get married... I'll really spoil my partner...but wouldn't let them get off easily.. I'd kiss them everyday and hold them everyday..."
Josh could tell those words were meant for Raina, so he lowered his head.
"I still plan to do that.." Clara lifted his chin
What was wrong with that anyways...
So what if Clara and Raina weren't able to be together in this lifetime...?
Probably in another lifetime....
Besides, doesn't everyone say that first love never works...?
She probably couldn't love this guy the same way she loved Raina but her feelings for him weren't ordinary either...
Maybe if given a little more time, she'd probably fall head over heels for him....
"Your heat...let me take care of it"
************Time skip ************
"What is it?"
Josh asked Clara since she randomly came in while he'd been reading and hugged him from the back.
"He's coming soon" Clara replied and Josh's eyes lit up.
" The baby?" Josh asked
"They told her within this week...she hasn't told him yet, I think we'll be able to pull it off.. now all you have to do is to call Raina here somehow" Clara told him.
" Eh, how will I do that...I mean as long as you're here...I doubt Ivan Strauss will let her come..." Josh asked in confusion.
" That's it! Let's use that... I'll leave the mansion for a few days, I'll make arrangements for us to go to the capital...call her over...." Clara thought up.
Josh gave it a thought " okay, I'll do that" He smiled though he lowered his head afterwards.
If only it had been Raina in her place...
Sometimes he'd find himself thinking if he hadn't existed between the two of them....
"Hey... Can't we just... Take Raina..." Josh ended up asking to her surprise.
" What's going on in your mind" She ended up asking, not that she didn't already know.
"If it weren't for me... Raina, she-" Josh couldn't complete it.
"Raina made a choice" Clara told him "It isn't your fault.. "
She ended up saying it... Though it also made her surprised herself...
Indeed.... It wasn't his fault... Raina did what she believed what was right...
"Besides, Raina... I'll get her out of there one day... " She said and Josh made a worried face.
" What are you gonna do?" Josh asked her but she didn't reply instead she walked over and hugged him instead.
"When is your next heat?" She asked clinging to him.
" I'm sorry-" Josh ended up apologizing again.
" It's okay.. it's my fault too.. I should have followed the three fingers rule..I thought you were ready but ended up hurting you...in the end we couldn't do it at all..." Clara sighed.
" No I meant... I'm sorry for pushing you off the bed that day...you hurt your head and passed out" Josh spoke with a guilty gaze
"Ah that, my head's still...next time..if you're in pain, just tell me you know, instead of putting up with it and kicking me out of nowhere" Clara parted from him, rubbing the back of her head.
"I'm sorry.." He bent his head apologetically again.
" Don't worry about it too much...also"
Clara smiled and moved forth pulling the collar around his neck with her index finger.
"Next time, I'll be taking this off..."
************Time skip ************
"Joshua Hughes"
Raina mumbled for the last time, he turned to face her, she didn't look at him, rather she turned her face the other way.
" Raise my son well "
He puckered up and ran out of the room only to find Clara in one of those halls.
He ended up clinging to her hiding his face in her chest. She didn't ask much and gently stroked his hair.
She'd always been weak to his tears....
"Hey..." Clara lifted his face, cupping it between her hands " you've done well" She told him with that same gentle expression that she had been giving him lately.
He ended up controlling himself hearing that. Now that she'd said it, he had to act all brave.
"I'll get our luggage and the baby" Josh told her.
"You do that... I'll say my goodbyes" Clara told him. He nodded and went ahead first.
Clara went to the maternal ward.
"You're here.." Raina said with a gentle smile as Clara entered the room.
"He's beautiful... he's got big round eyes..ah but he looks nothing like you" Clara said out of nowhere.
" Ah I had a feeling he'd get his looks from his father unfortunately" Raina sighed.
" Don't worry, he'll only look like him, he'll never become a man like him..." Clara came and sat by her.
" He'll grow up strong like his mother"
Raina ended up giggling a bit even though it hurt when she did that.
"Are you really going to be okay, your mother... She let you have that land? " Raina asked in a worried tone.
" She was surprisingly helpful... Even though I expected her to be a little mad since I traded all of father's property and land for an omega... " Clara shrugged.
"I think she's relieved.... Your father, even after his death he kept you caged here for so long; away from your mother and brother.... You're finally free from him.... " Raina smiled.
" I never thought I'd be able to escape him in this lifetime..."
Clara's father had been a man of strict principles and alot of morals. It was exactly this that made her mother run away from him...
Her mother had to make a choice nevertheless... either take Clara or her brother...she couldn't take both....
Clara decided to stay behind so her brother can have freedom....
In this regard, she could understand Raina and Josh's relationship....
Though she'd been caged too long that even after her father's death, she couldn't leave the place...
If Josh's situation hadn't forced her to give up her property, she'd probably have been stuck here all her life....
In a way, he'd freed her....
"We'll live an ordinary life, grow old together..." Clara seemed hopeful.
" Do that for my sake too... live a long happy life together" Raina told her " getting dumped is hard so you better make it up to me by being super happy..."
" Don't act like I'm the one who dumped you, did you forget?" Clara raised a brow though Raina only giggled.
Clara took our a diary from her coat and handed it over to Raina.
"What's this?" Raina asked.
"I want you to make a journal.. I'll have a person planted in the household...I want you write a detailed note of everything that you witness or go through...use literary references if you need to.. I'll decode it all" Clara said.
" What are you doing?" Raina's expression turned dead serious.
" I'll get you out of that hell"
************Time skip ************
" Things are not good at this end"
"What's going on?"
Clara came out of the room and upto the balcony, frequently looking back at Josh who was playing with Alex.
"Mistress Raina is expecting again" The person's voice was meek but Clara heard her loud and clear.
"He's been beating her again...at this rate the child won't survive..."
A visible frown mixed with worry appeared on her face, even Josh noticed it.
She looked back and smiled at Josh.
"What about the journal? Did she get mine?" When are they moving to the capital?" Clara asked.
" She got it but I can't bring over her journal... master's skeptic about everything...he won't let anything pass by him, about moving, most of the stuff has been moved, by the end of this month they'll be in capital.." The person replied " if possible...can you come over to take the journal? There's some documents that can't be mailed.."
" Okay I'll come to the countryside this week... I'll meet you by the graveyard of my father Nicolai Hughes" Clara told him and dropped the call before Josh would get more suspicious.
She ended up going to the bathroom afterwards to avoid Josh's questions.
Though later that night Josh ended up asking her anyways.
"I'll have to go back to the countryside" She told and his eyes widened.
" Why?" He'd asked.
"To clear some paperwork...." She lied through her teeth giving a completely vague answer "I'll tell you once I come back"
" Should I go with you?" Josh asked her.
She shook her head "Won't take long, you stay here and watch the kids, I'll be back in less than a week..then we'll make love all night to welcome me back"
" Is making love all you think about?" Josh lowkey smacked her head.
She giggled though and clung to him.
"When did you grow so big, you used to be so small" Clara asked
Josh was shorter than her when they'd got together he looked weaker too at that time... it'd been almost eight years since then. He'd grown really tall and ripped too since he worked out often.
"Can I be the big spoon now then?" Josh asked her.
"I never said you can't be?" Clara laughed a bit.
" Then turn around" Josh pushed at her shoulder making her turn around and adjusted himself as the big spoon behind her.
Ten minutes later...
"I don't like this" Josh said again
"Eh, you're the one who wanted to be the big spoon?" Clara chuckled.
" Did not" Josh turned over " you do it"
Clara stared at his back.
"Not sure if you're asking me to spoon you or screw you" Clara laughed a bit since he'd been sticking out his rear waiting to be spooned.
"How did I end up with someone so perverted? " Josh sighed.
" Oye! Who are you calling a pervert, I mean it's the truth but don't say it, it's embarrassing! " Clara shook him by the arm.
" Sometimes I wonder if Alex is the only child I have" Josh sighed.
" Now I'm child zoned, wow" Clara spoke with a twitching brow " hey, don't ignore me, give me attention! Your pretty wife is gonna be gone for a week, can't you like act more clingy? " Clara whined.
"Alright Alright... " Josh got up and checked on Alex being fast asleep.
Josh got up and both of them got out of the room, they'd often go for the spare room next to the bedroom.
Josh placed a chair in the middle of the room and made Clara sit on it.
"What you gonna do?" Clara was pretty clueless as to why they didn't go to the mattress instead.
"Sit tight..." Josh told her and went inside the bathroom. He'd been taking a while so it got Clara worried but when he came out, her jaw almost dropped.
He'd worn a white shirt with black leather harness and thigh garters.
"When did you get that!!!" Clara asked with glittering eyes.
" I was going to surprise you on your birthday...but..." He replied.
The chest harness made his ripped chest more prominent with his firm D cups standing out. The harness on his thighs looked so tight that his thicc thighs almost looked caged within it.
He walked over to Clara and turned off the lights, only keeping the night light on. He straddled on top of her while she was sitting on the chair and grinded against her swaying his hips, giving her somewhat of a performance.
Grabbing her hands he slipped them down his chest and onto his hips.
The heat got to Clara's brain, she almost felt like her mind blew off with how sexy he looked doing that, her whole face was a throbbing red.
"How's it?" He asked nervously with a blush.
Clara was so much in awe she could barely close her drooling mouth.
"Ah, for some reason..it has a zip..."
He turned around to show her that his bare butt pants with a zip on the ass instead of the front.
Clara couldn't take it all and snapped getting up, pulling his wrist and throwing him on the mattress.
"Whoa, hold up, let me take this off first.." Josh said.
" That's supposed to be kept on" Clara's expression had gone totally wild.
She leaned forward and and unzipped the back pants, it was as if his hips had been constrained in them, they literally bounced and burst open as the zipper came down.
"Hold up, that's really perverted, let's take this off first" He whined.
"Why did you even wear it then? " Clara wasn't letting him take any of that off of course, not even the gloves on his hand.
"This is so hot"
She got handsy with his hips, squeezing and playing with them in her hands while she caressed all over his clothed back and the back of his neck. She slipped her hands inside the zipper and played with the bare flesh too.
"Pervert..." Josh whispered with a completely flustered face, his body got so hot with just a little teasing.
"Who's the real pervert amongst us?" She whispered in his ear, biting it and turning him over and playing with his clothed chest now, groping and rubbing it in circles with her thumbs. Just a little massage got him wet from the back.
"Are you going in heat???"
"I think so..." He panted with a really lewd expression, releasing alot of pheromones.
" I thought it was still a week or two away... But I guess you did this because of the heat... " She replied biting into a mouthful of his cup sucking and nibbling on it.
"No...I just wanted to... make you happy..." He replied being really out of breath, his hands in her hair.
"Do you know that you're really gorgeous?" She smiled moving up and kissing him passionately, twirling her tongue with his as she lovingly sucked on his lower lip, pulling it a bit.
"Can't I take it off? This is so embarrassing..." He whined, his shirt was wet due to her sucking on it, his chest was naughtily showing from the wet shirt, his nubs poking against the clothing.
"I want to try something..." She whispered suddenly lifting his hips out of nowhere.
"Hold up-" he was taken by surprise having his legs in the air suddenly, though what came afterwards was way more embarrassing than any of this.
"WHE- WHE-RE ARE- YOU PUTT-ING YOU- YOUR TONGUE!!!!???"
Josh let out a shriek as he felt her tongue invading him in such an embarrassing place, in such an embarrassing position....
He tried to reach her head to stop her but ended up pressing his hips more into her face.
"NOT THERE, IT'S REALLY PERVERTED... DON'T..." He really was flustered and ended up getting off a dry climax. His whole body trembled in her grip, the naughty sound of her tongue down there and his body jerking back and forth with that movement...he could die of embarrassment...
"Ah sorry, your back must be hurting..." She let his legs down only to turn him over, lifting his hips up with his face down in the bed and again got her face between his rear eating him out.
His whole body jerked back and forth
He tried to crawl forward and escape but she had a tight grip on his hips.
Not just his entrance, her tongue played with his jewels too in that position, for someone trying this particular thing for the first time, she was pretty skilled at it.
"Just do it!!!" He whined having enough of being teased.
"I will... But there's another thing... Can you sit on my face?" She asked rather shamelessly.
" I'm definitely not doing that!!!"
Though later on she ended up making him do that all anyways. She had all sorts of ways with him that night. By the time they were done, Josh was all messed up.
"I'm never doing this ever again...!"
He said as she got off him, laying down being super tired.
He was still wearing everything but his clothes were completely disheveled and wet in alot of places. Moreover his thighs and hips were pretty much drenched.
"You didn't use protection..."
"Once in a while I want to get off inside you" She took a breather.
" I was in heat you stupid alpha! " He smacked her head but she was too tired to respond. She'd already gotten off so many times, even though he got off more but she was more out of energy.
"It's okay...even if you get pregnant, we'll have cute little red heads like you" She spoke with a light voice.
" What if they're on you?" He asked out of curiosity.
" Unacceptable!" She said and he ended up laughing.
" You're so choosy, I think they'll be really pretty if they're on you" He argued.
" Nope... everyone's gonna tell them they look like cats, believe me" She spoke dramatically.
" Cats are the most beautiful creatures on this planet though" Josh replied.
" Nope, I'm having tiny tomatoes, no cats" She argued.
" I'm from a food group now?" He laughed
"You put me in an animal group all the time" She argued.
He couldn't stop laughing at this silly conversation. She ended up smiling watching him all laughing.
Really silly...yet it was fun...
" I really love your smile you know..." She spoke turning soft.
He looked at her, right in the eyes, he really loved looking at them. Leaning in he kissed her lips.
"I...too, love you..." He spoke gently.
"Ah... Sh-t! Why'd you say that?!" She cursed looking down " I think I can go another round.."
"No way I can't, I'm gonna die!"
" Just one more? I'll do the dishes!"
" No way!!"
" Please!!!!"
************Time skip ************
"What's this?"
Clara's eyes widened seeing those documents.
The informer looked around desperately if he'd been followed or something.
"It's exactly what you think...." He replied.
"That's alot of bureaucrats and politicians on these records! " Clara whispered a bit strongly.
" This is why Raina san told you to step away from it...destroy all the evidence so far...this traffic ring isn't as easy as you think...so many influential people are on this.. you'll put your life in danger..." The informer told her.
She gave it a thought.
"No, tell Raina to keep sending the records... even if the uppers won't listen... the public will...we need to expose this ring for the sake of every omega child that is being consumed like products by these vicious pedo-hiles" Clara spoke determinedly.
" You won't be able to have a good ending if you continue to get deep into this...Clara sama... there's still time, please... take your family and move abroad... don't get any further into this... Nicolas sama, you can go live him, he's been writing you letters forever, he's waiting for you for so long...why won't you just go to your brother and live a peaceful life??" The informer argued with her.
" I'm pretty sure my brother will understand my reasons... right now I need to do this..." She lowered her head.
" Clara sama...!" The informer argued but looking at her face he knew she'd decided already.
"See...I already know I'm destined to have a horrible ending...but as long as I'm able to make a difference...."
She smiled.
He gave in and turned away.
" Ah one more thing " She turned and he stopped to listen to her.
"If something happens to me...protect Josh...at all costs.... actually send him to Nicolas's if you have to" She spoke with a gentle expression.
" Clara sama.... your brother will never forgive you for this!!!" The informer teared up, he'd been with the two of them since birth, he knew how much her brother loved her...ofcourse he was mortified.
She turned back and gave her widest and brightest smile.
" Tell my brother I loved this guy with my life !! "
************Time skip ************
"Say...if one day I were to disappear... Can you protect all those whom I'd left behind?"
He seemed really horrified by her statement. She herself didn't imagine she'd say those same words that Raina told her that day...
She understood Raina better now...those words, they weren't meant to be mocking....those were genuine emotions of someone who knew they'd been done for....
Someone who wanted others to continue to live on even without them....
" Don't say such cursed things!! "
He reacted just like she did back when Raina said it to her.
The words of a parting lover....
" I'm sorry, I just wondered... If one day, I'm not able to stand by your side.. would you protect everything I loved.. " She wanted him to live... even if it had to be without her...
"You're really worrying me out here, are you okay, did something happen?"
He asked her, she had nothing to say..she didn't talk much or eat much anymore, she looked much like a dying animal...
A common belief among people about cats is that they are dignified creatures with pride...when they are dying, they find a quiet secluded place to peacefully pass away without anyone noticing them.
Clara Hughes knew her days were limited....
"Hey..you do know you can talk to me right..?"
If only she'd shared....
If only... he'd known....
Could he have made a difference?
************Time skip ************
"WE HAVE TO LEAVE, NOW!"
"Clara? What's going on??!"
A phone call made her all panicked. Ivan Strauss had found out everything.
The informer himself was on a run.
He was going to get out of there and go back abroad to Nicolas as per the original plan.
Clara Hughes had made a wrong judgement. She'd trusted the wrong publisher.
The publisher made a deal with Ivan Strauss instead for the sake of money, he exposed Clara and Raina's source of information and exchanges. He even told her about the amount of information Clara Hughes was holding onto.
She frantically packed her bags whilst putting the basic stuffs for the kids in her bags.
Once they got in the car, she'd decided to sit in the back...she couldn't help but feel horrified...her children had to get out of this... and Josh ...
For now they needed to go as far as they could...as long as she could make it to the morning... she'll part ways with Josh and the kids... they'll be safer without her....
Their safety was a priority, she kept looking back to check if anyone was following....
Her heartbeat was over the top when she spotted a vehicle behind them.
"FAST FAST, DON'T LET THEM CATCH UP JOSH!"
She yelled frantically... everything turned a blur after that....
The next time she'd opened her eyes...the car was upside down, her body shivered as she saw her children drenched in blood..
"No...no...nn...o..." She couldn't control her emotions and screamed seeing the children.
Somehow she pulled the babies out...
They were.....
She used her fingers to open their eyes, to pretend they were awake, performed CPR on them...
Calling out to them but they wouldn't....
Everytime their eyes closed up she used her fingers to make them blink like little dolls, pretending they were just fast asleep...
Neither the daughter nor the twins were breathing and Alex was crushed under the debris. Clara frantically tried to push at the car while screaming but nothing worked only to be horrified by the men surrounding the place.
"No no no no stay away!" Clara crawled back as one of those men stepped forward to her, she couldn't even hear Josh screaming at them.
"You b-tch!!!!!! Where is it???!!" One of them pulled at Clara's hair who screamed trying to claw and bite the guy but only got punched in the face.
She could care less about any of it...her children...her children...they weren't breathing....!!!!
"Mommy...it hurt...." A faint voice came from under the debris and she turned that way.
" Baby...baby..are you okay??" The shine on her face returned a little hearing Alex's voice, she got frantic yet again...
Josh moved without thinking and punched the man who was holding Clara's hair, letting her free as she crawled towards the debris.
The man turned to Josh now, he punched him down.
Josh fell, he was bleeding from alot of places now, it was hard for him to even move when a guy grabbed him by the leg and dragged him forward. Another grabbed Clara towards him by her hair as she screamed.
"This is the guy right? The one they told about?" One of them asked and Clara spat upon him instead to which she got slapped in the face. Her whole face was a bloody mess.
"I WILL END YOU I WILL END YOUR LIFE WITH MY OWN HANDS STAY AWAY STAY AWAY" Josh yelled through the guy holding him down smirked.
" Ahhh, It's a waste to kill omegas honestly, they're high in demand and sell at good prices" One of the guy whined.
" Can't do, we're ordered to kill them, no exceptions, not following the order means betraying boss" Another guy argued.
" Ah! Still such a waste, what if we ruin his face and then sell him?" The guy suggested.
" An omega's face is everything, he wouldn't sell at a good price" The other guy told him.
The whole conversation made Clara Hughes lose all her senses and composure ...she wanted to throw up....she wanted to throw up badly!!
" Don't you dare!!!" Clara Hughes lurched forward attacking and the man who kicked her in the ribs while two others held Josh down as he tried to reach his wife.
No she had to get up...she had to protect him!!!!...why was she so weak...?
" Well....atleast let's try him once, you wouldn't get a free omega like that anywhere, it takes too much money just to hire one"
Everyone nodded in agreement to her horror.
" Don't come..." His trembling voice even made her more horrified.
The guy whom Raina once protected because a man asked him to strip down....was now being stripped infront of her....the man she'd held so delicately...was now being roughly man handled infront of her...
"Stop! Stop ! Don't ! Please PLEASE" She turned to screaming and begging but they'd already begun... she'd held this man like a treasure...
.....for him to be soiled all because of her mistakes....she couldn't bear it....
....They forced themselves in his body.. the body that had only known her touch since his birth.....
"I'm sorry I'm sorry!"
Clara wept, she couldn't handle it anymore, she broke down...
It was the first time... he'd seen her like that... a strong and kind person like her.... fall apart....
....he just couldn't even cry....all he could do was desperately try to have her not look his way....
" Don't..look Don't look!!" He spoke in a begging tone as she lowered her head sobbing in an apologetic manner, letting him have one last ounce of pride that he had left.
"Hey, watch the show carefully, you're our guest of honor today" One them manhandled Clara's head, forcing her eyes open as she shut them, making her face him.
They made her watch the whole horrific scenario.
The moment she tried to pull her head down they used her hair to pull it back even if it meant breaking a handful of her hair.
Infront of her lied the lifeless three bodies of her children, with the fourth one crushed as they took turns on her partner while making her watch it all.
She'd stopped crying at this point, her bloody soaked face was white and pale, she looked like she was about to puke anytime. Her eyes were bulging out...
One...two..three...four...five...six..men..
Took their turn leaving his lifeless body over the floor while he was covered in a pool of his own blood that trickled down from his legs mixed with a cruel white hue...
The whole time Clara struggled to move out of their grip and get to Josh, but the moment they did let her loose.....
She felt a striking pain at the back of her head..She fell forward as her senses went numb....
She could finally see his eyes up close...
She could finally reach him....
And them....
Whether it was an illusion of a dying mother....
....or the fact that she was crossing the bridge of life and death...
She saw three of her children.... standing as if waiting for her....
.....she somewhat smiled seeing her little babies dressed in white with their pure and prettiest smiles.....
They'd been there all along by the end of the road, waiting for their mommy to hold their tiny hands....
She knew she had to go when the next swing would strike.....
Raina Strauss, Joshua Hughes, Nicholas Hughes and her children...
This was her little family....
The people she'd loved the most...
The people that would follow her one day....
Just not today.....
It was just her and her children today...
Clara Hughes had lived her life trying to do something right....
Clara Hughes had loved Raina Strauss....
But right now...
Clara Hughes loved Joshua Hughes....
The man besides her in every happy memory of hers to her very last moments....
By the third swing, her moments slowed down... She felt everything by split seconds....
This man... Did she ever tell him?... She probably did....casually...
.....Those three words....
"I love...you.."