Chapter 221: He Loves Her

Blaine Jackson watched Lucas Zeller silently fume. Lucas's chest heaved with sharp breaths, and the veins on his forehead pulsed visibly. Blaine assumed Lucas was furious about Claire Grace's fake pregnancy and her almost nonexistent chances of conceiving.

"Lucas, you're not actually mad, are you?" Blaine asked tentatively, breaking the tense silence.

Lucas let out a cold snort and shot Blaine a sidelong glare. "What do you think? Should I be laughing instead?" Why had Claire, the person closest to him, chosen to confide in someone else about her infertility? The thought gnawed at him. No matter how he tried to reason it, he couldn't accept it. She had professed her love for him, even whispering it softly in the early hours of the morning. And now, this?

Blaine sighed and pressed on. "Then tell me, what exactly are you angry about? That Claire's pregnancy wasn't real? Or that she's infertile? It's not the end of the world, Lucas. If you love kids, you can adopt. Why throw everything away over something so minor?"

"Who said anything about throwing her away?!" Lucas erupted, his voice reverberating through the room. "I love her! How could I ever let her go? Even if she can't have children, I'll still choose her. And don't you dare think about getting any ideas about her."

Blaine blinked, caught off guard by Lucas's outburst. "Wait, so you mean that even if she had told you everything from the start, you wouldn't have left her?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Are you seriously asking me that? You're such a fake American—you can't even understand plain English." Rising abruptly, Lucas began pacing.

Blaine leaned back, unfazed. "Then what are you angry about? Surely not at me?"

Lucas's sharp reply cut through the air. "None of your business!" He was irritated that Blaine seemed to know more than he did. His mind churned with one thought: Where had Claire gone?

Blaine shrugged off Lucas's temper. "If I had to guess, I'd say Claire is deliberately avoiding you. And she's probably staying far away from anyone you both know," he said, analyzing the situation calmly.

Lucas groaned, running his hands through his hair. "She's driving me insane. Doesn't she trust me at all? I made my feelings perfectly clear. Does she think my love for her is a lie?" Though disappointed by the truth about her infertility, Lucas's love for her hadn't wavered. To him, love wasn't built on having children but on mutual trust.

Blaine's gaze sharpened. "Honestly, I thought you'd notice something was off. It's been weeks since that hospital visit. You've been sharing a bed with her. How could you not see it?"

Lucas cut him off, his anger flaring again. "And why did you wait until now to tell me? If she's really determined to avoid me, where am I supposed to start looking?"

Blaine's expression softened with regret. "I wanted to tell you earlier, back when the ad shoot wrapped up. But Claire insisted she'd handle it herself. I didn't want to meddle and make things worse. If I'd known it would come to this, I'd have told you everything."

Lucas stared at Blaine for a long moment before turning sharply and heading for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Blaine called, trailing behind him.

"To find her," Lucas said curtly, as if it were obvious.

Blaine's brows furrowed. "Wait. Do you know where she is? Should I help you search?"

Lucas paused at the doorway and turned to face Blaine. His voice was steady but serious. "You really don't know where she is, do you?"

Blaine scoffed. "Do I look like I'd put up with your temper for fun? I'm trying to help here. Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Lucas gave a small nod. "Thanks. I'll find her."

As Lucas strode away, Blaine watched him go, exhaling deeply. He silently prayed Lucas would succeed.

---

Two weeks later.

"Lucas, maybe you should get some rest?" Roy Lin suggested gently. In the past two weeks, Lucas had barely slept. Between juggling work and his relentless search for Claire, he'd lost noticeable weight, his normally sharp features now gaunt.

"I'm not tired," Lucas said flatly. Since the day Claire left, he'd felt nothing but a hollow numbness that even exhaustion couldn't penetrate.

Roy exchanged a worried glance with his wife, Sarah, who sighed quietly. The couple had been by Lucas's side throughout his ordeal, but even with police assistance, they'd found no trace of Claire. Immigration records confirmed she was still in the country, but beyond that, it was as if she'd vanished.

"Lucas, did Claire ever mention anything about her family?" Lauren Wells asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

Lucas shook his head, his bloodshot eyes clouded with sorrow. "She has no family. Not even distant relatives." The powerful and composed CEO now appeared as a shadow of himself, his despair palpable.

Lauren pressed on. "But have you checked her hometown? It's the only place we haven't looked yet."

Lucas frowned. "If she's determined to avoid me, why would she go somewhere so obvious?"

"Sometimes, the safest place is the one that seems the riskiest," Lauren countered, refusing to back down.

"Lucas, maybe we should send someone to her hometown," Sarah suggested softly. "We've searched everywhere else. It might be worth a shot."

Lucas's shoulders sagged slightly, the weight of the past weeks bearing down on him. He muttered, "If only I'd noticed earlier. If I'd seen the signs, none of this would've happened."

Roy placed a comforting arm around his wife. "Don't blame yourself. Lucas will find her. I'm sure of it."

Lucas abruptly stood, his determination reignited. "Roy, I'll leave the company to you for now." Without waiting for a reply, he strode toward the door.

"Lucas, where are you going?" Roy called after him, but Lucas had already disappeared.