Chapter 35: Feed her
Kira stormed out of Anna’s room, her footsteps sharp against the polished floor. Her lips pressed into a thin line, but the fury in her eyes betrayed her composure.
The tray in her hands rattled with the force of her grip until—
Thud!
She slammed it down on the counter, the sound echoing through the quiet kitchen. Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths as she sneered, the corners of her mouth curling into something venomous.
"That bitch..." she hissed under her breath, her voice low and poisonous. "Did she really think I wouldn’t understand what she just did?"
Kira’s nails dug into her palms as her mind replayed Anna’s smirk, her words, her calm defiance. For the first time since stepping into the Clafford mansion, Kira realized—Anna wasn’t the timid, clueless wife she had assumed.
No, she was sharper. Dangerous even.
"You can keep pretending, Anna," Kira muttered, her tone dripping with venom as her eyes gleamed with malice. "But I’ll make sure Master sees your real face soon enough."
A cruel smile twisted across her lips as the plan began to take root in her mind.
And in that dimly lit kitchen, with the silver tray still vibrating faintly from the force of her slam, Kira whispered to herself—
"Let’s see how long you last in this house."
***
Meanwhile, Daniel remained in his office. The clock ticked past hours he would normally still be working, yet lately, returning home earlier had become his habit. Now, sitting in the silence, even his desk and papers felt like shackles.
"Ha..." he muttered under his breath, lips curling into a faint, self-mocking smile. "Since when does work feel like overworking?"
He quickly forced the thought aside, straightening in his chair just as Henry entered, holding another file in his hand.
"Boss, there’s been an update regarding Miss Kathrine," Henry said carefully.
The air in the room shifted. Daniel’s aura grew heavier, colder, suffocating enough to make Henry clear his throat before continuing.
"She switched on her phone... but only for a fraction of a second. Before we could trace, the signal was gone."
Disappointment flickered in Daniel’s eyes, but his face remained stone. He didn’t allow Henry to see the irritation beneath the mask.
Kathrine’s disappearance was becoming more complicated than he had anticipated. Just where the hell did she vanish?
One conclusion clawed at his mind—Kathrine never left the city. There was no record of her boarding a flight. Which meant, she was hiding.
And hiding required resources.
Daniel’s fingers tapped against the polished desk, slow, deliberate. His eyes darkened as the truth crystallized.
"She’s not doing this alone," he said flatly. "Someone is helping her. Shielding her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have survived this long without leaving a single trace."
Henry frowned, nodding slowly. "But who could it be? Her parents haven’t made a single move to find her. If anything, they’ve washed their hands of her entirely. That rules them out."
Daniel’s jaw tightened. "Yes. But don’t forget the transaction."
Henry’s brows rose.
"The anonymous account," Daniel continued, his tone low and sharp. "The one that funded her right before she fled. That money gave her leverage. Gave her time. Whoever sent it—" his voice cut like steel, "—that’s the one protecting her."
Silence pressed down on the room as Henry absorbed the weight of his boss’s words.
Daniel leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing, the faintest glint of ruthlessness flickering in their depths.
"And we’ll find out who."
Henry nodded in understanding.
Silence stretched until—slam!
Daniel shut the file with finality. "I’m going home."
Henry blinked, caught completely off guard. ’His boss? Leaving early? That wasn’t he informed him earlier.’
’Wait... is it because of his wife?’ The thought alone made Henry’s lips twitch.
Unfortunately, his reaction didn’t go unnoticed. Daniel halted mid-step and gave him a sharp, suspicious look.
"What are you smiling at?"
Henry looked straight at him, grin widening like a cat who had cornered the cream. "Boss... are you missing your wife?"
Daniel froze. His expression didn’t waver, but his eyes flickered with something unreadable—contemplation.
’How did he—?’
The thought cut short when the realization hit him. Yes, he was leaving because he wanted to go home. Because he wanted to see her. Because sitting in the office suddenly felt... suffocating.
Henry, oblivious to the storm he had stirred, carried on like a seasoned love guru.
"I know, boss. You don’t have to feel shy. It happens when you’re newly married. All you want is to be close to your spouse."
Daniel’s jaw clenched. But against his will, his mind wandered back—to this morning. The way he’d gone to her room drunk, the way he’d wrapped his arms around her, and how... peaceful it felt. Like relief he hadn’t known in years.
"What else do you... feel?" he asked, the question slipping out before he could bite it back.
Henry brightened, as if he’d been waiting for that opening. "Well, you feel like hugging them, taking them on dates, feeding them with your own hands. And the best part—" his grin widened, "—you always feel like kissing them."
The word kiss dropped like a hammer.
Daniel’s thoughts slammed into the memory—the softness of her lips, the raw hunger that surged through him... and then, the slap.
His cheek tingled as though the sting had just landed. His expression darkened instantly, and his hand brushed against his jaw unconsciously.
Without another word, Daniel turned on his heel and strode out of the office.
Henry kept going, completely unaware. "You know, boss, the best feeling about a date is—"
He stopped. Looked around. Empty. His boss was gone.
"...!"
"Did he just walk over me?" Henry muttered, staring at the abandoned desk.
Before he could sulk, a voice thundered from the corridor outside.
"Henry, do you want to stay there forever?"
The chill in Daniel’s tone sent Henry bolting upright. He scrambled after his boss like a terrified kitten, muttering under his breath. "Why do I always forget he’s scarier than a ghost..."
***
By the time Daniel returned home, Henry’s words still echoed in his head. As irritating as his assistant could be, there was something in what he said that gnawed at him.
’Is that really what a man does to make his wife happy?’
His jaw tightened at the thought.
’Will she finally stop hating me if I... take her out?’
The question lingered like a stubborn shadow.
Daniel had married Anna purely for convenience, a calculated move to keep the Bennetts tied to him. But the more he thought about it, the clearer it became—Anna had never been the one he wanted to hurt. If anything, she was the only one making him question things he had long buried.
"Maybe..." he muttered under his breath, his voice low as he stepped out of the car, "...maybe I should make up for the kiss I forced on her."
The memory of it made his chest constrict. He could excuse the kiss she placed on him in her sleep—it wasn’t real, just a dream. But what he did... pinning her down, taking without asking... it was not who he was. Or at least, not who he wanted to be with her.
Daniel had never courted anyone before. Never cared enough to learn how. To him, women were distractions, fleeting figures in a world where business and power consumed everything. Anna, however, was different—infuriatingly so.
And now, he found himself questioning things he never thought he would.
’How do you woo a woman? How do you soften hate into something else?’
Henry’s foolish rambling had, somehow, planted an idea.
’Feed her. Take her out. Make her laugh.’
Simple things, but maybe not so simple for him.
Daniel’s lips pressed into a thin line as he entered the mansion, determination flaring beneath the uncertainty. For once, he was willing to try.
The moment Daniel stepped into the mansion, Mariam was already there to greet him with her usual warmth.
"Where is Anna?" His voice was low, controlled, but there was an urgency in it he didn’t bother hiding. A flicker of worry gnawed at him—he half expected Mariam to say Anna had disappeared again, just like yesterday.
Mariam hesitated only for a second before bowing slightly. "She is in her room, Master."
Relief washed through him, though he masked it beneath a curt nod. "Good."
But as he made his way deeper into the house, Henry’s voice returned, annoyingly loud inside his head.
’Feed her. Hug her. Make her smile.’
Daniel’s steps slowed. His chest tightened at the absurdity of it, yet it left a strange constriction in his heart.
Feed her? He had never even shared a meal with a woman willingly. Hug her? He could barely hold Anna without making her flinch. And make her smile? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d made anyone smile, let alone her.
His brow furrowed as his hand tightened into a fist.
’But if that’s what it takes...’