Chapter 36: twenty minutes gone
Chapter 36
"Your ring," Sarah replied, pointing to her finger.
"My ring."
Kathe followed her mother’s eyes toward her hand, and she understood.
"Yeah."
"How did it happen?" Sarah asked calmly as she stared at her daughter, demanding the truth.
Kathe sighed.
"It’s complicated."
"And I would love to hear about it."
There was determination in her eyes.
"It all happened on the day I ran from the wedding..."
Kathe told her mom everything that happened, leaving the contract part away so as not to get her mother worried.
After listening to Kathe, Sarah went mute as she stared at Kathe, her face expressionless.
Kathe, getting worried that her mother might misunderstand or get worried, had to quickly explain to her mother.
"Mom, he isn’t bad. He really takes care of me."
Sarah nodded at her as she crossed her arms, leaning over the table as she looked into Kathe’s eyes, expecting nothing but the truth as she asked every question.
"Hmmm, how is his family treating you?"
"They are really nice, especially his grandmother."
Sarah could hear the excitement in her voice as she mentioned the old lady.
But she was still skeptical.
"They accepted you even when your marriage to him wasn’t with them present?"
Kathe scratched her elbow out of nervousness, remembering the first day Jark had introduced her to his family.
"Yes. Not everyone accepted it at first, but now everyone is used to it."
Sarah stared at Kathe for a long time before leaning back in her chair and sighing.
"Good. At least you are happy there. I’m happy."
Seeing that her mother had approved of the marriage, Kathe couldn’t help but get excited.
"Mom, come. Let’s go to the mansion. The old lady will be so happy to see you."
"No."
Sarah quickly looked at Kathe sharply.
"No one should know about our meeting."
"What of Jark?"
"Not even him," Sarah replied sharply before Kathe could complete her sentence.
Kathe couldn’t help but notice her mother’s behaviour.
"Mom, you seem scared of something. Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. I just want some privacy," Sarah said, arranging her shirt.
"Mom..."
Kathe inhaled sharply as she noticed a scar on her mom’s wrist while she was adjusting her shirt.
Sarah quickly covered back the shirt, not wanting Kathe to see her hand.
"Nothing."
"I want to see it," Kathe insisted.
"It’s nothing."
Sarah shook her head, not intending to show Kathe, but Kathe wasn’t having it as she quickly grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled up the sleeve. Behind the scar followed fresh injuries.
"Did Dad do this to you?"
Sarah quickly looked out of the window.
"No, he didn’t. I fell down."
"Mom."
Sarah sighed as she looked down at her hand.
"Hmm, he did it."
"Does he know you are here?"
"No, he doesn’t."
"How are you here then?"
"I told him I’m going for treatment."
Kathe quickly drew close to her mother.
"Mom, you can come stay with us. Jark will definitely protect you."
"No. I don’t want such protection. He’s my husband, and I will deal with it."
"Mom, you are being stubborn. Why can’t you..."
She was interrupted by her ringing phone. Seeing the number that displayed on her phone, a smile suddenly came to her face.
"Jark. Mom, give me some minutes. I will be back."
Sarah nodded.
Kathe was about to stand up, but Sarah quickly grabbed her hand as she looked into Kathe’s eyes.
"Promise me you won’t tell him where you are at."
Kathe went mute, but the second ring brought her back to reality.
"I won’t."
"Good."
Sarah finally released her hand as her expression returned back to normal.
Kathe looked at her mom, wondering why she was so scared of her telling anyone where she was at before walking to the restaurant restroom.
.......................
Jark couldn’t keep looking at his phone anymore, so he picked it up and called Kathe instead, but due to poor network, he couldn’t connect to her at first. He had to use a special satellite to get to her. She didn’t pick the call on the first ring, but she eventually answered on the second ring.
"Hello," Kathe’s voice came through the call.
Jark’s tensed heart suddenly relaxed.
"How are you feeling?"
"Jark, I can’t hear you properly."
Jark frowned. Considering that he used a satellite to connect to her, yet she still couldn’t hear him, made Jark skeptical.
"Where are you?"
Just then, the office door was forcefully opened as Thompson ran in, distracting Jark from the call.
"Boss, she’s in the country."
Thompson brought out his tablet and gave it to Jark.
Jark looked at the location and frowned. He knew that she would make her move, but he wasn’t expecting her to make a move so soon.
"When?"
"Our team just tracked her not quite long ago. From what I see, she made a mistake and her information got leaked."
Jark shook his head. Knowing her so well, she wouldn’t make such a mistake unless she had a mole working for her.
"Where is she?"
Thompson entered some codes on his tablet, and the location appeared.
"At the town outskirts."
"Let’s go," Jark said.
As they both left the company in a hurry, Rhea, who had been at the coffee stand, seeing that Jark had left with Thompson, quickly ran to Jark’s office to check if he had eaten her food. But on getting there, his office was on automatic lock. She couldn’t get access in, so she had to leave in frustration.
.......................
Kathe kept wandering round the restaurant restroom, waving her phone above her head, trying to get connected to the network, but all her struggles were in vain as she couldn’t hear anything before the call suddenly ended. She was sure that Jark was worried about her, and she tried to call again, but there was no network, and she didn’t want him to contact home.
.......................
"Boss, your location has been leaked."
"How?"
"I don’t know, but you need to get out of wherever you are now and look for a place to stay. Give me eighteen hours. I will clear all trails."
"But everything was secured."
"Someone leaked your location all over different organizations. We are lucky to pick it up on time, so you need to leave. I will cover your tracks. Use Wing C. I’ve gotten everything prepared."
"Shit."
.......................
Kathe walked out of the restroom, not wanting to keep her mom waiting.
"Mom, there seems to be poor network around here. How did you even get to call me?" Kathe said as she waved her phone in the air, trying to get network before taking her seat, her eyes still on her phone.
"Did you tell anyone where you are at?"
There was a sudden change in her tone that made Kathe feel a chill.
"No, Mom. I didn’t even get to make the call."
"Are you sure?"
"Mom, you are acting weird. Are you okay?"
Kathe asked with a frown because she was beginning to freak her out with the strange way she was looking at her.
Sarah held her head together with her eyes shut closed. After breathing in for a while, she opened her eyes, and her creepy aura suddenly disappeared, replaced with only warmth.
"I’m so sorry if I got you worried. It’s just that I’m under a lot of stress, and I need to get back soon," she said, reaching her hand out to Kathe.
"I understand."
Kathe’s head hung down sadly as she held her mother’s hand. She wished she could stay back. Though she didn’t understand why her mother insisted on going back even when she told her that Jark could protect her, she still respected her mother’s decision.
Seeing that Kathe was already getting worried and in a bad mood, she decided to brighten her mood.
"You were asking where I had network, right?"
"Yes."
Kathe’s mood suddenly brightened up as she lifted her head.
Sarah lifted her hand and pointed to a dark corner.
"Go over that corner and wait for twenty minutes. Then you will get network. That way, you can make your call."
"Why wait so long?" Kathe asked, confused. She had never heard of such a way before.
"You want to make the call badly, right?"
"Yes."
"Then go over that deep corner and wait for twenty minutes. You will get network."
"Okay."
Kathe nodded. She really needed to connect with Jark to let him know she was okay.
"Remember, don’t tell anyone about me today," Sarah said, looking at her phone with a frown.
"Mom!"
"Go."
After waiting for twenty minutes, she finally had network on her phone. She quickly dialed Jark’s number, but he didn’t pick up. She tried and tried again, but she couldn’t connect to Jark. She had to leave the corner with a sigh as she walked back in frustration.
"Mom, can you imagine..."
Kathe’s words got stuck as she couldn’t find her mother at the restaurant again, but instead the road was crowded with different cars and a helicopter. Her heart suddenly skipped as she recognized one of the cars.
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