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Chapter 196 - All I Wanted

All he wanted was a family. All Kaden desired was to hold their child. It was what he worked so hard for. He wanted nothing more than to build a family with her. He loved her to that extent. They were this close to having a family in their first life. But because of their mistakes, the dream was cut short.

Now, they were in the present. The time was ripe. He was rich. She was married to him. What was the problem? Her career? The heir race? All of that could be damned.

"She doesn\'t need a job.. I can support her for the next ten generations," Kaden furiously said under his breath. He didn\'t understand her logic.

Unstable life?

Everett Leclare? Atlantis Medeor?

Kaden\'s expression darkened. So they were in the way of his goal. His dream. So be it then. The thing about human life was that it was frail.

Frail and weak.

"You want a stable life? I\'ll give you one," Kaden snarled. He got back into his car and began the drive to Leclare Estate.

- - - - -

Kaden never came home that night. Lina skipped dinner and went straight to bed. But when she opened the bedroom door, she stopped. She stared at their enormous bed, suitable for four people. She could picture their future so clearly.

The laughter of children in their bed as Kaden tickled one of them and Lina snuggled the other. She could picture their play fighting on the mattress. The quiet lull of Kaden\'s voice as he soothed them to sleep. She could picture it so vividly that it brought tears to her eyes.

But nothing hurt more than Kaden\'s abandonment. She had communicated like anyone should in a relationship. Communication was the most important part of relationships. Yet, he didn\'t even consider it.

"All I wanted was to talk," Lina muttered under her breath.

Unable to look at their bed any longer, Lina quickly turned. Suddenly, her phone began to ring. She let out a gasp and took out her phone. Her heart soared with excitement. Was it Kaden? Did he change his mind? Was he on his way home?

Her hope shattered.

Atlantis.

Lina stared at the contact name.

"Bastard!" Lina screamed, at no one in particular. She didn\'t know who she was insulting. She only wanted to shout. To vent her anger.

With heavy irritation, she threw her phone down the hallway. Her eyes burned with hatred. Burned with pain. She was hurt by Kaden\'s behavior. His actions stabbed her in the chest. The sight of his back turned to her only drove the knife deeper into her heart.

With a heavy heart and wounded hope, Lina staggered into the guest bedroom. There, she collapsed into the bed, but shed no tears. She refused to cry about this like a child. She refused to.

Lina went to bed with dried eyes. She didn\'t bother to do anything. All she wanted to do was curl up under the blanket and sleep. So, that was what she did.

- - - - -

Deep in her dreams, Lina heard a BANG! It was the sound of a gunshot.

When Lina shot out of bed, her heart was racing. Glancing wildly around, she heard a deathly silence in the house. It must\'ve been a sound she heard in her dreams.

Letting out a breath, Lina climbed out of bed. She poked her head out the door and heard nothing. Not even the frantic scrambling of servants. Or the guards. She concluded it was just a dream. But why did the gunshot sound so real? What was happening?

Lina tiptoed out of the guest bedroom. When she got downstairs, the lights were shut off. There was a soft glow from the nightlights near the floor. Seeing nothing was out of place, not even the windows or curtains, she decided it was nothing.

"He\'s still not home…" Lina realized this when she walked to his bedroom.

The bedroom was undisturbed and untouched. Biting back a complaint, Lina reluctantly went to bed. But she was unable to sleep. The gunshot rang in her mind. Did something happen?

Lina had an unsettling feeling crawling over her. She was frightened by the sound. It sounded too real for it to be a mere dream. Did something happen to Kaden? Was he hurt? Was it her conscience warning her of a calamity?

"It\'d be impossible for him to get hurt, right?" Lina tried to comfort herself.

But she began to think about the resurfacing of the mafia. A few days ago, she heard that a powerful mafia family was making rounds again. So far, no crimes had been committed, but they were prowling the streets as if they owned it.

Lina\'s shoulders were heavy with fear. She was worried that something terrifying had gone down. Why would her consciousness wake her up? She was scared for Kaden. She knew nothing could harm him, but still… What if something could?

Lina tried to look for her phone, but couldn\'t locate it. She remembered she threw it down the hallways. Suddenly, her heart shriveled up in anger again.

"He can handle himself," Lina growled under her breath.

Despite her words, Lina found herself getting out of bed. She slowly made her way down the stairs again and towards the foyer. There, she saw the house phone. With a heavy heart, Lina dialed Kaden\'s number.

The phone didn\'t ring.

Lina\'s heart fell. She was worried, but didn\'t know where he went. How could she? He stormed off in the middle of the night.

Dejectedly, Lina reluctantly walked back to his bedroom. There, Lina decided to take out her computer and conduct some research into Krystal\'s company. If she couldn\'t sleep, she might as well put her mind to good use.

- - - - -

The next morning, Lina woke up alone. She peeled her eyes open and tiredly blinked at the sunlight pooling into the room. She turned her head and saw her computer was lying next to her. There was a twenty-page document open from all of her research.

Lina found the market\'s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. She even went as far as to analyze all the different forces of the company, whether it was the threat of new competitors, suppliers\' bargaining power, internal competition like rivalry, threats of substitutes to the company, and the customer bargaining power.

Lina then gouged and looked into the market\'s predictive trend for the next five years.

"Ugh…" Lina\'s fingers were sore from typing that much.

Lina had forgotten when was the last time she did such in-depth analysis over something that wasn\'t history. Then, she recalled the bittersweet memories of high school. When she was in high school, she\'d stand in the corner of the room during meetings, conduct analysis for her uncle and grandfather, follow them during their discussions, and the list went on.

"Time changes so quickly…" Lina wondered out loud.

With a sore shoulder, Lina climbed out of bed. She didn\'t have time to waste. She needed to locate her phone, then begin the search for assistants or secretaries, and then, find someone to draft a contract for Krystal.

Lina\'s to-do list was long, but she prioritized one thing. Was Kaden home?

Lina was furious at him for leaving, but she was still worried. So, she got out of bed, only to hear a loud commotion from downstairs. When she made her way down the steps, she froze at the sight of her grandmother and grandfather.

"Lina," Lawrence instantly said at the sight of her.

Lina stiffened. Her entire spine went rigid. She was standing in her clothes from yesterday. Now, the shirt was wrinkled, and her hair was a mess.

Rina, her grandmother, looked at Lina up and down. Heavy disapproval was written all over her face. Her lips twisted into a deep scowl.

"What are you wearing?" Rina demanded. "That is not how a young lady should hold herself in a house."

Lina ignored her comment. "What brings you to my home, Grandfather?"

Lawrence\'s gaze swept over to the threatening stares of Kaden\'s employees. The butler, in particular, wore a friendly expression, but the other servants were on high alert. He held back a laugh. That man was smart, he\'ll give him that.

"We need to talk," Lawrence said. "You must come with us."

Lina was hesitant. "I\'m bringing Kaden\'s people with me."

"You think we\'ll do something to you?" Lawrence asked like she was crazy.

"Yes."

"Smart girl," Lawrence agreed. He nodded his head and turned to his wife. "See, I told you she has the guts."

"Hmph," Rina refused to admit it. She refused to believe the little girl that sat with her to drink tea would become like this. Wild and rebellious. She was nothing like the child Rina raised her to be. This wasn\'t the demure housewife she trained.

"Where are we going?" Lina asked her grandfather.

"Home."

Lina didn\'t know where that was. Home was in this house. Not with him.