Chapter 13
Jasper pressed the gas pedal harder, but a creeping sense of wrongness gnawed at him. It didn’t feel like he was getting closer to Claire Green at all–instead, she seemed to be slipping further and further away.
His mind flashed back to that unfamiliar car, the one that had sped past him earlier. Suddenly, his breathing turned ragged and shallow, panic clawing at his throat.
He should never have left.
He’d made a mistake. A terrible mistake.
He raced home, tires screeching down the quiet neighborhood streets.
When Jasper finally burst into the Main family house, only Mrs. Main and the caretaker remained. Everyone else was gone.
He tore through the rooms, up and down the stairs, searching every corner. No matter how much he tried to deny it, the truth was unavoidable–Claire Green had left.
Dr. Main had lied to him.
Back to Cabinda? Yes. That had to be it.
Cabinda had the country’s top hospitals, the best doctors and facilities. Dr. Main must have
taken them all there, to treat Frederick Austin.
It didn’t matter, Jasper told himself. If they were in Cabinda, he could still see Claire. He clung to that thought, even as cold sweat prickled at his scalp.
He forced himself to look calm as he stepped into Mrs. Main’s sunlit bedroom, trying to sound casual. “They went to Cabinda, right?”
Mrs. Main, unusually lucid, looked up at him in surprise. “Cabinda? No, they’ve gone abroad, dear. To treat that gentleman. Didn’t you know?”
She paused, then added, “I heard Claire and that gentleman are planning to settle there, too.”
Jasper stared at the phone in his hand. His last message to Claire, a photo, still sat unopened in their chat. When Mrs. Main’s words registered, his phone slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.
His little sister was gone.
No calls went through. He couldn’t even find out which country she’d gone to.
He remembered suddenly–when Sophia Carter had reached into his pocket for his wallet. In that moment, he’d felt Claire’s eyes on him, watching. Maybe it hadn’t been his imagination after all. Maybe it was some unspoken connection, the bond of being the only family each other had left.
Chapter 13
He could sense when she was near, and when she was gone.
But he only truly understood it now–now, when it was already far too late.
Back then, when Claire saw Sophia reach into his pocket for his wallet, so familiar, so intimate–what must she have thought?
For years, Jasper had deliberately kept Sophia close, knowing it would make Claire uncomfortable. He wanted to punish her, to hurt her–partly out of resentment, partly because Sophia was Dr. Main’s niece. After their parents died, Claire had grown cold and withdrawn. Jasper remembered once secretly following her to the hospital, overhearing her tell the doctor about her constant shortness of breath and tightness in her chest. He’d worried she had a heart problem.
He wanted to ask Dr. Main for help, but after their parents‘ deaths, the Green family had grown distant from him. Jasper felt awkward admitting he was worried about Claire, so he’d used Sophia as an excuse to reconnect with the doctor. He’d planned to mention Claire’s symptoms casually, hoping Dr. Main would take a look.
But Claire would never know about his twisted, roundabout motives. She probably just thought he’d replaced her with Sophia, chosen a new sister and left her behind.
Jasper’s chest ached, a sharp, unbearable pain. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d truly lost Claire this time–maybe he’d lost her long ago.
That stubborn, clingy little sister who used to follow him everywhere, always demanding his attention–she’d been gone for a long time.
Jasper returned to Cabinda and searched the city all day, but found nothing. He considered calling the police, but they told him Claire was an adult, free to go wherever she wished.
He remembered, suddenly, that the year their parents died, Claire had only been fifteen. He’d spent the past seven years fighting with her, giving her the cold shoulder, convincing himself that time hadn’t really passed at all. He’d used his anger at Claire to mask the pain of losing their parents.
Now, standing alone on the freezing street on New Year’s Eve, he realized–maybe Claire wasn’t so wrong after all. Maybe those people were telling the truth–maybe the reason she stayed home that day, seven years ago, was to help prepare his eighteenth birthday party.
Maybe it hadn’t been a lie.
Jasper stared into the night, lost and empty, and dialed Dr. Main’s number one more time.
This time, the call went through.
Hope surged in Jasper’s chest, and he stammered, “Dr. Main, you–you know where Claire is, don’t you? Please, tell me-”
Dr. Main’s voice was calm but firm. “Jasper, I only answered to tell you this: after what you did the other day, I won’t be sharing anything about Claire or Mr. Austin’s whereabouts with you. So don’t waste your time.”
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Chapter 13
Jasper’s desperation spilled out. “I swear, I won’t interfere with any of your treatment. I–I’m just really worried about her. She has heart problems–I heard her tell a doctor she can’t catch her breath sometimes-”
Dr. Main’s tone was grave. “I’ve reviewed her medical records. Her heart is fine. The shortness of breath is the result of severe, recurring depression over the years.”
Jasper was quick to protest. “That’s impossible. She’s been fine all these years–she couldn’t have any mental issues-”
He stopped mid–sentence.
Had she really been fine?
He remembered the past seven years–Claire’s lifeless expression, her pale face, the way nothing seemed to interest her anymore. She’d stopped talking, stopped caring about him. Whenever he lashed out, she’d just look at him with tired eyes, never defending herself. Even when they fought, she always ended up silent, withdrawn.
Jasper had always assumed Claire was physically ill. That’s why he wanted Dr. Main to examine her. But he’d never stopped to consider that her symptoms might be the scars of something deeper–psychological wounds.
On the other end of the line, Dr. Main continued, “Post–traumatic stress disorder. Severe depression. It all started seven years ago.”
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