Chapter 262: A secret love life

Clara froze, her eyes flickering nervously as she slowly made her way toward the bathroom. She held her breath and tiptoed toward the sound, careful not to make a single noise.

The strange grunting continued, and the moment she noticed that the bathroom door was slightly ajar, she took a deep breath.

I’m not invading his privacy. I’m just curious, and I want to make sure the boy is okay.

Clara wasn’t someone who crossed boundaries, but hearing the uncomfortable sounds coming from the bathroom, she couldn’t help worrying about Zane. What if something had happened to him?

Taking another deep breath, she gathered her courage and reached for the door, ready to check on him. However, before she could even touch it, the door suddenly swung open, revealing Zane standing before her with a conflicted look in his eyes.

Clara froze, blinking in surprise as she stared at him.

"What are you doing here?" Zane asked with a frown, his expression instantly darkening.

Clara straightened like a cat caught stealing food. Her lips parted, but no words came out. She opened and closed her mouth, desperately trying to come up with a convincing excuse.

"I-I forgot my phone," she stammered, barely daring to look at him.

Zane stared at her for a moment before glancing toward the table where her phone lay.

"It’s over there," he said flatly, pointing toward it.

Clara hastily followed the direction of his finger, and the moment she spotted her phone, she forced an awkward smile.

"Oh! There it is!"

She hurried toward the table and quickly snatched it up, clutching it tightly.

"Haha... Sorry for the trouble. I’ll leave you to it now," she said with a sheepish smile.

Before Zane could respond, she turned around and practically sprinted out of the room, leaving him standing there in confusion.

The door shut behind her, and Clara immediately pressed a hand against her chest, releasing a long sigh of relief.

"That was so close," she muttered under her breath.

However, her relief didn’t last long. Her expression gradually darkened as she recalled the strange sounds she’d heard earlier.

Something wasn’t right.

Clara pursed her lips, lost in thought for a moment, before shaking her head and quickly walking away.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Zane stood motionless for a few seconds, still trying to process what had just happened.

He blinked, finally recovering from his momentary stunned silence, then slowly rolled his shoulder.

A sharp pang of pain shot through him, forcing a groan from his lips.

"Damn it," he muttered, wincing.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and made his way toward the bed. Every movement seemed to aggravate the pain, and by the time he reached it, he was visibly exhausted.

He lowered himself onto the mattress with a quiet sigh, carefully adjusted his position, and lay down.

For a moment, he stared blankly at the ceiling before finally closing his eyes, hoping to get some much-needed rest.

***

After finishing his work, Mark went to pick Hannah up. However, throughout their time together, Hannah couldn’t help noticing that he seemed unusually distracted. He would occasionally fall silent in the middle of a conversation, his mind seemingly occupied by something else.

Finally, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she turned to him.

"Okay, tell me. What’s going on in that head of yours?" she asked suddenly.

Mark froze for a moment, caught off guard by her question.

For a brief second, Hannah wondered if he was having second thoughts about their relationship or her decision to meet his parents. After all, things had been moving rather quickly between them, and she wouldn’t blame him if he needed some time to process everything.

However, the moment Mark narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, she realized his mind was occupied with something entirely different.

"Hannah, did you know your brother was interested in someone before Clara?"

The question caught her completely off guard.

Her expression shifted from curiosity to utter shock as she stared at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked incredulously. "My brother never told us he was interested in anyone. The only thing we ever heard from him was his sudden announcement that he intended to marry Clara!"

For years, Hannah had genuinely wondered whether her brother possessed any human emotions at all. Dominic spent most of his time working, barely leaving himself any room for a personal life. Sometimes, she even suspected that his only true love was his business.

There had even been rumors circulating about his interest in men. At one point, she’d secretly wondered whether Mark himself might be the person Dominic was interested in, considering how much time the two of them spent together.

Of course, those suspicions had eventually faded. Dominic was now married to Clara, while Mark had confessed his feelings for Hannah.

But hearing that her brother might have been interested in someone before Clara was something she had never expected.

"Why are you asking me this?" Hannah questioned, her curiosity growing. "Did you hear something?"

Mark remained silent for a moment, recalling memories from their university days.

"I don’t know if it means anything, but I remember something from back when we were sharing a dorm," he finally said.

Hannah immediately leaned closer. "What is it?"

"There was a time when I walked into his room and found him chatting with someone online." Mark paused, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I teased him about it, asking whether he’d finally found someone interesting enough to distract him from work."

"And what did he say?"

"Surprisingly, he didn’t deny it."

Hannah’s eyes widened.

"Wait, seriously? Brother actually admitted he was talking to someone?"

Mark nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah. Back then, I didn’t think much of it. He was always so secretive that I assumed it was just someone he knew."

He paused, his expression growing more serious.

"But looking back, I remember how different he seemed whenever he was talking to that person. He could ignore everyone else for hours, but the moment he started chatting with them, he wouldn’t even notice how much time had passed."

Hannah stared at him, stunned.

"You’re telling me my brother actually had a secret love life, and none of us knew about it?"

Mark shrugged.

"That’s what I’m beginning to wonder."

Hannah frowned, clearly puzzled by his words.

"What does that even mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

Mark pursed his lips, seemingly contemplating whether he should reveal anything more.

Hannah immediately caught on to his hesitation.

"Oh, no, you don’t!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "Mark, you know I’m not letting you go until you tell me everything!"

Mark glanced at her, then sighed inwardly.

If he had intended to keep the matter a secret, he shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. Now, after piquing her curiosity, he couldn’t simply pretend nothing had happened.

"All right, all right. Don’t look at me like that," he said, raising his hands in surrender.

Hannah crossed her arms and waited expectantly.

Mark let out a resigned sigh, knowing he had no chance of escaping her interrogation.

Sorry, boss, but I’m siding with Madam this time. I’m not letting your old crush ruin your marriage.

He shook his head, already imagining the trouble Dominic would cause if he ever discovered what Mark was about to reveal.

Still, looking at Hannah’s determined expression, he knew keeping quiet would only make things worse.

"Fine," he muttered. "But you have to promise me you won’t jump to conclusions before hearing the whole story."

Hannah’s eyes lit up. "Now we’re talking!" she said, and Mark sighed once again before opening his mouth to speak.

***

Meanwhile, Clara returned home and had dinner with Dominic. However, despite sitting across from her husband, her thoughts kept drifting back to Zane and the strange sounds she’d heard earlier.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed when Dominic spoke.

"Did you see the news about Mr. Graham?"

His voice immediately caught her attention.

Clara blinked and looked up, quickly pulling herself out of her thoughts. She had yet to tell Dominic about Adrian and everything she’d learned that day. However, now that the old man had made his search public, there was little reason to keep it from her husband.

"Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you about that," she said.

Dominic put down his cutlery and turned his attention to her.

"What is it?"

"I haven’t told you about this before, but when I went to thank Adrian that day, I happened to learn something about his past." Clara paused, gathering her thoughts before continuing. "Nana is the daughter of the woman he loved. He recently found that she is no longer alive and now he wants to find if her daughter is doing well"

Dominic listened quietly, his expression turning thoughtful.

Although Clara didn’t know much about the woman herself, seeing how Adrian still spoke of her had given her a glimpse of just how deeply he had loved her.

It was the kind of devotion that remained even after years of separation and loss.

And perhaps that was why Clara had felt compelled to help when she discovered that Nana had become involved with the same human trafficking group.

She paused, looking at Dominic as a thought crossed her mind. For a moment, she considered saying something more, but eventually decided against it.

"Do you want me to help you look into this?" Dominic asked, noticing her hesitation.

Clara shook her head.

"No, I’ve already asked an online friend to look into it for me. But it turns out..." Clara paused, her expression growing serious. "Neither of us knows anything about Nana."

Dominic watched her attentively as she continued.

"I was once kidnapped by a woman involved in human trafficking, and that online friend was with me throughout that ordeal. However, neither of us has ever heard of anyone named Nana." She frowned slightly. "What’s more, we discovered that the records of several children, including mine, appear to have been misplaced."