Chapter 104

104 104. Her Retribution

Thin snowflakes fell slowly to the earth, complementing the cold air around the garden, perfecting the icy situation that lay between Clara and Lea. The two young women stared at each other with mixed feelings. Their chests were tight for different reasons.

Still ringing in Lea’s mind, Clara’s expression was full of wounds when her patient said that she had no problems in life. Even though it’s not a matter of life and death, her problems were not something that a woman can easily deal with. Her fiance’s betrayal and then her infertility.

Lea also remembered how Linda asked her to help Clara. Maybe, that was one of the ways she would be able to help her atone for her sins-if Clara could accept her offer.

Could she do that for real this time? For Clara, a doctor who dedicated precious time to her mother’s treatment. If not for Clara, something fatal could have happened and would have caused death for her mother.

Lea raised her face, and opened her mouth, about to call Clara. However, not a single word managed to escape her lips. Clara’s unfriendly expression made her feel scared and depressed.

On the other hand, Clara couldn’t hide her hatred for Lea, which was still on fire. Seeing Lea’s face alone could make her chest hurt to death. It felt as if her heart was being squeezed with no mercy. Imagining how Dave touched another woman, made her feel so disgusted and suffered.

Clara then walked slower, awkwardly. She was confused, about whether she should walk past Lea, pretending she didn’t see Lea there. Or should she greet Lea? However, if she greeted her here, something unpleasant would surely happen. More fucking argument and she didn’t want it. Especially in front of her patients. She was a smart, calm, kind, and helpful doctor. Ruining her graceful image was never an option.

Finally, Clara decided to greet Lea the way she greeted the families of her other patients. The professional smile she forced seemed so stiff. Despite that, she managed to do it quite well.

Just as Clara was about to go past Lea, Lea’s hand, which was wearing beige leather gloves, grabbed Clara’s arm, which was wrapped in a white lab coat. Clara stopped walking, she then turned to Lea. Instead of reprimanding Dave’s former secretary, Clara smiled awkwardly again, trying to treat Lea kindly.

.....

“What can I do for you?” Clara asked, forcing her voice to sound casual. Even so, she still felt a strange pitch tone in her voice.

“Clara ... ah, I ... I want to thank ... you,” Lea stammered.

“For?” Clara asked again. Her brows furrowed, not understanding what Lea meant.

Lea looked nervous, her face turned red. Her shaking body made her feel nervous even more. Sweat dripped down her forehead, even though the weather was so chilly.

Because there was no answer from Lea, Clara finally said, “Do you want to find a place to warm your body up?”

Clara’s question was immediately answered with a nod by Lea. The woman walked slowly, following Clara’s direction.

The two young women walked so slowly as if it would take forever to reach the destination. They stopped in front of a room with metal doors. There were nameplates, showing Clara Decker and Dana Webster’s names on them. Clara pressed a white name card on the card sensor, then they heard a clicking sound from the sensor box while its lamp turned green.

“Please come in!” said Clara, opening the door for Lea.

Desiring more privacy, Clara took Lea to her office. She didn’t have her own office. It was a shared office for her and her partner, Dana. It’s just that today her roommate was out because she had to attend an important meeting. Luckily, today Clara could have the room for herself. Who knew that she would use this room to discuss personal matters with Lea?

Clara could have had a private room because she was the daughter of the hospital owner. However, she didn’t want to be treated differently from other fellow residents. This was not good for her career and also gave the hospital a bad reputation.

Lea entered the room with slow steps. Even though she knew that Clara would definitely not do anything bad to her, however, she still hesitated to enter the room, as if it could turn into a black hole, ready to suck her eternally.

“Sit down!” said Clara, inviting Lea to sit on the couch in the corner of the room.

Lea then walked slowly, obeying Clara’s order. She looked at the room owner many times, not expecting that she would lose so much energy doing this.

“What do you want to talk about,” Clara asked, starting the conversation. She knew that it was no use waiting for Lea to open her mouth. Lea would take a good time to start speaking. The two of them would just stare at each other all day long without saying anything.

“I want to thank you for saving my mother’s life,” Lea answered with an awkward smile. “Doctor Andreas said, without you, something might go wrong.”

Clara sneered. How could doctor Andreas reveal things that should have been kept secret?

“I’m just doing my job,” Clara answered dryly. “I do that sort of thing for all the patients I work on.”

Lea nodded. She just looked at Clara with fear and doubt. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. Clara’s icy cold expression completely frightened her.

“I know. You are a great doctor,” Lea answered with a genuine smile. She felt her eyes warm, about to burst into tears. However, she tried her best to contain it because she didn’t want to give the impression that she was suffering. “However, I still want to thank you. I’m very happy, my mother has now passed a critical time and her condition is ... good.”

Clara suddenly smiled a little. “I know that you might have been worried I would do something bad to your mother because she is ... your mother.”

Lea flinched a little at Clara’s words. Even though she didn’t say anything, her expression indicated that such a thought had crossed her mind ... at least in her sister’s mind. It is undeniable that she was also frightened, although, in the end, she tried to ward off her suspicions and entrusted the hospital to appoint a team of doctors according to their abilities and expertise.

“Relax! In this hospital, all patients will get their rights properly. Even your mother. Because she is our patient,” Clara explained casually, trying to sound professional. “Even if you are the one who gets sick and is being treated here, I will not allow my personal feelings to take over my professionality and abandon you ... or intentionally cause you to die on purpose.”

Clara explained with a smile. Yet, somehow Lea felt that she was being cursed. She lowered her head because she wasn’t sure what she was going to say.

“Are your business finished?” Clara asked again. “Then you can let me do my job-”

“This baby,” whispered Lea in a low voice, making Clara could only hear it dimly.

“Pardon?” asked Clara, wanting to reconfirm because she could only hear the word ‘this’ coming out of Lea’s lips.

“I ... plan to give the baby to Dave,” said Lea, her face growing paler, “and

... to you of course.”

Clara fell silent, staring blankly into the air. She wanted to turn to look at Lea, but her neck was so stiff, she couldn’t move at all.

Finally, without looking at Lea, Clara then said, “What do you mean by ‘giving the baby to Dave’?”

“I mean, I intend to give this baby to you later. I hope ....” Lea gulped, stopping for a moment, ” ... you and Dave, will be able to take care of the baby with lots of love,” Lea replied in a voice she wished wasn’t shaking.

“Nonsense! What are you talking about, Lea?” Clara snapped this time. Her face now looked so tense and panicked. “Why are you suddenly talking like that?”

Now, it was Lea who was stunned instead. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t say the real reason to her.

“You must have done this under coercion from Dave, right? What did he say to you?” Clara demanded, threateningly. She took Lea’s tiny shoulders and shook her gently but quite forcefully. “What did Dave do to you?”

Lea gulped. Her eyes fixed on Clara with extreme fear. There was no way she could say that it wasn’t Dave who had forced her.

“Dave didn’t do anything to me!” Lea’s voice was so low. She wasn’t lying yet she felt guilty. Dave didn’t do anything to her. The two of them had even agreed not to meet again to protect Clara’s feelings.

“I do not believe it! Then why do you want to give this baby to me?” Clara asked. She was worried that Dave told Lea about her infertility. “He must have forced you to do this, right?”

Lea’s eyes heated up. She looked at Clara with a helpless expression, “No one is forcing me, Clara! I will give this baby to you and never come near your family again! The baby will be yours ... he or she will become your child!”