Chapter 151: You never listen Clara
Meanwhile, the officer in charge finished briefing the team before turning to Dominic.
"We’ve secured the entire building, sir. However, we’ll still need to question Mrs. Sterling and Miss Gen regarding today’s incident."
Dominic gave a silent nod before shifting his gaze toward Mark. A single glance was all it took.
Mark immediately understood.
With his usual easygoing smile, he walked over to Gen.
"Miss Gen," he said politely, "how about I drop you home?"
The innocent offer left both Gen and Clara frozen.
Gen blinked in confusion.
Clara, on the other hand, mentally picked up a frying pan.
Traitor.
This snake actually told Dominic everything.
She wanted nothing more than to strangle Mark on the spot, but she quickly realized she had much bigger problems.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
She turned her head toward Dominic.
The man’s face was completely expressionless.
No frown.
No glare.
No anger.
Which somehow made him ten times scarier.
I’m dead.
Forget burial... this man is going to skin me alive.
Forcing an awkward smile, Clara quickly grabbed Gen’s arm.
"H-How about I keep Gen company?" she suggested a little too enthusiastically. "She must be terrified after everything that happened today. We girls should stick together, right?"
She even gave Gen a meaningful look that practically screamed, Save me.
Gen looked back just as helpless.
Madam... I can’t even save myself.
Before Clara could take another step, a firm hand wrapped around her wrist.
She didn’t even need to turn around to know who it belonged to.
Dominic effortlessly pulled her back until she was standing beside him.
"No."His calm voice sent chills down her spine. "We’re going home."
"B-But—"
"No."
"What if Gen—"
"Mark is with her."
"I suddenly remembered I have somewhere to—"
"You don’t."
Clara let out a silent cry.
Can somebody call an ambulance in advance?
She shot one last desperate glance at Gen.
"Remember me fondly."
Gen bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.
"I’ll... visit your grave?"
"Not helping," Clara muttered miserably.
Without another word, Dominic guided—more accurately, dragged—his troublesome wife toward the waiting car.
Clara stumbled after him while trying to pry his hand off.
"Dom... darling... love of my life..."
No response.
"My handsome husband?"
Silence.
"I’ll buy you dessert?"
Still nothing.
Clara sighed dramatically.
Yep... definitely dead.
Moments later, the car pulled away, leaving the remaining officers behind.
Gen watched it disappear before turning to Mark with genuine concern.
"Do you think Madam will be okay?"
Mark chuckled softly.
"Trust me." He opened the passenger door for her.
"Boss may look terrifying when he’s angry..." He paused before smiling knowingly. "...but Mrs. Sterling is the only person in the world who can survive making him this mad."
Gen couldn’t help laughing. "I suppose that’s true."
"Besides," Mark added with a grin, "if Boss really intended to punish her..."
He glanced toward the road where the car had disappeared. "...he wouldn’t have taken her home. He would’ve interrogated her right here."
Gen laughed even harder.
"I suddenly don’t know whether to feel relieved or worried."
"You should feel sorry for Boss," Mark replied. "Being married to Madam is a full-time job."
Gen nodded in complete agreement.
"I can believe that."
Mark closed the car door after she got in before walking around to the driver’s seat.
"Come on. I’ll drop you home."
"Thank you."
The two drove away, while somewhere ahead on the road, Clara was undoubtedly trying—and failing—to talk her way out of Dominic Sterling’s silent wrath.
***
The drive back to the Sterling mansion was painfully quiet.
Dominic sat in the driver’s seat, his eyes fixed on the road, one hand resting casually on the steering wheel.
Beside him, Clara sat as straight as a schoolgirl caught cheating on an exam.
She stole a glance at him. Nothing. Not even a blink.
He’s still silent... This is bad.
When Dominic thinks, I can at least hear what’s in his mind. However when he goes quiet... people disappear.
She awkwardly cleared her throat.
"So...the weather is... nice?"
"..."
Clara pursed her lips. " Actually, I don’t even know why I said that. It’s almost night."
Still nothing.
She clasped her hands together. "Husband?"
...
"My dear husband?"
...
"My handsome husband?"
Dominic finally spoke. "Finished?"
Clara instantly nodded.
"...No."
A muscle twitched near Dominic’s jaw before he returned his attention to the road.
Clara sighed.
Okay... compliments don’t work.
A few minutes later, she tried again.
"You know... Hm? I was actually trying to help."
Dominic finally looked at her. The single glance made Clara immediately sit up straighter.
"Not. A. Word, Clara."
Dominic’s deep voice was calm, but the warning in it was impossible to miss. "We’ll talk once we’re home."
Clara, who had been about to launch into her hundredth excuse, immediately froze.
"...Okay."
She obediently mimed zipping her lips before pressing two fingers over them as if sealing the invisible zipper shut.
Dominic spared her a brief glance. For a split second, she almost thought his expression had softened.
Almost until he returned his attention to the road without another word.
Silence settled inside the car once again.
Clara sat with her hands folded neatly on her lap, resisting the overwhelming urge to say something. Anything.
She counted the passing streetlights even looked out the window. She even tried humming in her head.
This is torture...
Unable to help herself, she slowly turned to look at Dominic.
His sharp features remained unreadable, but she knew him well enough to notice the subtle signs.
His grip around the steering wheel was firmer than usual.
His jaw remained tightly set and his eyes... they weren’t angry. They were worried.
The moment Clara focused, his thoughts drifted into her mind.
[She actually walked into that place... alone. Does she have any idea what kind of people were inside? What if I had arrived a minute too late?]
His grip on the steering wheel tightened.
[Does she not care about herself?]
A painful lump formed in Clara’s throat.
[...Does she not care about me?]
She lowered her eyes. The guilt she had been trying to ignore finally settled heavily in her chest.
[What would’ve happened to me...] His thoughts grew quieter. [...if something had happened to her?]
Clara bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying.
She had been so focused on catching Thomas that she had completely forgotten there was someone who would lose himself if anything ever happened to her.
Slowly, she inched her hand toward his, however just before her fingers could touch him, she remembered his warning.
Not a word.
She quietly withdrew her hand again.
For the rest of the drive, neither of them spoke while the silence between them wasn’t filled with anger.
It was filled with fear neither of them knew how to express.
***
A few minutes later, the black sedan rolled through the iron gates of the Sterling Mansion before coming to a smooth stop in front of the grand entrance.
Dominic switched off the engine.
Without saying a single word, he stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him.
Clara followed a second later.
Gone was the fearless woman who had walked into a criminal’s hideout without hesitation.
Now she trailed a few steps behind Dominic like an innocent little rabbit following a lion, her head lowered, her hands clasped behind her back, and her lips still tightly sealed.
Every servant they passed couldn’t help but steal curious glances.
Madam...
Silent?
Now that was far more shocking than anything that had happened at the warehouse.
None of them dared ask what had happened.
Judging by the frighteningly calm expression on their master’s face and the unusually obedient Mrs. Sterling trailing behind him, everyone instinctively knew one thing.
The storm had yet to begin.
***
Thud.
The bedroom door clicked shut behind them.
Clara slowly turned to face Dominic.
Her fingers nervously twisted together as she searched for the right words.
She wanted to explain.She wanted to tell him how much she had missed him, how every passing hour without him had felt unbearably long.
But after everything that had happened today...
She wasn’t even sure he wanted to hear her.
"Dom... I... I—"
Before she could finish, Dominic crossed the distance between them in two quick strides.
His hand gently but firmly braced against the wall beside her, trapping her between him and the door.
The next instant, his lips claimed hers.
The kiss was deep and desperate, carrying every ounce of fear, relief, and longing he had buried throughout the day.
Dominic had promised himself he would stay patient.
He would let her explain everything first.
He would remain calm.
But the moment she stood in front of him, safe and unharmed, every bit of that resolve crumbled.
He had spent the entire day terrified of losing her.
All he wanted now was the reassurance that she was truly here.
He reluctantly pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.
"You never listen, Clara."
His voice was low, filled more with exhaustion than anger.
Before she could answer, he captured her lips once more in a gentler kiss.
His thoughts echoed louder than his words.
[Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I learned you had gone into that place alone?
Surrounded by dangerous people... without telling me.]
His hands rested carefully on her waist, as though reassuring himself she was real.
[I finished everything as quickly as I could because all I wanted was to come home... to have you in my arms... to know you were safe.]
He closed his eyes briefly.
[You never listen, Clara.]
And because you scared me half to death... you’re not getting away with this so easily.