An Innocent Heart Longing For Love

Fury or fume was not enough of a word to describe how Clayton felt at that moment. Though his emotions soon turned into one of a panic, 'What if, I never see her again?'

"Aaliyah, I am on my way there too! How close are you to the site?"

"It would take another hour at the minimum. Do you want me to convey her anything?"

" I... I actually want to talk to her. Can you please... help me." When he completed the sentence, the suppressed tears rolled down from his eyes and stained the ground where he stood solid.

"Sure! I will contact you immediately, once I reach the campsite."

After a slight hesitation, Aaliyah added, "Mr.Clayton! Godmother is a strong-willed woman, and belief in her, she will be alright."

"Thank you for everything!" Clayton replied in a shivering voice, He himself could not believe how his voice was cracking at that point.

Clayton cut the phone immediately to hide his shivering voice.

Aaliyah pondered, 'Poor man! How many times had he begged Godmother to leave this place? Yet godmother stayed behind and refused to go with him each time by saying, 'THIS WAS MY DESTINATION.'

Words escaped from Aaliyah's mouth, a little audible for others besides her to hear, "I should never have left your side, Godmother!" 'I would rather take the bullet to my heart than watching you injured.'

Clayton's left hand which was supporting his hip injected more pain to his hip as his grasp tightened each passing minute. He breathed heavily to stop the tears from falling down further.

All of a sudden, a firm voice from behind startled him.

"Clayton! What was that all about?" Luyisa's emotionless and fearless voice rang loud. She was stalking him at a safe distance when she overheard that he was leaving the country.

"Tell me the truth! Where is Kathy?" Luyisa's voice broke and tears started to cloud her eyes.

Luyisa continued, "You were talking about our Kathy, right? Where is she? Don't dare to hide it from me anymore. I know, She is out there somewhere."

Clayton gulped hard and the tears that he was holding hard finally fell to the ground.

"She was in Country S. She devoted herself to serve the people dying there. Today Morning two hours after Anna posting her public statement online, a bomb was blasted in the border and Kathy... Kathy was..."

"What?! What happened to her? Please tell me, I beg you." Luyisa held Clayton's hand firmly and urged him to speak.

Never in this lifetime, she would have imagined whatever she heard a minute before was all true.

Clayton replied in a shaky voice, "One of her legs was amputated."

"What?! Her legs?! Why? Why did you let her be there? You should have tied and dragged her back home. Why did you let her be, and why did you hide it from me for so long?" Luyisa rocked Clayton violently. "Why didn't you tell any one of us about Kathy?"

Clayton screamed loud, "To protect Anna... I never revealed the truth to anyone just because i want to protect Anna... I don't want Anna to end up the same fate as of Kathy.

They want Anna to be their next Godmother, They believe that only Kathy's daughter would lead them and protect them. And I don't want Anna to shoulder the weight, it was too heavy for that small girl to carry."

Luyisa mumbled incoherently, "Why would they want Anna to go there? Why would she go? I don't understand!"

"It's because Kathy wants to," he yelled again. "Kathy aspires Anna to be there with them after her."

"I don't want to talk about any of this. Please do take care of Anna and don't tell Anna or anyone about Kathy. Anna should never know about any of what you heard today.

As for Anna, her mother was long gone, and you better don't give Anna the hope of meeting her mother ever again. If you want Anna to obtain a peaceful life, they both should never meet.

I have to leave the country momentarily. From now on, make Shane take care of Symonds Corporation, and don't involve Anna in any of company matters. I will send the necessary doc.u.ments soon enough to you."

Luyisa looked at the man in front of her in trouble, 'He does genuinely care about Anna's future, would Edward or Kathy be this thoughtful about Anna. My love for Anna might be because of guilt but his care for Anna is boundless, he cares for Anna more than Kathy. What did I miss?'

Luyisa replied, "Don't you worry about Anna, I will handle everything on your behalf. Shane is already on his way back home, once he returns I will make sure everything goes back to the way it was. I will never let anyone hurt Anna including my own son."

"Good! Concentrate more on bringing Anna out of the Symonds Residence. It was not safe for her to be there."

Luyisa nodded in agreement.