Chapter 275: Chapter 275

Carmichaels was the first to leave the room, with his heart pounding, while the others remained frozen in fear.

Ian sounded nothing like himself, certainly not human, a farfetched notion in their minds. How could he not sound human when he was?

None of them dared entertain such thoughts but the fact was, he sounded so terrifying that the four remaining stakeholders had to do everything they could not to lose control. It was not like they were in any better shape before Ian’s sudden roar. For some reason, even though they were all older than Ian, they felt very little in front of him.

The remaining four had no idea how they got out of the room but did find themselves out of it and staring in terror, at the solemn Murray within a few seconds, if not less.

Carmichael, who had walked out on his own, had his hand on his furiously beating heart. He did not waste any time and left. Whatever that was, he did not want to stay back to find out what would happen next.

Ian hurriedly strode to the bed and leaned down towards Shelby, whispering,

"I’m here, my Elfin, talk to me," but he got no response.

The shout and ruckus from the stakeholders earlier had awoken Gabriel, who had been fast asleep.

"Daddy?" Gabriel rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, wondering what was happening. Ingrid also left her seat and made her way to the bed where Gabriel was.

Ian focused all his attention on Shelby and did not heed Gabriel’s calls. He searched for any signs that she was awake, he called Shelby desperately several times, but he heard nothing in reply, and she remained as still as she had been in the past few days. Ian was absolutely sure that he had heard Shelby call out to him, but nothing about her state showed or attested to this.

’Am I imagining things now?’ Ian asked himself and leaned down to kiss Shelby’s cheeks. He could have sworn that he had heard Shelby reach out to him.

"Dad-" Ingrid placed her hand on Gabriel to stop his questioning. She knew that their father was in no mood for any such queries.

"Shhhh!" She placed her small finger on her lips and pulled Gabriel back to lie on the bed.

"Okaaaayyyyyyy....." Gabriel replied dejectedly and then lay back down sideways, keeping his eyes on his parents.

Ian resumed his seat and laid his head on Shelby’s tummy again, letting her warmth calm him down. ’She is warm and therefore alive, ’ he chanted in his head, trying to keep the desolate feeling off.

None of the people in the room knew how much Ian’s heart and hope had surged at that small, sweet yet familiar voice he had heard, only for all that hope to be dashed in mere seconds.

Suzie did not dare approach, for she knew that something was up, but she was not sure what it was. Currey stood stiffly, also not reacting much.

"Murray!" Ian called out.

Murray swiftly entered the room and went on one knee with his head slightly bowed, "Your Majesty!"

"D-did you hear her too?"

Murray furrowed his brows and shook his head. He had been on alert and trying to listen inwards from any signal from Shelby, but all had been quiet for him.

"I have not been able to hear nor connect to Her Highness since that night a few days ago."

Ian sighed and then dismissed him.

Ian knew he needed to do something to occupy his time before going crazy. Placing another kiss on Shelby’s tummy, he returned to his seat, consciously preventing his mind from wandering.

Ingrid and Gabriel also took turns kissing Shelby’s hand, which was closest to them. It was their own way of showing that they cared and missed her. They did not notice her fingers jerk back slightly after they released it.

Ian picked up his laptop and started typing away. His fingers danced across the keyboard, never shifting his gaze from the slumbering beauty.

This was how Shelby found him a few minutes later.

Her eyes moved under the lids as she slowly opened her eyes. It took her a while to adjust to the brightness in the room, though. Shelby stared blankly at the white ceiling, trying to figure out where she was. She was disoriented because her consciousness had been plagued with dreams so much that she thought this was another of such.

She moved her head slightly to her right and saw her man—the man who had thrown fireworks into her dull life, igniting it to the fullest.

Shelby’s eyes teared up as she wondered when she could see him again. She had ’seen’ Ian several times in her dream state but had never been able to reach or touch him, and she thought that this was similar to that.

Her eyes met his, and for a second, neither of them moved. Ian looked back at his laptop to continue working, and then his fingers paused.

It was as if his eyes and mind were disconnected, and his head did not trust what he had seen.

’Am I seeing things now?’ Ian asked himself and slightly shook his head. He stopped typing and then rubbed his eyes. He had not had much sleep over those five days since Shelby had remained unconscious, apart from the first day when he had also been unconscious.

He was afraid to raise his head, and for some reason, none of the people in the room had seen Shelby up yet, surprisingly as their gazes were trained on Ian.

Shelby opened her mouth and tried to call out to him, but she could not get the words out, so she tried using their exclusive mind link: ’Ian?’

That was enough to jolt Ian, still in denial, to look up. His grey irises met that of the familiar startling blue eyes. His heart skipped a couple of beats, sending a rush of emotions. In short, Ian could not believe his eyes.

He closed them and then opened them to see Shelby still staring at him. Afraid of scaring her, he slowly set down his laptop and stood to his full height. It took Ian about three long strides to get to Shelby, but that felt like an eternity.

He knelt by her bed, disregarding the chair and then took her hands.

"Thank you for coming back to me, my love!"

He gently wiped the tears that had overflowed her eyes. Ian was scared, relieved, and shaking. He had so many other reactions and emotions that he did not know how to handle them.

His weird reaction alerted the kids to this. Gabriel tried to jump up to his mum, but Ingrid restrained him. The two got off the bed and hovered behind Ian, their eyes brimming with excitement as they stared at their mum. It only took precisely two minutes before they couldn’t handle the suspense, ignored Ian, and climbed the bed onto Shelby.

"Mama Shelby! I missed you!"

Shelby reached out her hands and briefly touched their hair one at a time while Ian remained glued to her side. Her eyes never left him, and just that connection fulfilled her soul in ways she never knew.

Suzie wiped her tears and slipped out quietly to get the dedicated doctor and, as she had been instructed, inform the rest of the family of Shelby’s state.

It had been about six days, and Avril had been on such a high alert that she was wound up tight. She stayed low and, therefore, had almost lost track of the days.

She had been glued to any news source, trying to ascertain whether Shelby had made it.

Most importantly, Avril also wanted to know if there had been any leads on the perpetrator. Avril would sigh in relief with each iteration of the news broadcast, but immediately revert to worry.

’Why did I even run? Maybe they would never associate this with me.’ She thought to herself and then started bombarding herself with self-criticism.

’If only I had not worked with that spoilt brat and that dog of a person!’ Later, Avril asked out loud,

"Brother Ian did not bother to look for me. He does not know what I did, so does that mean that he really does not care?"

With her modified appearance, Avril still made sure to wear huge sunglasses and a hoodie whenever she went out. She had been trying to leave the island to no avail. Even though she ’knew’ that no one would associate her with the crime, Avril dared not use her IDs at the port of entry/exit.

She tried once or twice but always found the place swarming with the police. Even though there were no notices, Avril felt she was being watched and the police were there for her.

She paid a huge sum of money and had a fake ID made for her. On the morning of the sixth day, Avril was able to board a ship leaving the docs of T-Vino Island.

’Better safe than sorry!’ Avril thought as she was smuggled into some crates and onto the ship. She stayed hidden, riddled with anxiety until the ship left the dock.

A tension she did not know she had oozed out of her. About an hour into trip, she eased out of her hiding place into one of the cabins that she had paid aforehand for.

Avril slipped into the small bed and let out a huge sigh,

"I made it!" while still biting her lips about the fact that she would never see Ian again. She closed her eyes and envisioned Ian, his strength, body, and personality. Avril’s thoughts went onto more erotic thoughts of Ian. She allowed her mind to unravel the gift of him and could have been between them. ’I just need to wait it out and come back to console Brother Ian!’

"Going somewhere?" a voice interrupted her thoughts, causing Avril to shout in more fright than surprise.

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