CHAPTER - 21 Mike finds a clue

Millie pulled the test strip from Kara's hand and looked at the two dark red lines. She became speechless. They were all doomed. There was no way out of their trouble now.

Millie immediately dumped the test kit into the dustbin. She pulled Kara out of the bathroom and said, “We need to talk.”

When they came out together, they saw Dina’s horror-stricken face.

“What are you both doing inside the bathroom together?” She inquired.

“I fell inside the bathroom and your mother came to help me up,” Millie lied and leaned towards Kara for support.

Kara came out of the daze and held Millie instantly. She helped her to the couch and made her sit on it. When Kara noticed Dina’s doubtful eyes, she immediately asked,

“Didn’t you go to meet Mike earlier? Is he not at home? I have asked him to get his phone charger as your grandmother forgot to bring her charger.”

“He did not open the door after I rang the bell for a long time. I guess he must have gone somewhere nearby.”

"Let me see the phone, I might have it," Dina said. 

Millie took the phone out of her bag and showed it to Dina.

"Oh! This one. I have the cable for this model and you can use the power adaptor..." Dina continued to explain.

But when she noticed the blank expression on Millie's face, Dina took the phone from her hand and walked inside her room. She brought the cable and attached it to the power adaptor. Then she connected it to the socket.

"It would take an hour or so to get fully charged," Dina said.

After saying that it became awkward as neither of them knew what they should talk about anymore. Millie couldn’t bring herself to say what she came here for; while Kara didn’t know how to inform Dina about her pregnancy. 

Dina was confused as she was unsure of what she should do now. She did not want to talk about the topic where she would need to leave her mother and go stay with a family whom she just met.

‘More than family, I just met only one person from my biological family side. What about other family members? If I ask about them, will this grandma think that I am interested in going with her?’ Dina wondered.

As the silence was too much to take in, Millie broke the stillness.

“Let us all have some cake for dessert,” Millie suggested.

“Sure! Sure! Yes, yes,” Kara said and rushed towards the kitchen to get the cake.

Dina followed her inside and brought the cutlery along with the serving plates. Kara and Dina avoided looking into each other's eyes as they both were afraid that the current situation would get worse if they spoke anything.

Once Kara placed the cake on the coffee table, Dina kneeled on the floor next to the table and cut the cake into small slices. She then placed it on four plates.

“We are only three here, why did you get the fourth plate?” Millie asked.

Dina did not have the mind to tell her that it was for the shadowy figure that was standing next to her. Instead, she said,

“It’s for Mike. Once he comes back, I will give it to him.”

They all ate in silence and did not continue to speak anymore. Millie found it difficult to swallow the cake as it got stuck in her throat. She sighed and stood up.

“I am leaving and will come back tomorrow to discuss a few important matters,” Millie said and bid good-bye to Kara and Dina.

"Grandma, your phone," Dina rushed behind and gave the phone to Millie.

"Thank you, dear," Millie said.

Before leaving she hugged Dina tightly and kissed her forehead.

“I am sorry. I came so late to meet you, dear. We all love you and it was a small misunderstanding that separated us” Millie said and embraced her again.

Even though she knew that it was not any small misunderstanding. She couldn't bring herself to disclose the truth and hurt Dina.

Dina smiled awkwardly but did not push Millie away. Kara felt suffocated. She understood that this might be the only night she got with Dina. Kara walked near them and held Dina’s arm tightly. 

Millie noticed that and let go of Dina immediately. She rubbed Dina's head and walked outside. She then waved her hands and got into the car that was parked in front of their home. Dina and Kara stood in the entrance until the car disappeared from their eyes.

Once Millie inside the car, she picked her phone and dialed Mason’s phone number. It was picked up before it could even ring once. It looked like he was holding his phone and waiting for her call very badly.

“Mom, what happened? Did you meet my daughter?” Mason asked hurriedly.

“Calm down. Yes, I did. But…” Millie hesitated.

“Did she say she would not agree to our request?” Mason asked.

“No,” Millie replied.

“Yes, I knew it. I told you already this was not a good idea. We should have not used this to try to bring her back home,” He started to lament until Millie stopped him.

“Mason, listen. I did not even speak to her about that yet. I couldn’t find an opportunity to start the topic at all. I am going back to the hotel now. I will go early in the morning and try to convince her to come with me. After I bring Dina there, we will think and then decide if we want to talk her into this marriage or not. The situation right now is completely out of our control. I am not sure if she would even agree to come with me or not in the first place,” Millie explained.

“Ok, Mom. Over here Grace is asking about Tina every two seconds. It’s getting difficult to manage her, every passing minute. I don’t know what to do!” Mason told her.

“Try to manage that Devil for one more day. I will be back as soon as I can,” Millie said.

“Ok, Mom. But the marriage…” Mason didn’t know what to say or how to say it.

“Mason, Relax. I think if you ask me, we should not proceed with this marriage plan. We cannot let it happen. Try to convince your wife to stop this marriage from happening. Meanwhile, I will try to bring my granddaughter home. But if she is unwilling to come, then I can’t do anything about it. I will let her stay here,” Millie informed him.

“Ok, Mom. Please do as you find it appropriate. I will try to talk to Grace and convince her,” Mason said and disconnected the call.

Millie looked outside the car and held her head. 

‘Dina is pregnant and she definitely cannot marry Adrian now. We have to inform him about what happened to Tina and beg for his forgiveness. This marriage cannot happen at any cost,’ Millie made a firm decision.

…

“Mike, where do you think you are going? Don’t you always hate dark alleys the most?” Benjamin asked and ran behind Mike.

When Mike and Benjamin reached the nightclub, Mike remembered that he found the hat near the exit of this dark alley. So, he started to move towards that place. Benjamin was hurt when he noticed his son walk away before he even entered the night club.

“Dad, do you know any way to find if there is a shadow near this place?” Mike asked while trying to find any clue in that area.

“Are you saying Dina met a shadow here and the shadow might be the cause of her pregnancy?” Benjamin asked while gripping Mike’s arm.

If that was the case then his wife Aran would definitely show him what hell is! 

“No! I am just asking because I want to know if those shadows saw anything last month. If we want to know what happened to Dina that night, then we need to find out all the details somehow,” Mike said.

Suddenly he noticed something shiny on the ground. He walked forward and found a button. He picked it up and noticed that it belonged to Dina as the button had their shop’s logo. He could not understand what actually happened that day. Did Dina get into a fight with someone? But when she was drunk she was not someone who would lose the fight easily. 

He suddenly recalled that when she came back to their boutique the next day, she was not wearing the same clothes. Instead, she wore a dress that was not her style. She always hated to wear such sexy types and would usually not prefer it. Unless something happened to her clothes and she didn’t have any other option but to wear them.

“What dirt are you picking from the ground? Throw it away,” Benjamin complained while knitting his eyebrows.

“No, Dad. Look, it’s a clue. Dina was here that night. This button belongs to her. It even has our Logo,” He said and showed it to him.