Chapter 289: Come With Me

Nothing could explain the sadness Karen felt. Donald’s treatment plan was not sufficient, and he was isolating himself from everyone except for Edie. Karen looked at Edie, and a pang of guilt shot through her. "Yes, I was worried about Donald, and since I was in the area, I thought I’d stop by and check on him. Then I saw you and wanted to come over and say hello." Karen smiled politely.

Edie nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, it has been a long time since we have seen each other last, Miss. Karen. We should go for lunch sometime. I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry. It’s getting late, and I have to get home. We should talk soon, okay?"

"Okay, take care of yourself, Edie," Karen said with uneasiness in her voice. Then Donald and Karen left. Donald smiled gently and put his arm around Karen’s neck. She was a little hesitant and was pushed forward with force.

Donald’s eyes were wide and manic. "I am warning you! If you say anything or do anything, I promise Joanna will die a horrible death!" Donald’s voice was fierce and strong.

Karen looked at Donald’s hideous face and thought, ’His heart is so cold. How did he become like this?’

Karen was the illegitimate daughter of Harlan Lynch, and because of her congenital heart disease, she could not inherit Hawk Real Estate Co., Ltd. She didn’t care about fame and wealth, so instead, she devoted herself to being Donald’s assistant.

Harlan’s only wish before he died was to have Karen by his side to help Donald take back Hawk Real Estate Co., Ltd. Over the years, she had gone through many storms to keep Donald safe. Now at the age of twenty-eight, there has never been a day that she has lived for herself. Karen’s whole life revolved around Donald.

Now Donald has gone completely crazy. Karen betrayed Donald and had no idea what the consequences to her actions would be. "Donald, you need to think of Joanna’s fate. What do you think will happen to you if you hurt Joanna?" she said, without looking at him. Karen didn’t want Edie to become a victim in Donald’s hands. She sighed, and with a note of sadness in her voice, she said, "I don’t know why you find it necessary to threaten me. If I really wanted to say something, I would have said it just now."

"Really! Just now?" Donald said, with a sinister smile. "Didn’t you just try to betray me?"

"I’m afraid you’ll do something you’ll regret, and you won’t be able to take it back!" Karen said, with an alarming voice that echoed all about.

Donald showed no emotion and was as cold as an iceberg. He turned and faced Karen, glaring into her eyes. "Come with me, or you will soon be finding Joanna’s body."

Karen had a moment of desperation, and instead of struggling, she followed Donald to the car. Suffocating in an atmosphere of cruelty and baseness, it caused her so much agony to watch Donald suffer. Karen sat in the passenger’s seat and looked at Donald’s face. It was a face that she no longer recognized.

Donald’s face was ferocious and looked like the devil from hell. "Where has the gentle and warm man gone that I used to know? I know Joanna isn’t dead. You need to tell me where you’re hiding her." There was so much tenderness in her voice as she spoke to him.

Donald had been investigating Edie and Stuart since he returned home. He used all of his connections. Karen was certain that Donald’s ultimate goal was to get Edie. She couldn’t take it anymore, and she didn’t want to watch Donald go through this torture.

Karen followed Edie as soon as she left Donald after dinner. She wanted to talk to her and tell Edie the truth. Karen knew she had to stop Donald, but unexpectedly Karen was recognized by Donald.

The price that Karen paid was Donald’s trust. Neither one of them said a word while they were in the car, it was dead silence. Just then, Karen’s phone rang, and she jumped from the abrupt noise.

She looked at Donald carefully and saw he had no reaction. She answered the phone, and the person on the other end was frantic, "Miss. Karen! The chairman is missing!"

"What do you mean, missing?" Karen frowned, and her eyes flickered from Donald to her phone.

"At two o’clock this afternoon, the chairman was alone at the company. Her secretary told me that someone arrived and she left with him. Then she didn’t show up for her appointment this evening. The chairman’s secretary has been trying to reach her all day, but she’s not answering, and no one knows where she is." The man on the other end of the phone sounded concerned. "It’s strange because the chairman sent a letter saying she was all right. We had the handwriting checked, and it is indeed the chairman’s." The person said, in a panic voice.

Karen slowly took the phone away from her ear before he could finish. She fixed her eyes on Donald’s face and said, "You kidnapped the chairman?"

Karen couldn’t believe he could do such a thing. "She’s your mother, Donald. You really have gone insane!".

Hearing Karen’s questions raised a disapprovingly sneer, and Donald said, "How can you say it’s kidnapping? That’s just awful. I didn’t hurt her! I just took her to a nice place to rest, and I couldn’t help but show her around. Rest assured, she loved every minute of it."

"You...how could you do this to her?" Karen said, sounding upset. She was furious with him. All these thoughts were stuck in her head and felt like a sharp thorn that pricked at her pain.

Karen thought the scene was ironic as she was an illegitimate child asking the orthodox son what he did with his mother. She tried to reason with him and said, "Donald, this is foolish and senseless behavior. You need to stop this now before it’s too late."

With senseless laughter, he said, "I know your mother died early. Did you ever think of her as your mother, did you? What kind of mother was she? Loraine did not give birth to us and did not raise us." Donald paused to gather his thoughts. Karen could see the hatred in his eyes. "For so many years, she only pretended in front of our father to be kind to us. When our father wasn’t around, she used all kinds of means to abuse me. Even after my father died, Loraine still held the rights to Hawk Real Estate Co., Ltd. and refused to hand it over to me. What kind of woman is this? She was never a mother to you or to me!"

When Donald’s mother died after giving birth to him, Harlan soon married Loraine Carpenter. Unfortunately, Loraine couldn’t have children and was a narrow-minded woman. Donald had lived a hard life under her care for all these years.

He had never told anyone except for Karen that Loraine had treated him so badly over the years. In his confused state of mind, Donald was unleashing all the demons in his heart, and his hatred for Loraine was growing stronger.

"Donald, what happened to you? I don’t recognize you anymore!" Karen said sadly as the tears streamed down her cheeks.