No Strings Attached

Chapter 12

“You really don’t have to do this. I’m not that kind of guy. If you’re not up for it, I won’t push you,” Edwin said, his voice laced with concern.

“I can’t stand owing favors, especially to anyone connected to Heidi,” Clara replied with a firmness that belied her frail frame. “Mr. Edwin, I hope you haven’t forgotten our arrangement.”

With a curt nod, Clara turned and approached the nurse who had been waiting patiently. “Let’s get this bloodwork over with.”

“Clara!” lan’s voice crackled with urgency as he pulled her back, his gaze burning into her. “What’s with you and Edwin? Are you hiding something from me?”

Unfazed, Clara met his stare, a wry smile playing on her lips. “What, scared I’ll make him my next sugar daddy? Don’t worry. Even if I were desperate, I wouldn’t go after your closest friend.”

After shrugging off lan’s grasp, Clara walked confidently behind the nurse, leaving lan clenching his fists as he watched her go.

Twenty minutes later, Clara emerged from the room, her small face as pale as a ghost. Her typically rosy lips were drained of color, and her eyes, usually so vivid, were now dull. She staggered along the corridor, supporting herself against the wall.

Without hesitation, lan scooped her up into his arms, the look in his eyes indescribable. “I’ll take you somewhere to rest.”

But before he could move, a nurse’s voice called from behind. “Mr. Hayes, Ms. Heidi is having a fit. She’s crying and asking for you. Please, you need to see her right away.” Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Clara watched lan with an unreadable gaze, her pale lips twitching into a bitter smile. Earlier, when they had taken her blood, she had felt a wave of dizzying darkness fall across her vision. She had been fighting sleep ever since. But in spite of this, she had strived to emerge from her hospital room. Seeing lan approaching her, a sliver of hope had stirred within her. She wanted to tell him that she couldn’t hold on any longer, to whisk her away. Yet, upon hearing the nurse’s comment, she laughed scornfully. After all, between Heidi and herself, lan had never sought her.

lan hesitated for a brief moment before gingerly laying her down, instructing her in a grave voice to wait. Watching lan hurry into Heidi’s room after leaving her there, Clara maintained an eerily calm demeanor. She quickly dropped her gaze to hide the tears welling in her eyes.

“Ms. Clara, allow me to escort you back,” Edwin offered gently, reaching out to support her, but his gesture was fervently rejected. She fixed him with a defiant gaze, her voice cold and filled with resolve. “Mr. Edwin, our debts are paid, and I won’t bear the burden of owing you anything further.”

With those words, she began to make her way out, steadying herself against the wall. She felt the tremors. running through her legs, the world around her darkening, her strength waned. And yet, through sheer willpower, she managed to descend the stairs and slip out from the purview of the Campbell family–away from lan’s sight.

However, she didn’t get far before her body betrayed her, overwhelming darkness blotted out her vision as she fell towards the ground.

Just when she was resigned to her fall, a strong hand grasped her waist. A man’s worried voice echoed in her ear, “Clara!”