No Strings Attached

Chapter 470

Hearing this, Ian raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You know her?"

Clara nodded. "Remember Nicole, the one who conspired with Heidi to set me up back in the day? We never managed to track her down, right? That woman is Nicole, but she seems to have had some work done—it doesn't look the same as before. When you knocked her to the ground, I spotted the distinctive black birthmark on her waist. We shared a dorm for four years in college; I couldn't possibly mistake someone else for her. Leonara must have stashed her away. Maybe we can get some of Leonora's secrets out of her."

At that, Ian immediately grabbed his phone and called Edwin. The phone barely rang once before Edwin answered. "Ian, is Clara awake?"

"She's up, and all's good. Clara says the woman is Nicole, from my former secretarial team. Her family has always been under my influence. Maybe we can use that as leverage to get her to divulge something."

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

After hanging up, Edwin once again descended into the basement.

Nicole lay battered and bruised on the cold concrete floor, barely clinging to life.

Edwin approached, his gaze sharp and menacing. "I'm giving you one last chance. Why did you try to kill my sister? Who sent you?"

Nicole, enduring the pain, her breaths shallow, said, "Your sister is the reason I lost my job. I resented her marrying Ian. We graduated from the same school. Why should she get to live the high life while I can't even land a job? It's not fair!"Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Edwin played a video he'd received earlier. The footage showed a young boy playing soccer in a backyard with a man sitting beside him. That man was her fiancé, Kaleb. The sight of this broke Nicole's calm demeanor, and she became frantic. "Where are they? Did Ian take them?"

Edwin's face was expressionless, but his voice carried an eerie threat. "Tell me everything you know, and I'll ensure their safety."

Nicole finally cracked. After three years at Hayes Corporation, she was all too familiar with Ian's tactics.

Leonora had been deceiving her all along. She had thought Kaleb was sent abroad on Leonora's orders, not realizing it had been Ian's doing. The thought of her most cherished ones in Ian's hands made her plead through tears.

"Please, don't harm my son. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Edwin's voice was cold as he demanded, "Who ordered you to kill Clara?"

"It was one of Leonora's people, a man named Robert."

Edwin's eyes widened in shock at the name. "Who did you say?"

Nicole reaffirmed, "Robert, Leonora calls him Ford. He has a mole on his chin."

Hearing this description, Edwin clenched his fists tightly. He was sure this was the Robert he knew, the Hayes family's former butler.

But wasn't he supposed to have perished in that fire?

For years, the Hayes family had taken care of his family out of guilt. Could it be that the man who died wasn't Robert? Had he pulled off an escape, hiding in the shadows and doing Leonora's

bidding?

This realization sent a chill down Edwin's spine. The person they thought they knew best had been silently plotting against them all along.