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.”

walked confidently behind the nurse, leaving lan clenching his fists as he

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

into his arms, the look in his

Heidi is having a fit. She’s

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,

instructing her in a grave voice to wait. Watching lan hurry into Heidi’s room after leaving her there, Clara maintained an eerily

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