No Strings Attached

Chapter 180

Just as she was about to speak, Clam heard the unmistakable ringtone of lan’s cell phone cutting through the air.

A glimpse of the caller ID showed Edwin. lan’s expression soured as he reluctantly hit the answer button, prepared to declare catastrophe If it wasn’t crucial. Yet it was Heidi’s piercing walls that erupted from the other side, so shrill that Clara, standing beside him, could hear every note of distress.

Clara’s fingers, hanging limply at her side, involuntarily curled into a fist. This wasn’t the first time Clara had heard Heidi cry over the phone like this. Back before Clam and lan had called it quits, it was a common occurrence.

lan used to dash off to Heidi’s side no matter how late or what he was in the middle of doing. Even if Clara herself had been the one calling for help, he never seemed to be able to make time for her.

The bitterness of those dark days crept onto Clara’s lips as she forced a wry smile and quickened her pace, wheeling her luggage away.

thought to hang up, but then he heard Heidi say, “lan, Mrs. Leonora got hit by a car, while she was trying to

this.

much as a goodbye to Clara, lan’s figure disappeared into the bustling crowd of

his retreating back. She had thought lan had changed, and he wouldn’t fall back into Heidi’s orbit as he had so adamantly voiced. But it wasn’t him

without the bonds of an engagement, the longstanding friendship between their families remained, as did the life debt that bound lan to her. With those ties, lan could never fully

lips as she turned to Anders. “Ryker’s here to pick

to find Grandma Rose already out of danger, suffering nothing more than a broken leg. But Leonora was another story–unconscious with a severe head injury post–surgery, leaving

planning to ask about Helena when, at this pivotal

at hand, he decided to make a