No Strings Attached

At this moment, lan was stripped of all his usual defenses, resembling a pitiful little puppy. His big, doleful eyes begged for sympathy.

Clara's heart felt as though it had been pricked with a needle, which sent waves of sharp pain throughout her chest. She slowly crouched down, gently stroked lan's hair, and whispered softly, "lan, let me take you home."

Red-eyed, lan looked up at her. "Promise you won't leave, and I'll go with you."

"Alright, I promise."

Hearing this, lan stood, albeit unsteadily, and allowed himself to be led away. His grip on Clara's hand never loosened. It was as if he feared he'd lose her the moment he let go.

Upon arriving at the Miller family residence, Clara helped lan clean up a little and tucked him into bed.

His brows still furrowed in distress. When she watched him sleep in this way, she felt a twinge of heartache and softly smoothed his furrowed brow with her fingers. Her fingertips couldn't resist tracing the contours of his handsome face, from his eyebrows to his eyes, from his nose down to his mouth.

for a while, and she hoped that time would be as brief as possible. The cool touch of her fingertips lingered on his sensual lips. Unbidden, memories of their intimate moments

leaned in close to lan's lips and murmured

fell one by one onto lan's face. At last, she couldn't hold

it felt as if he had been in a dream. In that dream, Clara had cried. She had apologized to him. She had even kissed him of her

mind, he immediately grabbed his phone to call Clara. "Clara, where

her luggage out of the airport terminal, felt a sting in her eyes. "I had some stuff to take care

didn't you tell me? Wait for

time with Grandma Rose and the others. I need to spend some time with my

putting herself through all this back and forth while pregnant? Was she

Clara walked out of the airport, a hurried figure flashed by her side. Paolo, pale as a sheet, was on the phone. "Eddie, what the hell is going on? What do you mean Heidi isn't Mom's

is Heidi right now? Don't

chuckled darkly. "It seems you have a soft spot for this daughter. Her mother must have been quite special

I've only ever loved your mother. You