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.

Clara's heart ached in tandem. She knew that after she left, lan would be in pain 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 together flooded her mind. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the

leaned in close to lan's lips

by one onto lan's face. At last, she couldn't hold back any longer and pressed

morning, when lan awoke, it felt as if he had been in a dream. In that dream, Clara

thoughts racing through his mind, he immediately grabbed his phone to call Clara. "Clara, where are

of the airport terminal, felt a sting in her eyes. "I had some

upright in bed. "Why didn't you tell me? Wait for me. I'll

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

forth while pregnant? Was she going to

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 child?" Edwin's voice was cold as ice. "We'll talk about it when you get

now? Don't

for this daughter.

to me. I've only ever loved your mother.