No Strings Attached

She lay there on the hospital bed, swathed in bandages from head to toe like a mummy straight out of a horror flick. Her throat could only muster up a series of feeble "ahh ahh" sounds, not a single coherent word.

He turned to Clara. His voice was gentle. "I brought her back. I want her to witness our happiness with her own eyes."

Clara's expression was nonchalant. "Let's go in. I suspect I'm the last person she wants to see." With that said, Clara took the lead, stepping into the hospital room.

Heidi, stubbornly clamping her mouth shut, was refusing her medicine just as Clara's slim silhouette appeared before her.

Despite the ordeal Clara had been through, just a few days of recuperation had restored the radiant beauty to her face. Her complexion was glowing once again.

Sure enough, the moment Heidi laid eyes on Clara, her eyes bulged in disbelief. She shook her head furiously, a raspy growl emerging from her throat, "No, no, no..."

form before whispering softly, "Did you

the woman who, in her eyes, was to blame for her current state. But no matter how much she struggled, her arms and legs were numb, unresponsive. She began to sob uncontrollably. Her tears were blending into the bandages wrapped around her

in close, and said with a light voice, "I was tied up, beaten, and left for dead in a fire by you, yet I never gave up on living. How can you not have the courage to keep going? Don't you want to see me welcomed back by the Campbell family? Don't you want

single curse could pass her lips. She could only watch helplessly as Clara stood before her, unscathed. The hate

and whispered in her ear, "Rest assured. I'll find the best doctors to treat you. And I will find the woman who killed my mother, so you both can face

Clara stood up, looking down at Heidi as if she were

couldn't accept her defeat to Clara. She couldn't stand the thought of everything

the one to seal Clara's fate, so why

to accept this. She would never accept