Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Chapter 43

Ryan sat in the cozy Bradford family mansion, phone in hand, feeling a bit off. He thought Clara would be back soon, but three days had passed without a word from her. Normally, she'd be back in a couple of days, armed with his favorite gifts to smooth things over.

Ryan didn't have the highest opinion of Clara-she seemed to know little beyond chasing after men-but he couldn't deny she was a fantastic cook who always catered to his whims. After all these years, he developed a slither of affection by

now.

Just after logging out of his game, he caught wind that Quinn was live streaming. Intrigued, he tuned in and found her in a face-off with Clara.

With a sigh of relief, Ryan assumed Clara was still upset about Quinn swiping Simon, but that didn't mean she should take it out on him. She still hadn't shown up to cook for him.

In a fit of mischief, he sent ten virtual gifts to Quinn and stayed glued to her stream, deliberately ignoring Clara's. He was certain Clara would recognize his gesture.

However, Clara maintained her composure, steadily answering questions from the viewers.

"I don't know the person sending those gifts, and it's got nothing to do with me. Let's focus on my apples," she calmly stated.

a huff, he

The platform highlighted big spenders like him, naturally drawing more eyes

it. Helping farmers is great, but we're not exactly

eyes sparkled with gratitude. "Thanks for looking out, Ryan. I'm not

saw their interaction and realized Quinn wasn't putting on a show; she was genuinely

was going on between her and

Her cool demeanor irked Ryan. He wanted to

stream, constantly expressing his

lips. "Finally sold ten thousand orders. That's a hundred thousand pounds of apples. Thanks for the support. But I injured my knee last

she'd ride the wave of traffic, but she signed off so abruptly that those expecting drama felt like they'd hit a

and addressed through the camera, “You should check out Clara's stream. She must be

made Ryan feel a bit smug, and he left

knows why she suddenly went to South Ashford? Maybe to get someone's attention or