Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Chapter 818

Aiden gripped the bedsheets, surprisingly calm about his legs. When they'd

carried out his punishment, he'd already calculated-a thirty percent chance he'd make it through to rehab. He could live with those odds.

He'd expected someone would eventually come save him, but he never thought it would be Clara.

Now, he understood why the CEO liked her so much.

When Clara decided to care about someone, it was like a sudden beam of light breaking through the dark-impossible to ignore, impossible not to be drawn in.

"Sir, about the Ferguson family overseas..."

"We'll talk about that later."

Dylan's voice was so flat, Aiden couldn't help but feel like he was just drifting through life, waiting for something, anything, to matter. For a man as powerful as Dylan, how did things end up like this?

Maybe it was all about those secrets still buried away. As long as Clara didn't know the truth—as long as she didn't love him knowing everything-he'd stay stuck like this.

He wasn't afraid Clara might die because of someone's scheme. If it came to that, he'd go with her. Death didn't scare him. What scared him was the thought of never seeing her again. If that day ever came, he'd rather they left this world together. At least then, maybe they could find each other in the next life.

Dylan was twisted, a little dark, and he'd never dared show anyone that side of himself.

How could Clara ever love someone like him? She never would. The one she loved was always that bright, shining senior of hers.

room was quiet until Aiden's phone buzzed. Clara's name

gentle. "How are

sitting at his bedside. "Much better, ma'am. Thank

why he was thanking her-Aiden had

Maybe Dylan was still there, too. Maybe the mess she'd made searching the study was something

had she been so quick

and pushed open the study door. It was still a disaster. Seeing the scattered files, she could almost feel her own panic from

the

of yourself. Get

will, ma'am. You and Mr.

and for a second

to say.

hung up, finished cleaning the study, then went downstairs and played with MiloBuddy for a bit. Still, she couldn't shake the unease in

move soon-but the night

mind, then, as evening fell, she

Even when she reached Ryan's place, no one

opened the door,

"Clara?"

much thinner he looked, though his eyes

of

had passed, maybe even connected to