No Strings Attached

Chapter 123

About fifteen minutes had passed. Roger was getting antsy. “He’s been soaking in cold water for ages now. Why isn’t there any improvement? Where’s the person you called?”

“The traffic’s a nightmare. They’re on their way. Just grab all the ice cubes from the freezer and dump them in the water.”

“But he’s already got a stomachache. You add all that ice, and you might just freeze him to death.”

“What else can we do? It’s a last–ditch effort.”

Amidst the chaos, the door swung open. Leonora strode in, Heidi trailing behind her.

Casting a stern glance at lan, who was submerged in the icy water, Leonora said sharply, “Are you trying to kill him? With this kind of drug in his system, no one gets off easy. Your foolish methods won’t do a thing. Heidi, help him.”

Heidi rushed to the bathroom, took lan’s hand, and pleaded tearfully, “lan, you can’t keep this up. You’ll die. I can help you.”

lan’s consciousness was fading, but he could still recognize Heidi’s voice. He recalled the words Heidi had told Clara. He shook her off with a jerk and said coldly, “Get out!”

Heidi hit the floor hard but scrambled back to lan’s side. “lan, I just don’t want you to die. I won’t cling to you over this or make you take responsibility. I just want to save you.”

Her words were heartfelt as if they could move heaven and earth, but far from being touched, lan glared at her with eyes red with anger. “I’d rather die than owe you a favor that could be used to hurt Clara.”

At those words, Heidi’s crying stopped abruptly. She knew exactly what lan meant. He must have found out about the ‘surrogate‘ conversation she had with Clara.

He would rather die than give her a chance to harm Clara.

A look of hatred flickered in Heidi’s eyes, but she quickly regained her pitiful demeanor.

Tears clouded her vision as she looked at lan. “lan, when I see children, I’m reminded that I’ll never be a mother. It makes me sad, and that’s why I said those things to Clara. It wasn’t intentional. You know I can’t control what I say when I have an episode. If my words hurt Clara, I can apologize to her. Please, let me save you. If you die, you’ll never be with her again.”

Rose, who was just leaving, overheard this and couldn’t help but snort.

Heidi was ready to sacrifice herself for lan as if she were some kind of saint. Rose knew all too well the games Heidi played.

With a stern demeanor, Rose stood at the doorway, tapping her cane on the ground, and

said, if you really save lan, I’m afraid Clara and lan will never be together

Everyone turned to look at the door.

Rose walked in with an air of authority. “When will the doctor arrive? How confident is he that he can save lan?” All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Chase answered honestly, “He should be here any minute. Whether lan can be saved depends entirely on his willpower.”

Leonora stepped forward to support Rose, trying to reason with her. “Ian is my only son, and the Hayes family are all counting on him. Heidi wants to save him. Why won’t you let her? Do we really

have to just watch him die?”

Rose gave her a meaningful look. “If I let her, that would be the real harm to lan. I know his temperament. He’d rather die than owe someone a favor. The incident three years ago was painful enough for him.”

“We can’t-

Before she could finish, Chase interrupted, “Dr. Lee is here. Let’s see what he says and then decide.”

He ushered Dr. Lee into the bathroom. After examining lan, Dr. Lee spoke, “This is a potent aphrodisiac from the international black market. There’s no specific antidote available domestically. The medication I have can only alleviate the pain, but it can’t completely eliminate the drug’s effects.”