No Strings Attached

Chapter 161

lan raced home, his heart hammering with a dark foreboding that gnawed at his insides.

The miscarriage Clara suffered wasn’t by her own choosing, and the thought alone tightened his chest, sending a lump to his throat.

He drove straight up to the villa’s driveway, gravel crunching under the tires. Upon his arrival, the maid hastened to greet him. “Sir, I was tidying up the cabinets when I stumbled upon some herbal tea Ms. Clara used to drink. There’s an herb in there that can cause a miscarriage if ingested by a pregnant woman.”

The icy glaze imat normally coated lan’s eyes seemed to thicken at her words. Clara often suffered from painful periods, and it was he who had sought a herbalist to help her manage. She had been drinking that herbal concoction for three months now.

Fixing his gaze upon the tea in the maid’s hand, he asked, voice grave, “What makes you so sure?”

“My grandfather was a herbalist. I picked up quite a bit about herbs while growing up, and this particular one is etched in my memory” she explained.

“And you never noticed anything off before?”

“When Ms. Clara mentioned the practitioner was recommended by you, I assumed everything would be alright, so I never questioned the tea she drank.”

Her words struck lan like a hammer blow to the heart. That’s probably what Clara thought too. She trusted him so completely back then, heeding his every word without a shadow of a doubt. She likely never once suspected the tea she was being given.

lan’s fingers twitched, his lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes suffused with a bloodshot tinge of betrayal and rage.

Without hesitation, he dialed Dawson. “Dig up everything on the herbalist who treated Clara, get the prescriptions he wrote for her, and find out who he’s been in contact with over the past six months.”

Without waiting for Dawson’s response, lan called Chase.

The phone rang for an eternity before Chase picked up, his voice hoarse with the weariness of a seven–hour surgery. “What’s up? Offering to buy me a drink to soothe my nerves after a marathon in the OR? Since when did you become such a thoughtful guy?” Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

lan had no patience for banter and cut straight to the chase. “I need a trustworthy pharmacologist. I’ve got to analyze the contents of this herbal tea.”

Sensing the urgency in lan’s voice, Chase dropped his joking tone..“What’s wrong? You found something?”

“The herbal tea Clara was drinking is problematic. It could lead to a miscarriage.”

Chase was taken aback. “Wasn’t that herbalist your contact? If Clara finds out, she’ll think you did this on purpose to get rid of the child,” His words were like a knife twisting in lan’s gut, echoing what was perhaps the very intention of the person who orchestrated this cruel plot, to destroy their unborn child and to plant seeds of hatred in Clara’s heart toward him.

lan’s jaw clenched tighter. “I need answers, and fast.”

“Bring the herbal tea to the hospital,” Chase said decisively. “My mentor is here. She can take a look for you.”

An hour later, Chase emerged with the lab results, his expression grim. Handing the report to lan, Chase patted him on the shoulder. “There’s an herb here in a high dosage that can indeed cause a miscarriage. If taken after intercourse, it acts like a morning–after pill. If during pregnancy, it’s akin to an abortifacient. It’s potent stuff. It’s likely Clara got pregnant because she didn’t have her tea while you two were abroad for over a month.

When you came back, you got caught up with Heidi, and the tension made you forget about getting the tea. By the time you remembered, it was already too late.”

lan’s eyes burned with unshed tears, his throat constricted as if choked by an invisible hand, the pain making it hard to breathe. Indeed, Clara hadn’t brought her tea on their trip abroad, And upon their return, he had been so preoccupied with Heidi that he ha take Clara back for her prescription.

Only when he realized her period was imminent did he remember to take her to get her medicine reissued.

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