No Strings Attached

Chapter 67

The mention of children sent Clara into a towering rage. With a sudden burst of force, she shoved lan away She stumbled backward, her face a twisted mask of bitter cold and Irony. “Mr. Hayes, you’ve got the wrong gal. Your sweetheart’s upstairs. Go make babies with her. I’d rather die than bear your child.” She spun around and marched off toward the back garden.

The whole situation was absurd and ludicrous. Were he and Heidi in cahoots to torment her? One wanted a surrogate, and the other pressed for offspring.

“lan, you spineless jerk! Whoever you have children with is none of my business.” Clara thought to herself.

Seated alone by the pond, she licked her wounds in silence, replaying the tumultuous history between her and lan.

As she cursed lan and lobbed pebbles into the water, Heidi’s voice crept up from behind. “Ms. Clara, lan sent me to check on you. Are you alright?”

Clara snapped without a hint of courtesy, “Buzz off!”

Heidi didn’t take offense. Instead, she smiled sweetly. “Ms. Clara, I know this is hard to swallow, but think about it. Have our kid, and you’ll be set for life. What’s so bad about

that?

lan and I would adore your child as our own. And your child would be the Hayes family heir. You might not marry into the Hayes, but if your child stays with the Hayes, that’s like fulfilling your dream, right?”

As Heidi spoke, she reached out to tug at Clara’s clothes. Just as Clara was about to shove her away, she realized Heidi had positioned herself by the pond’s edge. One push, and Heidi would tumble into the waters.

Clara’s mind raced. She caught on to Heidi’s ploy, an attempt to provoke her, to have Clara push her into the pond.

Oh, Heidi, could anyone stoop lower than you?

Clara yanked her away, taking her place at the pond’s brink. Noticing someone approaching, she cried out, “Ms. Heidi, there’s nothing between me with Mr. Hayes, stop it! I can’t swim–Ah!” Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

After a shriek, there was a splash, and Clara fell into the water.

Heidi was flabbergasted. The script had gone off the rails, hijacked by Clara herself.

Heidi watched in shock as Clara sank deeper into the water. That’s when the cries for help broke out, “Someone’s in the water, save her!”

People rushed over, but no one dared to dive into the murky depths. The pond, a relic of the old Hicks estate, was deep and muddied. Past rescue attempts had failed.

Clara’s body sank further as flashbacks of her past haunted her.

Cornered in a classroom, her clothes were torn to shreds. She pleaded, but no one listened. Bruised and battered, she left school alone, ending up by a lake.

Thinking of the life of being judged that awaited her, and the betrayal by the mother she trusted most, she lost all will to live. Eyes closed, she jumped into the lake. The waters. were deep, chilling. Just like now, her body relentlessly sinking.

It felt as though the next second would sever her from the world forever.

Tears trickled from Clara’s eyes. As she was about to give in, a shadowy figure swam towards her. Despite the distance, she recognized him–it was lan.

A scornful smile played on Clara’s lips. Was this a dying vision?

In her dying moments, she couldn’t help but fantasize about lan. She wondered just how

much she loved this man.

However, his betrayal cut too deep.

This love was a burden she no longer wished to bear.