No Strings Attached novel (Clara and Ian)

Chapter 101

Dr. Chase, give Dawson a call, will you? It seems like Mr. Hayes has had his fill of me. I doubt he'd want to see me again. If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up."

Chase immediately responded, "Clara, do you really want to cut lan off completely? Staying friends isn't such a bad idea, you know."

Clara chuckled awkwardly, "Dr. Chase, as a professional sugar baby, I shouldn't be hanging onto a benefactor with strings attached, right? I've got things to do, so I'll catch you later." Her words were crisp and decisive, without any sign of hesitation.

After hanging up, Chase couldn't help but curse, "You damn fool, you brought this on yourself! If you'd shown Clara a shred of decency, she wouldn't be cutting you off like this."

lan felt a sharp pain in his chest, but his face remained impassive, his tone still devoid of any warmth. "That pampered woman can't handle the real world. When she crashes and burns, she'll come crawling back."

Chase's chest ached with frustration. "Where do you get that confidence from, huh?"

Dealing with such a hopeless case left Chase speechless. He called up a few friends to join lan for drinks, trying to drown the sorrows.

In the end, everyone was out-drunk by lan, who was hardly sober himself. As he rested half-drunk on the couch, he heard someone call his name.

lan snapped his eyes open and was greeted by Clara's pure, fresh face. She was dressed in his favorite black slip dress, her chestnut curls lazily draped over her shoulders, carrying his preferred scent of flowers.

The emotions lan had been suppressing surged forward. He grabbed her hand, his voice hoarse. "Clara, come back home with me, please?" His deep, expressive eyes burned with an intense heat as he looked at her.

Though mistaken for Clara, Heidi felt her heart flutter at his passionate gaze. She pretended to be the cool and detached Clara. She softly said, "lan, you're not allowed to drink this much again." When he heard Clara's scolding and felt her concern once more, lan's eyes turned red with emotion. He clung to Heidi's hand, his gaze hazy. "Okay, I'll do whatever you say, just don't leave." lan was always aloof and arrogant and never spoke so humbly to anyone. Yet, to Clara, that infuriating woman, he was uncharacteristically gentle.

Heidi clenched her teeth in frustration, but she quickly came to her senses. It didn't matter if he mistook her for Clara. As long as she could sleep with lan, Clara would never have a

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chance to return.

Heidi escorted lan home. Watching the proud, cold man lying quietly on the bed, a sly glint flashed in Heidi's eyes. She unlocked lan's phone with facial recognition, found Clara's number, and dialed it.

Clara had just finished a meeting with a client when her phone rang. Seeing it was lan, she hesitated but eventually answered. She softly greeted him with a "hello," but there was silence on the other end.

Just as she was about to hang up, Heidi's voice, sultry and dripping with faux concern, came through. "lan, if you drink this much again, I'm not looking after you."

Several seconds passed before lan's raspy voice replied. "Okay, I'll listen to you from now on. Stay with me, will you?"

Clara knew it was Heidi's doing, a deliberate move to show her that lan was with her now.

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