No Strings Attached novel (Clara and Ian)
Chapter 256

Clara felt a searing heat on her back. Ian's hot and moist lips kissed her skin, each touch igniting a small flame. She closed her eyes in a bitter wistfulness, then pushed lan away. "lan, for heaven's sake, it's broad daylight. What's gotten into you?"

lan looked at her with a pained expression. "You adore kids so much, and due to my carelessness, we lost ours. I just want to make up for that loss."

Clara felt a twinge in her throat and managed a strained smile. "Ian, what if I..." she began, but her words trailed off as her phone rang at the most inopportune moment.

Seeing it was Anders' number, she quickly answered. Orin's young voice came through. "Aunt Clara, I miss you so much."

Clara immediately put aside all her emotions and responded with a smile, "I miss you too, Orin. Who are you with?"

"With mom and dad. Dad's making us breakfast."

Hearing this, Clara's lips curved into a relieved smile. It seemed Anders had moved on, fully dedicating himself to his family. Just as she was about to speak again, a woman's voice came from the phone. "Ms. Clara, this is Elle. We should meet."

Half an hour later, Clara found herself in the hospital's café, face to face with Elle.

When Elle's face came into clear view, Clara was taken aback by the resemblance between them, especially their side profiles.

Noticing Clara's shock, Elle gave a faint smile. "Ms. Clara, you must now understand why Anders was with me back then. He saw me as your stand-in."

Clara regarded her calmly. "But I was unaware of these matters. If you're looking to settle scores, I'm afraid you've got the wrong person."

Elle sipped her coffee, her smile faint. "Everyone speaks of your sharp tongue, and it seems the reputation is well earned. I'm not here to rehash the past. I just want to tell you that I never intended to wreck your relationship with Anders. Orin needed a father, but it was never my plan to trap him that way. I had already decided on IVF to have Orin and only needed Anders' contribution without any emotional entanglement."

"But then lan came to me, saying he couldn't bear to see you hurt. He knew of your deep commitment and kindness in matters of the heart. If you and Anders continued, and you discovered Orin's existence, you'd leave without a second thought. He'd rather be hated by you than let you fall for Anders and then be crushed by the truth.

"I was initially against collaborating with him, but he flew to France to convince me and even waited outside my apartment all night to show his sincerity. That night, it snowed heavily. When I finally went out and saw him, he was frozen stiff.

"Rather than reconciling with Anders, I realized I wanted to give you and lan a chance. I've never seen a man go to such lengths for a woman. The high and mighty scion of the Hayes family was standing in a snowstorm, waiting for my answer. Ms. Clara, he truly loves you. You should cherish that."

Clara's eyes were already brimming with tears. She had naively thought lan wanted to sabotage her relationship with Anders by bringing Orin into the picture. She never knew that to persuade Elle to join his cause, he had stood in the snow all night long.

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