No Strings Attached

Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Those simple words he was trying to utter felt like an insurmountable feat. In his world, he’d never had to apologize to anyone before. Yet there he was, holding Clara in his arms, murmuring the same few words over and over again as if, by repetition, she might find it in her heart to forgive him.

Clara’s heart ached at the moment. The misunderstanding between her and lan was too vast, not something that a few muttered apologies could bridge.

If only he had trusted her just a bit, if only he had cared for her a little, they wouldn’t have reached this bitter juncture.

She couldn’t forget lying in a pool of her own blood, ignored by lan. She couldn’t shake the memory of being treated like a sugar baby, her seven years of devotion trampled underfoot. Nor could she erase from her mind the cruel words he had spoken as she teetered on the edge of life and death.

Clara’s hands, hanging by her sides, involuntarily clenched into fists. Her voice remained cool and detached. “lan, I accept your apology. You can let go now.”

lan jerked his head up, his eyes reddening as he looked at her. “You forgive me?”

“There’s no question of forgiveness,” Clara said evenly. “I’ve told you before, it’s not about forgiving or not. From the start, I never found my rightful place. Whether it’s your misunderstandings or the hurt you’ve caused, I don’t care. Just don’t come around anymore, lan. Let me be free.”

“Clara, what can I do to make you forgive me?”

A faint smile touched her lips. “Mr. Hayes, all I ask is that you keep your distance.” She broke free from lan’s grasp and walked into the house.

As the door closed behind her, lan’s frame collapsed against it. He slumped down, one hand clutching his aching stomach, his eyes brimming with unshed tears that blurred his

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At that moment, the elevator doors opened, revealing a tall and broad figure. Dressed in a black tee and olive–drab cargo pants, the man’s chiseled face glistened with sweat. His hawk–like eyes glinted with a mischievous light.

Casually flicking a lighter in his hand, he looked up to see lan propped against the door, pale as a ghost.

Their eyes widened in mutual surprise. Ian found his voice first. “What are you doing here?”

Ryker grinned roguishly. “Just finished my workout. Came to grab the breakfast Ms. Clara prepared for me. You’re not looking so hot. Don’t tell me you’re trying to win her back?”

lan felt a fresh wave of pain in his stomach. Hls brow furrowed in disbelief. “The ‘gorgeous chick‘ taking care of you that you mentioned before… that’s Clare?”

“That’s right, who else? I’m now Ms. Clara’s bodyguard and driver, I live right across her place. She cooks for me and takes me shopping life couldn’t be more comfortable and happy. Pity how some people are blind and fail to appreciate what they’ve got.”

lan’s pain spread beyond his stomach. It felt as though his heart and lungs were laced together with wire, the excruciating agony almost too much to bear.

Clutching his stomach and with beads of sweat on his forehead, lan was haunted by Clara’s words from the past. She had said she enjoyed cooking for him and buying clothes for him that was happiness to her.

He remembered that no matter how late he worked, Clara would always wait to have dinner with him. Even if she fell asleep on the couch waiting, the slightest sound would have her running barefoot into his arms, Clara’s twinkling eyes would meet his. “Where have you been? I’m starving over here.”