No Strings Attached

Chapter 9

Clara sidestepped with the agility of a cat, but even her quick reflexes couldn’t save her from the splash of scalding coffee that hit her foot. She sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

She was about to give Heidi a piece of her mind when she looked up just in time to see Heidi’s body hurtling. towards the glass display cabinet behind her.

Instinctively, Clara reached out to grab her, but Heidi shook her off violently.

Crash!

Heidi’s arm shattered the glass. Blood streamed down her arm to the floor.

At that moment, lan’s icy voice came from behind. “Clara, what the hell are you doing?!”

lan’s tall, commanding figure strode over to Heidi, his eyes growing darker by the second. “Are you okay?”

Heidi’s pale face was streaked with tears, her lips quivering. “lan, it’s all my fault. I accidentally spilled coffee on Clara, and she thought I had done it on purpose, so she pushed me. Please don’t be mad at her, okay?”

Clara’s eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn’t believe Heidi would go to such lengths to frame her, resorting to self–inflicted injury. She immediately retorted, “I didn’t push her. She fell on her own.”

lan’s piercing gaze swept over Clara, lingered on the burn on her foot for a moment, then moved away.

“I’ll be back to deal with you!” he said coldly. With that, he whisked Heidi away in a hurry.

Watching their retreating figures, Clara’s face was etched with indescribable hurt.

This was the man she had loved for seven years. Between her and Heidi, he never chose to believe her.

Clara quickly composed herself. She wouldn’t let Heidi’s schemes succeed. She and lan had broken up, so she didn’t care what he thought of her.

But she couldn’t tolerate being framed. If it happened once, it could happen again.

She immediately sought out her colleague Nicole, asking her to get her tech–savvy boyfriend to copy the security footage of the incident. She needed to prove her innocence.

Once everything was handled, Clara pulled herself out of the mess and dove back into her hectic work.

lan and Dawson was away, but the senior staff were already waiting in the conference room, and Clara had to run the morning briefing. She efficiently took notes on each department’s updates and brought up some of the week’s trickier projects for discussion.

Without lan, the atmosphere in the conference room was noticeably relaxed. Clara’s colleagues praised her competence and even teased her about her seamless work with lan, wondering if she might end up as their boss‘ wife.

Clara responded to their compliments with a slight smile. “We’re just colleagues, let’s not speculate. Besides, I’m about to resign soon.”

Before she could finish her sentence, the conference room door flew open with a bang. lan stood in the doorway, dressed in a sharp black suit, exuding an aura of intimidating chill as if he had just emerged from the underworld. His dark eyes fixed on Clara with a frosty glare.

The once peaceful and relaxed atmosphere of the conference room suddenly became stifling and tense. Everyone rose to their feet, echoing a respectful ‘Mr. Hayes.’

lan, without acknowledging them, strode towards Clara with his long legs. His cold hand clasped her wrist, his voice even more frighteningly cold. “Come with me!”

He dragged Clara out of the conference room.