No Strings Attached novel (Clara and Ian)
Chapter 369

Two people were in the middle of a verbal tussle when a familiar voice suddenly pierced the air from outside. "Ian, Clara, get your butts out here!"

At the sound of that voice, everyone turned their heads toward the door. Paolo stormed in, his face a thundercloud of fury.

Seeing Edwin and lan practically hugging it out, he spat out angrily, "Edwin, do you have any idea your sister's been roughed up in jail, beaten black and blue? And it's all thanks to lan's goons. Yet here you are, playing buddy-buddy with him. How can you look Heidi in the eye after playing the protective brother for over twenty years?"

Edwin's previously amused eyes turned ice-cold in an instant. His lips curled into a sneer. "If someone hadn't switched her out, she wouldn't even have the right to call me 'brother'!"

"It's not her fault, though. She knew nothing about that mess. Why make her carry the blame?"

"I didn't want her to carry it. She brought it on herself. If it weren't for her, Clara wouldn't have been in danger time and time again. Do you have any idea how bad it would have been if Clara had been in that car that day?"

Hearing Edwin defend Clara so passionately, Paolo's face turned beet red with anger.

Pointing an accusing finger at Edwin, he bellowed, "So you'd throw Heidi to the wolves for some random dame? What's so special about Clara that you'd all go to the mat for her? No wonder the Bell family can't stand her. Just like her mother, she's a man-eater—a regular femme fatale. And don't you forget, she's lan's girl. No matter how nice you are to her, she won't leave him for you."

At these words, Marian, who had been sitting quietly on the couch, suddenly darkened with rage. She marched up to Paolo and slapped him squarely across the face. Her voice was venomous, "Paolo, who the hell do you think you are to talk about Clara like that?"

Paolo, who had never been hit before, was about to explode in anger when he was met by Marian's piercing glare. He stared at her in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"The day I found out you betrayed May, I lost a son-in-law. If you slander Clara again, believe me, I'll have someone break your legs!"

Paolo, bewildered, stared at her. "Even if Heidi isn't a York by blood, she's called you 'grandma' for over twenty years. How can you all just turn your backs on her like that? Do you know how much she's suffering? She thinks about ending it all every day."

"That's on her," Marian responded sharply. "If she hadn't been so vile, I might have overlooked everything for the sake of her calling me 'grandma' for so long. But she's cold-blooded, cunning, and evil, even to the point of murder. Doesn't someone like that deserve to face the law? Paolo, if you keep messing with Clara, I wouldn't hesitate to use the York family's power against you. If you don't believe me, just wait and see!"

Marian spoke with such finality that it left no room for argument.

Paolo looked at her in disbelief. "Why are you all protecting Clara like this? For her sake, you'd ignore whether Heidi lives or dies. Who is she, to make you, who usually stay out of worldly affairs, call upon the York family's influence?"

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