Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Her eyes blazed with anger, her fingernails digging into the ground until they snapped, leaving behind smudges of red. She wasn't going to let Clara off the hook, not if she had anything to say about it. If she could just survive this!

Clara pulled up to Ryan's villa and asked around, but he still hadn't come back. Her worry started to climb, and she was just about to call the cops when Ryan strolled in, looking like nothing was wrong.

She exhaled a sigh of relief and asked, "Where have you been? Sarah's been searching for you, and what's up with that text you sent?"

Ryan blinked, clearly not expecting to see her there, his eyes flickering with surprise and confusion. "What text?"

Clara had a hunch that Sarah might've sent it from his phone. "Forget it. Where were you? You didn't even have your phone."

Ryan kicked off his shoes in the hallway, sounding casual. "Went to see Mom. Left my phone behind, didn't tell anyone. I figured you'd be upset."

Everyone knew Clara and Naomi didn't exactly get along, and he didn't want her reading into things.

"Well, you could've at least told Sarah. She's pregnant and looking for you."

Ryan frowned. He'd only been gone a few hours-was all this fuss really necessary?

"Clara, why don't you stay for dinner?"

But Clara was already on her feet. She didn't want to intrude, especially since Sarah wasn't her biggest fan. "No, I'm having dinner with my boyfriend."

"Bring him over, then. I'd love to meet this mystery guy."

"He's busy."

Ryan scoffed, sarcasm lacing his words. "Busy, or maybe he just doesn't think you're worth the time."

He had a natural distaste for Clara's secretive boyfriend.

Everything clicked for Ryan. The day Clara's boyfriend whisked her away, he'd pushed her to break up with him. Then, an anonymous text led

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him to dig into the guy, only to stumble upon another secret at an old-school alternative medicine

place.

He suspected Clara's boyfriend was behind it all, distracting him with a bigger secret so he'd stop focusing on Clara.

The guy wanted Clara all to himself, not even letting her brother get close. How ridiculous.

After all that, Ryan had figured things out but couldn't be bothered to tell Clara. She was head over heels for this so-called boyfriend, and badmouthing him might only backfire.

Ryan's chest tightened with a

familiar ache. He wasn't sure if Caranoveldrama

was really after the Bradford family fortune, but after living together for so long, he couldn't be that, heartless.

He almost said something, but instead, he headed upstairs in frustration. "Suit yourself."

"Sarah might come looking for you. Aren't you having dinner with her? Remember to call her back."

"Yeah."

Clara watched him disappear, letting out a soft sigh. It wasn't her imagination— there was definitely something off between them, even if she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Ryan stood by the window in his room, lost in thought. He'd gone to see Naomi to ask about Clara, but Naomi knew nothing and even pressed him, "Ryan, do you know something? Don't keep it from me."

If only his dad knew the Bradford family secrets, did Clara know them too? What was his dad's endgame? It was all too messy.

He spaced out for hours until a servant knocked on the door. "Sir, where's Sarah? We've been trying to call her, but she's not picking up."

Annoyed, he grabbed his phone from the bed and called Sarah. Still no answer.

He wasn't particularly fond of Sarah, but for the child's sake, he decided to wait a bit longer.

Finally, at seven, Sarah called back, her voice cracking with sobs.