Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Charles gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and let out a heavy sigh.

"I can tell you're upset. About what you asked me to look into-I've got a lead. That Mr. Schwaderer? His real name's Flynn. Apparently, he's related to the Warren family. But anything about the Warrens is totally sealed off. You know how powerful they are."

The core members of the Warren family-anything about them was top secret.

For Charles to get even this much, he'd pulled every string the Chester family had in Country Z.

He scratched his cheek awkwardly, worried she'd blame him. "Sis, don't be mad, okay?"

Clara closed her eyes and forced a small smile. "It's not about that. Dylan's mom passed away."

At first, Charles only caught her first sentence.

"Oh, that's good then-that's... wait, what?!"

He finally processed what she'd said and sat up straighter, getting anxious. "What are you going to do?"

He'd never really liked Dylan, but that was still his brother-in-law.

Clara opened her eyes, her head pounding. "I don't know... I'm trying to figure that out."

She barely finished speaking when a voice cut in from the side.

"No need to think, Ms. Clara. Come with us."

A flash of coldness passed through Clara's eyes as she looked at the men who had suddenly appeared.

Charles almost found it funny—nobody had ever tried to snatch someone away right in front of him before. Did these idiots want to die?

The men figured Clara had just been lucky to escape the first time. The strange man with her? Easy to get rid of too.

Charles didn't bother with any warnings. He whistled, and Milo and Buddy lunged out of the shadows, tearing straight through two men's arms.

The men didn't even have time to react. As soon as they tried to shout, knives flashed and slit their throats.

Charles flicked his fingers, annoyed. "Seriously? I was talking to my sister, and you just had to butt in. No sense of timing at all.”

Clara remembered Dylan telling her how capable Charles was, someone she could always count on.

But seeing it with her own eyes-he was even more impressive than she'd thought.noveldrama

A few blurry memories flashed through her mind as she looked down at the charm in her hand.

Charles bent down and helped her up. "Let's go back. I have a feeling more people are on their way."

Clara nodded and let him lead her away.

Meanwhile, over at Palm Bay-

Dylan had already gotten the news: Clara had gone to the temple with the old lady.

He frowned, and the next message

set

worse-a fire had broken

was temple, and both the old

out at the

lady and Clara were trapped inside.

He almost coughed up blood from the shock, but forced himself to stay calm. He called Aiden over. "We're going to the temple. Now."

The helicopter lifted off, rushing toward the blaze. Aiden looked worried.

"Sir, Mrs. Ferguson said she wanted to stay at the company to handle a few small issues, so I didn't go with her."

Dylan wasn't the type to blame others for nothing. He understood-if Clara said that, she meant for Aiden to stay behind.

He'd let his guard down, blinded by happiness, thinking he just had to wait for her

to come home safe.

That was his mistake.

He coughed quietly, staring out the window.

For a second, he wasn't afraid. If Clara was really gone, he'd go with her.

When the helicopter landed outside the burning temple, Dylan spotted Tara standing by a tree.

Tara saw him and, sobbing, ran over, desperate to throw herself into his arms. But Dylan stepped aside.

She stared at his legs, stunned at how steady he looked.

"Dylan, your legs... they're really healed?"

Realizing she'd said the wrong thing, she quickly choked out, “Clara started the fire on purpose. The old lady's still inside. I tried to help, but the firewas too much—I couldn't do anything. Dylan, please don't blame me. I'll stay by your side from now on." śwnovel