No Strings Attached

Leonora's confession was a lie, all designed to make him seem like an illegitimate child. The Hayes family had a rule that only children born to the legal wife could inherit the CEO position of the family

business.

If what Leonora claimed was proven true, his position as CEO of Hayes Corporation would surely be untenable.

Moreover, the company had been under fire lately due to issues with their smartphones, and the shareholders were already displeased with lan. So, everyone was seizing this opportunity to try and oust him from power.

lan's gaze hardened as he read the trending posts on his phone, the intensity in his eyes growing by the second.

It was because of Leonora that he had almost lost Clara. Now, because of Leonora again, he was on the verge of losing the entire Hayes family.

The impact one woman had on his life was immeasurable. Ian clenched his teeth in frustration.

Just then, he received a call from Teo. "Ian, you need to come over now. The board is in an uproar. They're saying they'll sell off all their shares if you don't step down. If that happens, the public shares of Hayes Corporation will outnumber yours, making it easy for outsiders to take control."Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

lan's grip tightened, and he responded in a deep voice, "I'm on my way." He immediately started his car and sped towards the company.

Elsewhere.

Clara was in lan's study when she stumbled upon two design sketches by Leonora and Katherine.

The sketches looked identical at first glance, but something felt off to her. Clara couldn't pinpoint the issue when she compared the sketches to the actual necklace.

She sat on the balcony chaise and held up a necklace toward the sun. The diamonds on the necklace reflected the sunlight, creating a dazzling display. It was like a rainbow after the rain, vibrant and colorful.

Clara was mesmerized, but then she noticed a beam of light on the wall that was slightly different from the others. She immediately sat up straight and examined it closely.

All the diamonds refracted light with

blue in the center and pale pink

around it, except for one diamond with red in the center and pale blue around it. Without careful

vef

observation, the difference was not noticeable.

They were all the same diamonds, so why did this diamond's light refract differently?

Clara then compared the necklace to the design sketches again. Only then did she notice the subtle difference between Leonora's and Katherine's designs.

A ruby was shaped like a heart, and the diamond at the tip of the heart had a different surface shape from the others. Thus, it refracted light differently from the other diamonds.

Clara immediately called her father over. After explaining the situation, Casey took some tools and pried the diamond open.

When they saw the small black object hidden underneath, both of their eyes widened in shock.

Clara exclaimed in disbelief, "Dad, what is this?"

Casey carefully placed the small

black object on the table and calmly said, "I think this might contain evidence of Leonora's crimes. Otherwise, your mother wouldn't have clenched this in her hand before she died."

"Then I'll call lan and let him see what's inside."

She was about to pick up the phone when Casey stopped her. "Don't. Hayes Corporation is in chaos now, and lan is dealing with it. Let's find someone reliable to check what this is first. It might help save lan."

Hearing this, a cold determination flashed in Clara's eyes. She hadn't expected their opponents to act so quickly. They were so eager to dethrone lan.

Clara thought about how lan had been suppressed these past few days and felt a pang of heartache. She immediately said, "Chase is also well-versed in these matters. I'll ask him to come over."