Oops! My Secret Baby Is Caught By His Top-Lawyer Daddy! Novel

---- Chapter 73: You're Way Out of My League, Mr. Hotshot Lawyer Aaron pushed the door-but it wouldn't budge. So he knocked. "Clara?" Silence. He hesitated to knock again, afraid of waking Leo in the next room. Pulling out his phone, he called her. It rang... and rang... until the call cut off by itself. No answer. His heart clenched with unease. He tried again-but this time, the call was immediately declined. Then a message popped up. Clara: Sleep downstairs tonight. It hit him like a slap to the face-cold, sharp, and unexpected. Just ten minutes ago, everything was fine.

What the hell had happened in that short time? ---- He fired off a reply right away: "What's wrong?" No response. Frustrated and anxious, he ran downstairs to dig out the spare key. Back upstairs, he opened the door. The soft glow of the nightlight cast a dim haze across the room. A faint scent of perfume still lingered in the air-sweet and warm, like a ghost of her earlier good mood. The covers on the bed were pulled up high, forming a small bump. Clara was completely buried underneath. Aaron stepped forward and spoke gently. "Clara? What's going on?" Still no response.

He pulled back the covers and reached out to wrap an arm around her from behind. But Clara immediately curled up tighter. "Don't touch me!" Her voice cracked, thick with tears. Aaron's heart lurched. Worried, he reached out to touch her face-and his fingers came away wet. She was crying. Instantly, every last trace of ---- heat and desire evaporated. Panic and dread swept in like a tidal wave. Since the day he met Clara, he'd known she could be a little spoiled, a little dramatic. But the only time he'd ever seen her break down like this was when she'd talked about her parents.

His instincts screamed-something was seriously wrong. He lay beside her, gently pulling her into his arms. "What happened?" Her body went stiff, unwelcoming, completely shut down. He tried to hold her hand, but her fingers were balled into a tight fist. Helplessness surged in his chest. He didn't even know where to start. Then it hit him. In the last ten minutes, she hadn't talked to anyone. Hadn't gone anywhere. The only possible trigger... was her phone. "Can I see your phone?" he asked softly. She didn't say yes. But she didn't say no, either.

He reached for it-it was still sitting on the ---- nightstand. The screen was on, WhatsApp open. One glance, and his blood turned cold. Two photos. Both of him... with Ariella. The first was from years ago-back when they were still dating. He looked younger, wearing pajamas, sitting at his desk. Ariella leaned over him from behind, her arms around his shoulders, smile bright, intimate, full of affection. The second photo was from just two days ago, after the banquet-when she'd stumbled into him near the car. In the shot, he had a hand on her shoulder.

The angle made it impossible to tell if he was steadying her-or pulling her in. The photo had been taken from behind, so only Ariella's face was visible. She looked shy. Happy. Like she was falling in love. In just a snap of the camera, someone had managed to capture everything Clara didn't want to see. Aaron had to grudgingly admit-the photographer had skills.