After a while of chatting idly, Kendrick dozed off again.He was still weak, and the fact that he’d stayed awake to talk to her for so long was already no small feat.Watching him sleep—this man she loved but sometimes resented—Annabelle couldn’t help but lean over and press another gentle kiss to his lips.No matter what… he finally woke up.As Annabelle was still lost in her emotions, she suddenly remembered that Jax had told her earlier: if Kendrick woke up, she needed to inform his father immediately.They’d been so caught up in talking just now that she’d completely forgotten.She quickly picked up her phone and stepped out of the hospital room. Jax had just returned with breakfast, so she first told him about Kendrick’s condition and asked him to notify Jaime.Then she walked to a quieter corner and dialed Kendrick’s father’s number.As the call connected, Annabelle softly greeted, “Dad… It’s me, Annabelle.”Even though she’d been married into the Gregory family for over half a
Annabelle didn’t even know how to describe her emotions in this moment.So, Kendrick had actually thought she killed the Young Master, and was already thinking of ways to clear her name...“I didn’t kill him, and I never intended to. He’s saved me so many times—no matter how much I hate him, I wouldn’t kill him. But after what he did to you, I had to return the favor with one stab.”Kendrick let out a long sigh of relief. “Silly girl, you almost gave me a heart attack. I really thought you killed someone…”Such a heavy topic was suddenly lightened by his comment, making Annabelle want to laugh a little.“You even planned my escape route, didn’t you?”Kendrick let go of her a bit and said, “I’m not telling you. Otherwise, my law-abiding image will be ruined.”Annabelle chuckled but her nose suddenly turned sour.“Thank you, Kendrick…”“For what?”“For everything. For always protecting me, for keeping everything to yourself so I wouldn’t be hurt. That must’ve been hard for you…”He sigh
The young nurse burst into laughter. “Alright, I’ll get going then!”With that, she breezed out of the room.Annabelle couldn’t tell if the nurse was laughing because she genuinely found her funny—or if she had caught on to the hidden meaning behind her words.Whatever it was, once the nurse was gone, Annabelle put down the apple and fixed her gaze on Kendrick.Kendrick smiled. “Was the knife sharp?”Annabelle tested the blade with her fingertip and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “So, you and this young lady know each other?”From the tone of their conversation earlier, she could tell they were definitely not strangers.Kendrick didn’t deny it. He nodded. “Yeah, I know her.”“Know her *well*?”“Well enough,” Kendrick said, reaching for her wrist. “Come on, let’s put the knife down before we talk. It’s dangerous.”As he spoke, he gently took the fruit knife from her hand and placed it on the bedside table.“I didn’t say anything. Why are you acting guilty?” she asked.Kend
“You got hurt because of me…” Annabelle said gloomily.“Don’t overthink it.” Kendrick gently squeezed her hand. “Their real target was me. They just used your past as bait because they knew I was investigating it. Even if I hadn’t fallen for it this time, they would’ve found another way.”Even now, Kendrick was still comforting her. And yet, he still wouldn’t say it—still wouldn’t admit that Ryan *was* the so-called Young Master.Annabelle looked up at him.“What about Ryan… how do you plan to strike back?”Kendrick was quiet for a moment, then replied, “I’ll wait until I’m certain it was him. Something about this doesn’t sit right.”“But those guys who attacked you already confessed, didn’t they? They said they’re with Mr. Whitney…”Kendrick nodded. “Yeah, but those guys were way too weak. I’ve gone up against Ryan’s men before. I don’t remember them being this soft. Some of them even ran. From what I’ve seen, his people would rather die than desert.”*Really?* So maybe it *wasn’t* t
Annabelle was momentarily stunned. In truth, she was still caught up in the joy of Kendrick waking up—her whole mind a bit foggy with happiness.Now, faced with the "pitiful" patient asking for a kiss, she felt a wave of guilt. She quickly leaned down and gave him a light kiss on the lips. Then, feeling that wasn’t enough, kissed him again.“Is that enough?” she asked.Kendrick gently wiped away her tears. “Not quite.”So Annabelle leaned down once more and this time gave him a deep, lingering kiss.When she finally lifted her head again, Kendrick’s eyes had darkened with emotion, and his face no longer looked so pale.And only now did she truly *feel* it—Kendrick was really back by her side.But then she noticed him watching her with that teasing, half-smiling look, which made her a little embarrassed.“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.“You’ve gotten pretty good at this, Anna.”“…”Her face turned bright red. What was she supposed to say to that? *‘Thank you, Mr. Greg
Ryan’s brows furrowed. “What girl?”Uncle Wesley deliberately kept it vague. “You’ll know when you get there. It’s a good thing, trust me.”With that, the call ended.Ryan glanced at Seraphina, who was seated in the passenger seat. She was looking at him too.Just then, the road curved sharply, and he quickly turned his attention back to driving. Seraphina also turned away, gazing silently out the window.Neither of them spoke, but both clearly understood what Uncle Wesley’s words meant.Why would Damien suddenly want to introduce him to a girl? What was he planning? Ryan couldn’t say for sure, but he strongly suspected it had something to do with a political marriage.Damien had hinted at such intentions before—wanting to use marriage to strengthen the alliance between the Knight and Whitney families—but had never found a suitable match.If this *was* about marriage, how would he refuse?Or more importantly—*could* he even refuse?Damien held leverage over him, enough to destroy all