Imelda usually wore kindness like a housecoat. Now the air arcul her turned razor–sharp, as if she’d shed her skin and stepped out as someone else entirely.
“Trying to harm the lady of the Gibson family is a charge you not carry,” she said, voice cool and even. “Not even as a heiress of the Simmons family”
Helene trembled so hard her knees buckled. If Lanette hadn’t been holding her up, she would have hit the floor.
Cross, the Gibsons and whether they chose to retaliate was one thing. Her parents, though, would come down on her first and harder.
“Imekla, I didn’t.” Helene cried. “I swear I didn’t. I really had no idea.”
Imelda gave a short, cold laugh. “Imelda? You’re getting ahead of yourself. There’s no engagement between the Simmons family and the Gibsons. Not even close.”
Edwina’s eyebrow lifted just a fraction. ‘Good. Let it stay that way
Helene broke down completely, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, her thoughts scattering into panic.
None of this had anything to do with Edwina. She hadn’t come watch a meltdown. She turned and walked out of the hospital room.
Kelvin moved to follow her, but Helene grabbed onto him, crying and pleading, clinging so tightly she stalled him in place.
His patience finally snapped. He rubbed his temples, then calmly called hospital security and told them to escort Helene out. Immediately. No courtesy required.
At the rear entrance of the hospital, Helene hauled herself up from the ground, hair a mess, clothes rumpled, fury burning behind her tears.
“Miss Simmons, are you alright?” Lanette asked softly.
The slap came without warning. Helene’s hand cracked across Lette’s face, sharp and vicious.
All the humiliation she’d just choked down surged back up, and the dumped every ounce of it into that hit.
She shouted, “You idiot. You dumbass. This is on you, all of it. Because you went and made seafood chowder!”
Lanette’s cheek flushed and swelled. She sniffed, eyes down, not laring to answer.
Helene tore off the bandage from her hand, tossed it onto the pavement, and ground it into the concrete with her heel again and again.
As if Edwina were beneath her foot.
Bitch. This isn’t over, Helene seethed, her eyes blazing with hand.
***** Once outside the hospital, Edwina headed straight for Kel’s car to reclaim the blood ruby
Peter spotted her approaching. Kelvin wasn’t with her, and Peter hesitated, stalling, clearly reluctant to hand anything over.
Edwina didn’t bother arguing. She grabbed his wrist and twisted with clean precision. His fingers went numb instantly. The glass container slipped free, and she caught it smoothly.
Peter froze, totally shell–shocked. He stared at his own ha
hand like had betrayed him
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Chapter 7.
No way How could this happen he wondered.
He was a world class MMA champions. A doren trained men rusting him at once couldn
“And yet I just lost control. a slim young woman. Petri
I’ve
That couldn’t be right.
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It’s gotta be because Dve been off lately. Less training. Too many distractions. That has to be it, Peter tried to convince himself desperate to rationalize what just happened
By the time Kelvin rushed out of the hospital, all he saw was Edna’s back, tall and narrow, disappearing into the street.
He lowered his head, rubbing his fingers together
His thoughts drifted back to the brief contact they’d shared earlier in the car. Soft Warm Disarmingly intimate. Nothing like the sharp–edged, solitary figure she projected.
Did 1 do something to piss her off? If not, why does she bolt every time she sees me? Kelvin thought, a little annoyed
For the first time, he realized there was someone he couldn’t corol. Someone he couldn’t rear.
“Kelvin, she took the blood ruby, Peter reported. “It’s rare. It was meant for your grandmother. Want me to get it back!”
Kelvin waved him off. “No,”
“You’re really just letting her walk away with it?”
That wasn’t like Kelvin at all. If he wanted something no one ever took it from him.
Just who is this woman? She keeps making Kelvin bend his own jules for her. What’s her story? Peter thought, completely bafled
Kelvin’s lips curved slightly as he looked at Peter, speaking slowly Tm giving it to her. The blood ruby can’t save Grandma’s
life
“But she can. She’s harder to come by than a thousand–year–old loodstone.
“Have Russell dig into her background”
Kelvin slid into the car, his fingers drifting unconsciously to the rosary bracelet around his wrist.
He always did that when excitement crept in. He couldn’t wait to figure out what Edwina’s story was.
After securing the bloodstone, Edwina didn’t head home. She drove downtown to a place called Brewer Apothecary
Unlike overcrowded Els and sleek private clinics, most traditional herbal shops had faded into quiet obscurity
Brewer Apothecary hadn’t. People lined up daily, steady and unending. In a district where real estate cost a fortune and annual rent climbed into eight figures, the shop still pulled in inressive profits
one thing the line
set Brewer Apothecary apart was its rule. No stat
down
ven those with money could get real treatment.
Locals said the founder insisted on it, determined
Around the neighborhood, people liked to joke that the owners some kind of guardian angel walking among them. easing pain wherever he or she went
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Chapter 7
餐:57%日
Edwina stopped at a discreet side door. After a quick glance and to make sure the coast was r stamped with a bold capital B and pressed it against the small window.
clear, she lifted a token
Four hidden door unlocked immediately and swing open.
Three attendants appeared before her, passing a black marked dential from one to another with practiced hands.
“Texture checks out,” one of them said.
“Pattern’s right, another chimed in
“Shape matches, the third attendant confirmed,
They bowed in unison, the words “Ms. Lennox” just about to leave their lips when Edwina cut them off.
“I’m just here to get medicine,” she said calmly. “Take me to Trison Hunt.
“Yes, they answered together.
Before they could move, a man stepped out from the inner room and almost collided with her.
“Edwina” Desmond froze for a beat. “What are you doing here?
He was dressed head to toe in a tailored suit, polished and smug the kind of man who thought the clothes did half the talking. His eyes lingered on her far longer than necessary, slow and unapologetic.
He had not expected this at all. She had left the Lennox family, changed her look, and somehow emerged looking stunning. Not flashy, just composed. On sheer presence alone, she outclassed Abby by miles.
Still, he dismissed it almost immediately. ‘So what if she looks good, he thought. Without the Lennox name, she is nobody.
A girl from nowhere. Definitely not worthy of standing beside me, let alone carrying the title Mrs. Cole.
He smoothed his expression into something charming. “You her to wait in line for medicine too?
This place is always swamped. I usually have my people handlet. Want me to put someone on it for you?”
The condescension was impossible to miss.
Edwina shot him a sideways glance and said nothing.
They had nothing between them except a piece of paper. No shared history, no real connection. ‘Where does he get this level of confidence? Edwina thought, rolling her eyes inwardly.
Her eyes drifted to the paper bag clutched in his hand.
“Schisandra extract. Seahorse concentrate. Deer antler peptides. Eucommia bark. Ligustrum berries, she listed calmly.
She snorted, unable to hold back a mocking laugh.
She let out a soft, humorless laugh. “Desmond, how wiped are you, exactly? You came all the way to Brewer Apothecary for a custom performance blend? Take it slow. Stuff like that hits hard at you overdo it.”
Desmond instinctively pulled the bag closer. He had not expected her to recognize the ingredients, let alone understand. exactly what kind of formulation it was,
“You,” he snapped, his face flushing. “Edwina. You are not telling nyone about this.”
“It’s for a friend,” he added quickly.
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Chapter 7
Her smile cooled. “Of course
* 57%
She did not waste another second on him. Stepping neatly around him, she moved past as if he were no more than an obstacle in the hallway. With the attendants at her side, she headed straight toward the rear courtyard.
Desmond clenched his fists, humiliation burning bot under his in. With the attendants watching, he did not dare cause a
scene.
All he could do was stand there and watch Edwina disappear into the back of the apothecary
That area was not open to just anyone.
Since when did someone like Edwina have access to Brewer Apothecary’s private grounds? Desmond wondered.
The question gnawed at him, but he did not stay to find answers Clutching the medicine bag, he turned and hurried out.
By the koi pond in the rear courtyard, bright voices rang out across the water.
“Bingol”
“Amazing!”
The Candy Crush chimes floated from the lakeside to the front gate, spilling into the whole backyard.
AD
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