She bit her tongue, wondering how he'd know what would help with the drug, but she let him feed her another spoonful and then another. The soup did taste good, and it made her throat hurt less.

"Who knew you were such a romantic, Sean," a laughing voice called from the door.

​​

She turned and saw Brad and Leydon standing at the door, watching them. Her cheeks grew hot, and she looked away as they smirked at Sean. She wondered how long they'd been standing there.

"Oh, don't be shy, Catherine," Brad said. "This is quite a change for him. If you could have seen how he—"

"That's enough," Sean said. "Stop standing by the door, come in."

"Well, we were planning on dropping in for dinner, but it seems like you're already eating," Leydon said, looking embarrassed.

"No, don't go," Catherine said. She turned to Sean, "I want to go have a shower and lie down in bed. You can have dinner with your friends."

"But your wounds," Sean objected. "You can't get water on them."

"Sean, I'm covered in blood, and I'm going to have a shower," she said. "I'll keep my bad hand out of the water, and you heard the doctor—these others aren't that serious."

"Great," Brad said.

Sean glared at his friend, and Brad looked taken aback. He exchanged a puzzled look with Leydon and made a move to head back towards the door. Before they could leave, Catherine struggled to her feet, slowly limping across the room. Sean rose to help her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him.

"My wife is injured," he said. "You can ask Sarah for whatever you want for dinner, but I won't be joining you."

"Aw, come on, don't be like that," Brad said. "But yeah, we heard some news about, uh, Marco. Glad Catherine is doing better, by the way."

Sean glared at them, "Where exactly did you hear?"

Both Brad and Leydon looked uncomfortable, and neither answered. Catherine stopped walking, curious to see what they'd say. How would Sean's friends know what had happened at the airport?

"Let me guess," Sean finally said. "Iris?"

Brad flashed a huge smile, "What? Iris?"

"You're a terrible liar, Brad," Sean said.

"Okay," Leydon admitted, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. "We talked to Iris. She called us because she's worried you're angry with her. The poor girl is a wreck—she was saying something about threats you'd made. It was hard to understand her, but it sounded like you'd threatened to stop paying her tuition. Anyway, it sounded serious, so we came over to see what was going on."

"Of course she called you," Sean said, gritting his teeth. "Well, it won't work this time. This time she made a really serious mistake, and I'm not in the mood to forgive her."

The two men looked at Catherine, and understanding dawned in their eyes. Embarrassed, she looked down at the floor.

"She's just a kid," Brad said, but his voice sounded unsure. "And I mean, nothing terrible happened. Catherine is here, right?"

"Nothing terrible happened?" Sean asked, his voice choked with rage. "Do you see her? She's covered in blood. She can't walk. She was drugged and kidnapped, involved in a violent car accident, handcuffed, and punched in the stomach. Now, which part of that is not terrible in your books?"

"Well, Iris tells the story a bit differently," Brad said, sounding uncomfortable. "Just maybe listen to her side of things. That's all I'm saying, just hear what she has to say before you make any decisions."

"I'm not interested in anything she has to say," Sean said, his voice flat and cold. "And I'm not interested in what you have to say either."

"I know you're angry, but she's your sister," Brad said.

"And Catherine is my wife," Sean snapped.

"Well yeah," Brad said. "But I mean, it's only been a few weeks. Iris has been your sister for life."

"What?" Sean asked.

"Don't listen to him," Leydon said quickly. "What he means to say is that you know how complicated things can be with your family. Just give Iris a chance to tell her side of the story—that's all."

Iris appeared in the doorway behind the men, and Catherine wondered how long she'd been standing outside the room. Had she been listening to the whole conversation, waiting for the ideal moment to butt in? She had showered and changed her clothes. She wore a pair of soft slippers and a white sundress that made her look girlish and young. Catherine frowned in disgust—Iris was shameless—dressing up like that to look innocent.

"Please," Iris said. "Just listen to what I have to say. I know you think I'm some sort of monster, but I bet Catherine hasn't told you the full truth. Did you know that she's the one who crashed the car?"

"I don't care who crashed the car," Sean said. "Are you going to tell me next that she drugged herself, handcuffed her own wrists, and punched herself in the stomach?"

"I keep trying to tell you it's more complicated than that," Iris said. "Why don't we sit down and have dinner, and I'll tell you what happened."

"Why don't you ask Glen and Geoffrey to join you?" Catherine suggested.

Iris scowled at her, "Glen knows the truth. And we all know that Geoffrey practically worships the ground you walk on. She'd say whatever you asked her to say."

Catherine grit her teeth. She hadn't expected Glen to betray Iris, but she'd hoped Geoffrey would be able to say something. But second thought, what could Geoffrey possibly say? Sure, she'd been attacked, but there was no way to prove that Iris was behind it.

"You all can do whatever you want," she said. "But I want to go to bed."

"Convenient that you don't want to be there while I tell the truth," Iris said. "Are you going to try to escape again tonight?"

"Apologies, Iris," Sean said.

"What?" Iris asked.

"Apologize to Catherine," Sean repeated.

"I have nothing to apologize for," Iris sniffed. "If anyone should be doing the apologizing, it's her. After all, she got me into a car accident and wrecked my car."

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Dearest Lovies,

My sincere apology for not answering some of your comments recently, I got sick. I've been writing tirelessly since day one of January because I plan to post four novels soon. Before I published the novel, I always make sure it's already written completely to comply with the reader's demand.

And I've mentioned earlier that I took place, my husband few tasks back in our family business since he passed away last November.

The Chinese new year celebration is coming, and I have recently run several activities, and the weather here is a bit cold. It gradually deteriorates my health.

I sincerely ask for an apology. Don't forget to vote, write comments, and review. Thanks to those who gifted this book and bought the privilege chapter. You know the deal, 20 % rebates will be granted next month base on the total coins you've spent for this novel for the entire month.

From the bottom of my heart, Fēicháng gǎnxiè nǐ!

Love lots,

Anna Shannel Lin