Uriah's heart pounded with sheer frustration.

He pulled out his phone to call Tegan, only to realize she had blocked his number right in front of him just moments ago.

Just as he was about to put the phone away, a call came in from Mrs. Horner.

Uriah answered, "Mom."

"How is it? Can Leslie get out? How is she doing in there?"

After Tegan's harsh words the night before, Mrs. Horner hadn't slept a wink.

It had become painfully clear to her that Tegan had no regard for the Horner family anymore.

If she had any loyalty left, she wouldn't be doing this to Leslie.

"Things are complicated right now," Uriah said.

"Complicated? She was severely injured when they took her. Whatever the complications are, shouldn't she get medical treatment first?"

Mrs. Horner's voice spiked with panic.

Helena had informed her that Leslie had been beaten half to death, leaving her sick

with worry.

"Forget it. I'm already at the airport. We'll talk when I get there."

Hearing that his mother was coming, Uriah felt a headache coming on. "Why are you flying out here?"

"What else am I supposed to do? My poor Leslie... oh."

Mrs. Horner broke down into tears.

She hadn't been able to eat or sleep back in Portis City, so it was better to fly to Yoreland and see the situation for herself.

She also wanted to confront Tegan directly and ask why she was being so ruthless.

They had practically grown up together. How could she be so heartless?

The snow in Yoreland had been heavy over the past few days. Ever since the freezing ordeal in the cave, Tegan had become highly sensitive to the cold.

Even with the hospital's heating on full blast, she stayed bundled up in thick layers. Inside the hospital lounge.

Finley was helping her apply frostbite ointment. The cream worked wonders; after just one application yesterday, the swelling on the back of her hands had already gone down.

"You can't afford to damage these hands," Finley said.

These were hands meant for the operating table. For a surgeon, hands were everything.

"I did my best to protect them," Tegan murmured.

"Yeah. The backs of your hands are fine, but your wrists took a bad hit."

Given the clothes she had on at the time, she had shielded whatever she could.

He finished applying the ointment to her hands.

Finley handed her the tube of cream. "You can do your legs yourself."

"Oh. Right."

The frostbitten spots on her legs itched the moment they warmed up. There were

also awkward areas she couldn't easily scratch.

"Thank you so much. To you and Skye both," Tegan said sincerely.

She felt deeply grateful for their help.

Finley crossed his arms and looked at her. "I'm a pretty pragmatic guy."

"Huh?"

"I don't just accept verbal thank-yous," Finley replied.

Tegan stared at him in surprise.

No verbal thank-yous?

Then what did he want? "Money?"

Finley's face instantly darkened. Money, money, money... did he look like a guy desperate for cash?

A ding sounded from his phone. A message notification.

He opened it to find a text from Skye.

It was a video file.

The moment he clicked play, an

overly enthusiastic female

blasted from the speaker. The ultimate romantic gestures

woman can never refuse...

Finley froze.

Tegan blinked.

Finley scrambled to kill the video in a split second, then slowly looked over at Tegan.

Tegan was staring back at him, utterly dumbfounded.

Another ding echoed as Skye sent a second video. This time, Finley didn't dare open it.

Skye... didn't she have anything better to do lately?

Hadn't she been busy? Even when she had downtime, she was usually off fighting will Yvorme. Why washi

she bothering Yvonne no Suale

That little troublemaker...

Ding. Another message.

This time it was text: [Watch these carefully. It's the ultimate

Women Memorize ever

guide to

pickup line in there

.net>