Uriah had never seen this wild, unhinged side of Miriam before.

"Stop my ass. Stand there yourself if you want. I'm not keeping you company," Miriam shot back.

Uriah was speechless.

Helena stood there in stunned silence.

Wiping her tears and sniffling, Miriam stormed out of the room and immediately spotted Tegan. A lump formed in her throat, and fresh tears spilled over.

"Tegan."

Hearing her call out for Tegan, Uriah, who was still fuming, immediately shot to his feet.

Just as he was about to step out of the room, Helena grabbed onto his arm. "Uriah."

"Let go."

He ruthlessly shook Helena off.

Stepping out of the room, he saw Miriam throwing herself into Tegan's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Those shameless jerks are bullying me," Miriam cried. "I'm going to make them pay, I swear."

Uriah's headache worsened.

She had stormed into his room, beaten the crap out of him and Helena, and now she was the one acting wronged?

Tegan looked up, her eyes locking onto Uriah's.

Tegan gently patted Miriam's back. "Let's go."

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

Miriam sniffled, obediently following Tegan's lead.

The moment they turned around, Uriah chased after them, a fierce, imposing energy radiating from him.

The second he stepped out, the crowd of onlookers by the door quickly scattered.

He closed the distance in a few long strides and grabbed Tegan's wrist. "Tegan, we need to talk."

"Talk about what? Aren't you too busy treating your sister like a precious treasure? Go treasure her for the rest of your life. We have nothing to say to you."

Miriam fired off before Tegan could even open her mouth.

"Shut up!" Uriah snapped.

"I won't shut up! How many years have you been obsessed with her? If she's so precious, why don't you just marry her?"

A vein throbbed in Uriah's temple. "Miriam!"

He gritted out her name, his jaw was set so tight it looked like it was carved from stone.

Miriam ignored his fury. "Don't yell at me! With all those guys chasing Leslie back then, I always wondered ateways why she never agreed to date any of them. Turns out she's been pining after you. Did you know she's in love with you?"

"I told you to shut up!" Uriah growled.

Miriam was deliberately poking at the most sensitive nerve.

"I'm just asking if you know!" Miriam demanded.

Uriah glared at her.

"She wants you. Do you know that or not?"

In the past, Miriam would never have dared to challenge Uriah like this, let alone in front of Tegan.

But the fact that Gideon's mistress was Uriah's cousin, Quintessa, had changed everything.

Since she couldn't get her hands on Quintessa right now, she was taking all her anger out on Uriah!

She was practically a ticking time bomb.

When Uriah refused to answer, she relentlessly pressed on.

"I'm asking you, do you know or not? Is it really that hard to answer? Even if you won't tell me, at least give Tegan an answer, right?"

Uriah remained silent.

"It's been years," Miriam continued. "Leslie is so impressive, and you're so powerful. Everyone in Portis City says you raised Tegan. But look what happened? Look how badly they've treated her." 'FindNovel.net

"Uriah, if you don't actually like Tegan, you could have just played dumb. No one

would have held it against you."

"But you kept her in your heart while

failing to protect her, all while letting your two-faced sister torment her. So what is it? I'm asking you right

now. Your manipulative sister is obsessed with you. Is it really that hard to admit whether you knew or not?"

Uriah stood there, rigid.

Tegan remained perfectly still.

Uriah's expression turned incredibly grim.

As for Tegan, this was the first time she had truly witnessed the lethal sharpness of Miriam's tongue.

She had always known the girl to be sweet and capable, but she hadn't realized her words could slice like knives.

Just as Uriah opened his mouth to berate Miriam...

Tegan finally spoke up. "She asked you a question. Is it that hard to answer?"

Suddenly, the two women were standing united, perfectly in sync, and Uriah's headache reached a blinding crescendo.