Finley''s head was spinning. No matter how he tried, he couldn''t figure out what kind of magic Hull had used to reel Susanna in. Hull was like a walking block of ice-so cold and remote that women usually couldn''t get away from him fast enough. In Finley''s opinion, a guy like Hull was thest person who deserved a rtionship. And yet, here was Susanna, actually moving in with him! Was the world upside down?


    "And you made Star beg you?" Ronald said, lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag, his tone thick with reproach. "You should be the one begging her."


    Finley spluttered for a moment, caught off guard. Wait—when did he ever admit to liking Tegan? He nced up, meeting Ronald''s steady, unfathomable gaze, and involuntarily swallowed. "I don''t like her," he muttered, refusing to look away.


    Ronald''s eyes grew even darker, but he said nothing, just looked at Finley in a way that made him squirm in his seat. “Seriously, I don''t like her," Finley insisted, a little too forcefully now.


    "If you say so," Ronald said coolly. "Doesn''t matter anyway. She''s already got someone who likes her."


    Finley bristled. Someone else? "You mean Uriah?" he scoffed. "The Horner family is a circus—more like a kennel, actually. It''s just a pack of dogs fighting all the time. "Any woman Uriah sets his sights on is doomed."


    Whenever Uriah came up, Finley couldn''t seem to keep a lid on his tongue. Good thing he was running down Uriah—if he''d said anything about Star or Ronald, he''d already be packing his bags for another miserable trip to the Muliba Desert.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Ste''s phone was ringing. Uriah. Tegan hadn''t answered any of his calls, so now he was going through Ste.


    "Tegan''s in Ferrond, isn''t she?" Uriah asked, his words clipped and tense.


    “She is,” Ste replied without hesitation.


    "She''s with you?"


    Apparently, Tegan hadn''t told Uriah her ns before she left. He''d only managed to trace her as far as Ferrond. He still didn''t know that Tegan had already caught a morning connection to Yornd—and Ste had zero intention of letting him find out.


    “Uriah, I''m a straight-shooter, so let me be blunt," Ste said. "If you can''t fix things with Leslie, Helena, or even your mom, then don''t go after Tegan."


    There was no use pretending


    nous


    otherwise. When you''re with someone whose family despises you, life turns into sheer agony. From@hat Tegan had confided, Mrs. Horner and Urian''s sister Leslie had never epted her Tegan had endured that, for Uriah''s sake, for years-longer than most would have.


    Tegan barely had any family left; if anything, Uriah was the closest thing she had. Her rtives had died for Uriah''s father, but aside from Uriah, the blommer family had never acknowledged the debt. Even Uriah''s gratitude felt hollow-just words, never actions. Like Tegan said, when


    it came to his loyalties, she was never really his first choice.


    Uriah''s breath caught at her words. "What exactly did Tegan tell you?" he demanded, voice low.


    Ste''s tone softened. "Back in Portis City, you two were a picture-perfect couple. In


    public, you treated her like a queen. Who could have guessed.....”


    Her voice faded. It was true: the way


    Uriah had doted on Tegan in front of


    everyone used to make Ste


    envious, especially since she and


    Ronald were always apart, never


    able to be together like Tegan and Uriah were. But now, seeing the truth, she realized the couple she''d admired for so long had been falling apart inside all along.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!