"You can have any woman you want! Just tell us your type, and we''ll set you up. Tall, short, curvy, slender—you name it, we''ll find her for you."


    "Alright, shut up, all of you!" Connor finally snapped, his patience worn thin. "Are you here to see me or to give me a headache? In case you hadn''t noticed, I''m an injured man!"


    A beat of silence passed before he spoke again, his voiceced with frustration. "What were you saying? Her and her husband? How do you know he''s her husband? Maybe they''ll be divorced in a few days."


    His friends stared at him, wide-eyed, as if they couldn''t believe what they were hearing.


    "No way, Connor. You actually like that married woman?" one of them gasped. "Her husband doesn''t look like the divorcing type. Are you nning on being the other man?"


    Gale Merle''s eyes lit up. "Whoa, that''s intense! If you really want her, we''ll back you up. We''ll help you steal her away! Whatever you need, you know we''d take a bullet for you."


    Just as the words left his mouth, someone smacked him on the back of the head. "The expression is ''take a bullet for your friend,'' you idiot, not put two bullets in him! That''s Hawthorne we''re talking about. Do you really think he stands a chance of winning against him?"


    "Yeah, seriously," another friend added more rationally. "The fact that she brought her husband with her probably means she''s not interested in Connor at all."


    Lying in his bed, Connor wished he wasn''t immobilized.


    If he could move, he would have pped each of his noisy friends.


    He was the one involved, yet they were the ones running their mouths.


    "Can you all just be quiet?" he groaned. On top of the physical pain, his head was now throbbing.


    "You can stop thinking about it," a clear voice cut through the chatter. "My aunt would never be with him."


    Leonie stood at the doorway, a fruit basket in her hand.


    She hadn''t meant to eavesdrop, but their voices were so loud it was impossible not to.


    Theirs was the only room in the premium ward with its door wide open.


    Dressed in a beige sweater, a long skirt that covered her ankles, and a chic trench coat Leonie looked effortlessly cool and beautiful a starkly different kind of beauty from Gwh.


    Gwh was a ssic, elegant beauty like ady from a noble


    house, her grace tinged with a


    of mncholy from her family''s recent troubles.


    Leonie, however, was pure sunshine.


    Having grown up happy and pampered, free to do as she pleased, she radiated a bright, straightforward confidence.


    Everywhere she went, she was like a ray of light, warming everything around her. The already noisy hospital room became even livelier with her arrival.


    Connor, lying t on his back, couldn''t see who had entered until she walked right


    up to his bed, her beautiful eyes looking down at him.


    He recognized her immediately the young heiress of the Everhart family who was always with Gwh, calling her ''aunt.''


    "What are you doing here?" Connor''s face darkened.


    She was Hawthorne''s niece, which meant she was on his side.


    He also found it odd how she was always glued to Gwh''s side like a third wheel. Didn''t Hawthorne mind at all?


    "I came to see you on someone''s behalf," Leonie said brightly. "My aunt is still thinking about you. But don''t get the wrong idea. It''s not


    because she likes you or anot


    She just feels she owes you for saying her life, so, she asked mee check on you."


    Connor''s expression soured, his displeasure at her presence obvious.