When Soren still didn''t respond, Flora felt a pang of worry and frustration.


    "Soren!" she said, leaning closer to his ear.


    He finally seemed to hear her, his eyes slowly focusing on her face.


    "What happened?" Flora asked, her voice soft. "What''s going on with you and Poppy?"


    Soren didn''t answer, his dark eyes dropping as he fell silent once more.


    When Flora offered him the bowl again, he took it. The simple rice porridge was dotted with fresh green scallions, its light, clean aroma filling the air. It looked and smelled appealing, but he had no appetite. There was just a hollow feeling in his chest, an indescribable emptiness that he couldn''t shake.


    He couldn''t stop thinking about Evangeline. Whenever he''d been sick in the past, she would have been there, coaxing him to take his medicine and making him nourishing broth.


    He felt sick. And it wasn''t just his body.


    Seeing that he still wouldn''t talk, Flora''s anxiety grew. "Did Evangeline do something to you and Poppy?" she pressed.


    When she had rushed to the hospitalst night, she''d noticed Poppy acting strangely. And since Soren had woken up, the two of them hadn''t exchanged a single word. The atmosphere between them was thick with tension. Something had definitely happened, and she was sure Evangeline was at the root of it. Evangeline''s behaviorst night had been odd, too. In the past, whenever Soren was ill, she would have been the first to know, fussing over him tirelessly. Butst night, her attitude had beenpletely different.


    She knew they were divorced, but she didn''t believe for a second that Evangeline''s love for her brother had simply vanished overnight. There was a piece of the puzzle she was missing.


    At the mention of Evangeline''s name, Soren''s expression flickered.


    "She never came to the hospital?" he asked. It was a question, but his tone was one of confirmation.


    Flora nodded, her anger ring again. "I called her. Not only did she refuse toe, she had the nerve to ask me for money! Evangeline ispletely obsessed with money now. How did I never see it before? All she cares about is money! When has our family ever been stingy with her?"


    As she spoke, Soren''s dark eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened around the spoon.


    He ced the bowl on the bedside table. "I want to rest. You can go."


    Flora saw the shadow fall over his face and realized he was displeased. She was confused. She was about to say something else when a bodyguard entered the room.


    "Mr. Fawkes, there''s a woman here to see you."


    "A woman? Who is it?" Flora asked before Soren could.


    "She said her name is Whitmore," the bodyguard replied.


    "Evangeline?!" Flora''s mind leaped to that conclusion. After making such a scenest night about noting, she shows up today? It seemed Evangeline couldn''t stay away from her brother after all. ying hard to get... she was lucky it hadn''t backfiredpletely.


    Flora scoffed. Her first instinct was to tell the guard to send her away, but then she had another thought. Soren still needed to recover, and it would be best if someone stayed with him around the clock. Poppy was exhausted fromst night; Evangeline could take her ce tonight. Besides, Soren had been delirious with fever all night, calling out Evangeline''s name. Her brother probably did want her here.


    "Let her..."


    "In." The word was still on her lips when Soren spoke, his voice hoarse. "I won''t see her."


    Flora looked at him, puzzled. His earlier reaction had made her think he wanted Evangeline here. Why the change of heart? Was it possible that he wasn''t longing for Evangeline, but was angry with her? Was he calling her name in his sleep out of fury? That would exin why his face darkened at the mention of her name and why he suddenly wanted to be alone. Evangeline must have done something else to drive a wedge between him and Poppy.


    Flora wanted to ask more, but seeing the grim look on Soren''s face, she swallowed her words.


    After she left, a shadow fell over Soren''s expression. He remembered the look in Evangeline''s eyes just before he copsed-cold and distant. There had been no concern, only a kind of detached superiority as she looked down on him. She hadn''te to the hospital all night.


    It felt as though their roles had somehow been reversed. This feeling of being powerless infuriated him.


    She was just a woman. Since when did Soren Fawkes let a woman get the upper hand?