With that, Liam covered his phone, ready to step outside and exin things to


    Poppy.


    But before he could get up, Soren held out a hand. "Let me talk to her."


    Seeing this, Liam had no choice but to hand over the phone.


    He was on edge, silently praying that Poppy wouldn''t say anything to give them


    away.


    Fortunately, the conversation was normal.


    Poppy said something, and Soren agreed to meet with her.


    Listening to the exchange, which sounded no different from usual, Liam breathed a sigh of relief and reached for his phone.


    But Soren, whether intentionally or not, tapped on his chat history with Poppy.


    Several call logs appeared on the screen.


    Liam was startled by the action.


    "You two seem to call each other quite often," Soren remarked.


    Liam''s heart pounded. "Poppy''s been worried about you this whole time, but she


    didn''t want to bother the Fawkes family, so she called me instead."


    "Besides, her condition requires her toe to the hospital frequently."


    Soren said nothing in response, simply handing the phone back to him.


    Liam nced at it, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and felt a brief wave of relief.


    After hanging up, Poppy went to her closet and picked out an outfit Soren used to love seeing her in. She carefully styled her hair.


    Once she was sure she looked perfect, she headed to the hospital.


    Soren had refused to see her ever since he returned.


    Clearly, because of Glenn''swsuit and the evidence presented, Soren held some resentment toward her.


    But it didn''t matter. She had her ways of handling it.


    After being safely driven to the hospital, Poppy checked her reflection onest time before entering the ward.


    The moment she saw Soren, Poppy rushed to his side.


    "Soren, I''m so d you''re okay."


    "I thought..."


    Poppy''s eyes reddened, and the moment she spoke,rge tears streamed down her cheeks. It was a heart-wrenching sight.


    In the


    her or patted her backet


    rearen would have


    reassuringly E


    stared at her calmly, or just


    motionless.


    Poppy knew Soren''s temperament; showing weakness usually worked on him.


    But if it didn''t, that meant she had hit a nerve.


    Poppy wiped away her tears, abandoning the useless theatrics.


    "Soren, I know you me me."


    "And I admit I did some things, but it was all because I love you too much."


    "I was behind that car ident, but I


    just wanted to see who was


    important to you had no


    was pregnant at the time."


    "If she''s going to press this to the very end, then I''ll die. I''ll give my life to her, how


    about that?"


    Seeing that Soren wasn''t stopping her, Poppy bit her lip stood up and walked to the window, resolutely pulling it open.


    Liam was terrified and rushed forward to stop her. "Poppy, that''s not what Soren means."


    Poppy''s eyes were like dead embers as she looked at Soren.


    "I know that''s not what he means."


    "But regardless of my intentions, I know what I did was wrong, and I can''t fix it."


    "Instead of making Soren struggle and choose between me and Evangeline, I''ll make the choice for him."


    With that, she turned and made to jump again.


    Just then, Soren''s lips moved, and he finally spoke.


    "What about the ring I gave you?"


    Poppy froze, subconsciously clenching her now-bare fingers.