chapter100

Lydia walked out of the office building and headed straight to Capital Hospital. Inside the hospital room, everyone had their eyes on Connor.

"Connor, are you feeling better now? All healed up?" Cameron asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Connor gave a polite nod. "I'm alright, Mr. Norwood."

Kylie chimed in with a gentle smile. "That's good to hear. Just be more careful from now on, okay? Honestly, I feel bad that neither of us made it to visit you in the hospital. I hope you don't mind."

Before Connor could say anything, Mr. Jefferson jumped in. "Mind? Why would he mind? Lydia went to check on him herself yesterday, but he wasn't there. He was off dealing with some company emergency. Who's at fault for that?"

Connor stayed quiet. Trust his grandfather to bring up the one thing everyone else wanted to overlook.

Lucinda, who'd spent the whole night upset, felt a tiny bit better. It was obvious Connor didn't want to see Lydia at all. He didn't like her, not even a little.

"It's fine. Lydia's on her way. She can check you out again when she gets here," Kylie said, trying to smooth it over.

But Connor shook his head politely. Really, I'm fine now. Just a small injury. Besides, my brothers are waiting to talk with her about the Country D ambassador. I don't want to hold them up."

The message was loud and clear. He didn't need Lydia's help. He might as well have said right out loud that he wasn't interested in their daughter.

Everyone in the room caught his meaning. Suddenly, things felt super awkward Lucinda, though, was

secretly thrilled. Connor had just net'

turned down any chance of being

with Lydia, right in front of everyone. She was sure of it. Connor liked her, hot Lydia. There was no way Lydia could steal him away.

Kylie and Cameron didn't know where to look. Lydia was their pride, but Connor's rejection made it seem like their daughter was impossible to like. The marriage between the Norwoods and the Jeffersons had always been set up for Connor, but after high school, he'd gone straight into the military and hardly ever came home. Even after he was injured and retired, he kept his distance, as if the whole

engagement never even existed. Only Mr. Jefferson still held onto it. Now that Lucinda wasn't really their biological daughter, Connor wanted nothing to do with the engagement, even pushing his brothers forward instead. Was their precious daughter really that unappealing to him?

Mr. Jefferson noticed Kylie and Cameron's awkwardness and shot Connor a dark look. He quickly tried to smooth things over. "Cameron, Kylie, don't take it the wrong way. Connor just means the ambassador business is more urgent Lydia's such an impressive young lady. I'm sure he'll come around once he gets to know her."

He'd warned Connor to be on his best behavior, and this was how he acted? There

was definitely going to be a lecture waiting for him at home.

Connor didn't seem bothered at all. He just tossed the focus over to Chris.

"Grandpa, honestly, Miss Norwood gets along better with Chris."

Chris was at a loss for words. Sure, he admired Lydia, but let's be real. She was way out of his league.

Mr. Jefferson clenched his jaw, fighting back his frustration. You...

"Miss Norwood!"

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the room. One of the bodyguards.

Mr. Jefferson, who had just been about to lose his temper, lit up with excitement. "She's here! Lydia's here, everyone!"