chapter513

The old woman smiled and nodded. "Alright."

Lydia headed back to the capital. Iceblade trailed behind, clearly hoping to hitch a ride. Lydia glanced over. "How did you get here?"

"I walked," Iceblade replied, way too casually.

Lydia just rolled her eyes. Like she believed that for a second. She didn't even bother unlocking the door. "Then you can keep walking home."

With that, she hit the gas and took off, leaving Iceblade standing there, watching her car disappear. He let out a low laugh. "Seriously, what a cold, heartless girl. Years of friendship, all thrown away for some old guy."

Back at home, Connor had been waiting for Lydia to come back. Two hours had gone by, and still no sign of her. The people he had posted at Lakeview Town insisted she was on her way, so now he couldn't help imagining something had happened.

Right then, Aiden burst into the room, practically glowing with excitement. "Boss! Lydia's back!"

Connor's eyes lit up immediately. He threw himself back onto the bed, trying his best to look as weak and pitiful as possible.

Lydia walked in and found him lying there, eyes half-closed, pretending to be unconscious. She looked him over. He'd just wrapped some gauze around his chest, nothing professional, and now it was almost soaked through.

"Connor!" Her voice was cool and sharp.

Connor heard that chill in her tone and quickly opened his eyes. Lydia walked over, her face set in a serious expression. "Didn't I tell you to get a doctor to look at that? Why didn't you?"

Connor coughed a couple times, still trying to play it off. "I don't trust them."

Lydia's anger finally showed. "Are you being serious right now? How old are you?"

That was it. Connor realized he'd been caught. He gave up the act. "It just split open by accident. Really, it's not a big deal. I just wanted to wait for you."

"Oh, so you wanted me to come home and see how much blood you lost, feel so bad for you that I'd sit by your side all night?" Lydia shot back.

Connor had no answer for that.

After Connor went quiet, Lydia turned to glare at Aiden, who looked like he wished he could disappear. After all, He was the one who'd made the call. But it wasn't his fault, right? The boss made him do it.

"You're his assistant. You just let him do whatever he wants? Do you have any idea how serious an infection that close to the heart could be?"

Aiden had considered that, but when the boss insisted, what choice did he have? "Yes, I get it. Trust me, this will never happen again.

From now on, even if Connor ried to ship him off to the middle of nowhere, he was never getting roped into acting for Lydia again. Honestly, making Lydia mad was way scarier than facing Connor.

Connor hadn't expected her to be this upset, but then it hit him that she was angry because she cared That realization made his heart feel strangely warm and sweet. No wonder she called him childish He kige of was acting like a kid with his first crush.

After scolding him, Lydia went to grab the first aid kit and started fixing up his bandage. The wound had split but thankfully there was no infection. Connor watched her noticing how serious she looked as she worked. His heart felt like it might melt right out of his chest.

When her hand brushed against his skin, he felt his Adam's apple bob, totally out of

his control. Lydia glanced up at him. He looked away quickly, feeling his ears heat

up.

As soon as she finished, Connor called out to Aiden, "Take the first-aid kit downstairs."

The message was obvious. He wanted Aiden gone. No more third wheels getting in

the way.