chapter113

"Hey." She picked up the call.

On the other end, Connor finally heard her voice and felt the tension in his chest melt away. He had been worried that Lydia was still upset about him ditching her at the hospital.

Lydia, what are you up to?" His voice was deep and gentle, more tender than she'd ever heard it.

"Just washing up." She didn't think it was appropriate to tell him she'd just gotten out of the shower, so she kept it vague.

Connor let out a quiet sigh of relief and didn't hesitate to apologize. "I'm sorry about yesterday morning. When you came to the hospital, I left on purpose. I made you come out for nothing."

"I only went because Grandpa Samuel asked me to. Whether you were there or not didn't matter to me."

Connor went quiet. So, he'd been overthinking the whole thing? She hadn't even cared about what happened yesterday? The realization left him a little deflated. He needed to make sure she actually noticed him.

"Either way, it was my fault. I promise it won't happen again.

"Alright."

"Lydia, do you want to grab lunch with me tomorrow?"

"I'll be at work, Lydia answered simply.

"You really have to go in?" Connor honestly didn't think she needed to work. He could take care of her.

"Yes."

"Then I'll wait for you downstairs at your office for lunch. I'll bring your pendant too."

Lydia had actually been thinking about the pendant, so she nodded. Okay."

"And add me on your messaging app."

Lydia paused, then nodded again. "Okay."

She opened the app and saw more than a dozen friend requests from CNR, just like his username on the streaming platform.

"Done."

"Great. You've had a long day, so get some rest. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

As soon as he hung up, Connor realized his heart was beating faster than ever, like some teenager with his first crush. He laughed at himself. Only Lydia could make him feel like this.

The next morning, Lydia had breakfast and drove to the office. Kylie and Lucinda took a carefully prepared breakfast to the hospital.

Just before Lydia left, Lucinda suddenly stopped her. "When are you coming to see Grandpa at the hospital today? You did his surgery, so I'm sure he wants to see you more."

The message was clear. Lydia, who barely knew anything about running a company, was always running off to work instead of visiting her grandfather.

Lydia replied bluntly, "You two being there is enough."

She'd already gotten a message from Dr. Hady that morning, saying Grandpa was stable and there was nothing to worry about. Lydia planned to finish her work at the office before visiting her

grandmother and bringing her the

special golden antler extract.

"So you're not going to see Grandpa at all today?" Lucinda asked, her face full of surprise.

"Lucinda, your sister just started at the company and has a lot on her plate. We'll stay with Grandpa. That's enough." Kylie looked at Lydia and added softly Lydia focus on your work. Well take care of him.

Lydia nodded. Okay."

As Lydia drove off, Lucinda felt that

old bitterness rising again. She'd

lived with the Norwood family for

80

many years, but her parents had neveresked her to help run the company Lydia had only been back for a few days, and already they'd handed everything to her The favoritism was almost unbearable.

When Lydia arrived at the office, she saw four security guards lined up at the entrance. As soon as they spotted her, they greeted her enthusiastically, their voices loud and clear. "Good morning, Ms. Norwood!"

Lydia raised her brows. "Not bad today. But remember, your job is to keep this

company safe. Don't waste your energy in the wrong places."

"Yes, Ms. Norwood!"

The incident with the two receptionists she fired yesterday had been a wake-up call

for everyone. Nobody wanted to risk slacking off anymore.