Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Wronged
Chapter 229: Wronged
Elias needed a great deal of willpower to drag his gaze away from the three women standing in his room.
They were all tall, all striking, each carrying a different kind of pressure. Serena looked like ruined control wrapped in black silk and old money. Liora looked relaxed enough to be harmless, which meant she was paying attention to everything. Yvonne stood with gold-rimmed glasses and a clean doctor’s calm, as if she had not just walked into a bedroom full of people who had all touched the same disaster from different angles.
Elias forced his eyes to Yvonne’s face.
A natural thread of confusion appeared in his gaze.
Of course he had to look confused.
He could not let Serena know he privately knew Yvonne Quinn. He definitely could not let Serena know that he had already slept with the doctor now standing at his bedside with a medical kit and a polite smile.
If Serena found that out right now, she might truly go insane.
Serena glanced at Liora and frowned, clearly displeased that her sister had followed them in. Then she decided against asking. Liora would only produce some smooth excuse that left Serena with nothing useful to attack.
So Serena ignored her and looked at Yvonne instead.
"Check him," she said, lifting her chin toward Elias. "See if he has frostbite anywhere."
The tone slipped unconsciously into command, the voice she used with employees and staff.
Yvonne did not seem to mind. Her gaze moved over Elias once, calm and precise. "Ms. Blackwood, if Mr. Kane had frostbite, he would have felt pain last night. Since there has been no abnormal sensation by now, there likely isn’t an issue."
Elias turned to look at Serena.
His lips twitched.
He did not laugh. He did not even smile properly. The expression hovered there, half visible, carrying enough mockery to make Serena’s face tighten.
To Serena, it looked like he was laughing at her concern.
At her fake concern.
At the fact that she had locked him in a cold storage room, then brought a doctor the next morning to pretend she cared.
Since the doctor was already here, Serena said, "Then check whether there are any other issues with his body."
Elias’s eyes sharpened at once.
Before he could explode, Serena added, "I may have lost control last night. I might have hurt him."
Elias’s face went red instantly.
"Serena Blackwood!"
The anger in his voice finally gave Serena a little pleasure. She laughed under her breath, feeling as if she had taken back one small round.
Yvonne watched their exchange with the distant composure of a doctor witnessing private tension that had no place in a medical note.
That was how she should have felt.
Professionally, it was none of her business.
But she and Elias were not strangers meeting for the first time today.
In some ways, she had been closer to him than Liora.
So watching Elias play and fight with another woman right in front of her left something difficult to name under her ribs.
Jealousy?
As a doctor with more than a little knowledge of psychology, Yvonne was not foolish enough to mislabel her own emotion.
The moment she thought that, her eyes lowered toward Elias again.
He was not looking at her.
His anger, embarrassment, and resistance were all directed at Serena. None of it seemed to belong to Yvonne.
Yet Yvonne had a distinct feeling that he was watching her from the corner of his eye.
Observing every shift.
He was doing this on purpose.
Showing her, right in front of her, how intimate he could be with another woman. How easily he could be held, argued over, dressed, undressed, examined, and claimed in a room where Yvonne had to stand as the doctor and say nothing.
Yvonne remained where she was, gentle smile still in place.
"In that case," she said, "Mr. Blackwood, please give me your hand."
Elias froze.
Slowly, he turned his head toward her. "What did you call me?"
Serena’s smile deepened.
Mr. Blackwood had clearly pleased her.
Elias was hers. If he belonged to the Blackwood residence, then calling him by the household name did not sound wrong at all.
Even so, to keep Elias from getting truly angry, Serena corrected her. "His name is Elias Kane."
Yvonne’s expression shifted with perfect realization, as if she had only made an innocent assumption. She nodded. "Mr. Kane, then."
Elias wrinkled his nose, plainly expressing his dissatisfaction with Dr. Quinn.
Under the gaze of all three women, he still extended his right hand.
Yvonne did not hesitate. She took his hand, pushed his sleeve up, and exposed a length of pale forearm.
Her eyes paused there for half a beat.
Elias’s skin was too fair. Any other color became obvious against it: the faint blue lines under the skin, the delicate bruising near his bandage, the places where his veins traced cleanly along the inside of his arm.
Yvonne set two fingers against his wrist to check his pulse and circulation.
At that moment, Elias’s arm tensed.
A stranger’s touch.
At least, that was what Serena and Liora would think.
Yvonne did not stop. The more natural her movements looked, the more necessary they seemed. Elias’s reaction could be dismissed as nerves, embarrassment, or leftover anger.
Only Elias could clearly feel what her other hand was doing.
Beneath the cover of supporting his hand, Yvonne’s thumb moved lightly over the back of it. Slow. Small. Hidden from Serena and Liora’s angle.
A very proper medical examination on the surface.
A very improper touch underneath.
Elias looked into Yvonne’s eyes.
A trace of laughter passed through his own.
Dr. Quinn was angry.
She had not even fallen for him yet. She only liked his body, only wanted what she had already tasted, yet she could not bear seeing him act close to another woman?
What intense possessiveness.
On the surface, Elias pressed his lips together and looked as if he were struggling to endure something.
"Are you..." His voice caught, thin and strained. "Are you done?"
Yvonne answered calmly, "You’re too tense. Relax a little, or even I’ll have trouble making a proper assessment."
Still wanted to touch him?
Fine.
Elias let her.
A while passed.
Yvonne did not release his hand.
Her movement even grew slightly bolder. In the angle neither Serena nor Liora could see, her fingers slipped between his, almost threading them together.
Elias nearly laughed.
So Dr. Quinn was this repressed?
She liked doing this right under other people’s eyes?
In that case, he could make it more exciting for her.
Color rose over Elias’s face. His eyes grew damp, a thin shine gathering as he bit his lower lip. The embarrassment on him looked almost unbearable, and even his voice trembled with a shy, angry edge.
"Are you done yet?"
Yvonne’s face remained perfectly professional. "Not yet."
Then, after a slight pause, she added, "Almost."
Elias yanked his hand free.
The movement broke Yvonne’s hold at once. He slapped both her hands away, cheeks flushed, eyes bright with humiliation. He lifted one finger and pointed at her.
"You, you..."
The accusation stuck there.
He seemed too angry to form a full sentence.
Then, as if pushed past his limit, he raised his hand to slap Yvonne.
Before the strike could land, Serena caught his wrist.
"Eli," Serena said, brows drawn together, "you’re acting up again. Dr. Quinn is checking your circulation. Why would you hit her?"
"You’re full of shit!" Elias snapped, anger spilling across his face. "She wasn’t checking anything properly. She was rubbing the back of my hand!"
The room fell silent.
Serena pulled Elias naturally into her arms while still holding his wrist. Her eyes moved to Yvonne.
"Dr. Quinn," she asked, "is that true?"
Faced with Elias’s accusation, Yvonne nodded without a flicker of guilt.
"There’s no exam table in here," she said. "I had to support Mr. Kane’s hand while checking his wrist. If I caused discomfort, I apologize."
The explanation was clean.
Reasonable.
Professional.
Serena looked back down at Elias and smiled again. "All right. You’re angry at me, so you’re even wronging Dr. Quinn now."
Elias stared at her.
Serena’s smile carried a faint, recovered ease. "Your mental state seems fine enough. There’s no need to continue the exam."
Elias gave one silent laugh inside.
Sure.
Wronged.
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