Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 85: The One She Hates

"...If you help me save my brother, I’ll be forever indebted to you. If you help me save my brother, I’m yours to do as you wish."

He’d heard that solemn vow over the phone, the girl’s voice light yet carrying a heavy pain.

Taking a sip from the glass currently holding a light brown liquid, the man’s deep, dark eyes narrowed slightly.

Footsteps sounded behind him and stopped as the person stood next to him.

"Master, it’s done. Doctor Lane just called and confirmed that he has done as you instructed," Butler Jones reported.

"And her brother?" the man’s deep voice asked with a light husk.

"His operation started twenty minutes ago. I was informed that Doctor Reynolds is the one currently performing the surgery."

There was silence for a while before the man muttered something to himself.

"So that was why she needed so much money—she needed enough to hire a doctor like Shawn."

"Master, Miss Thompson seems like a very responsible young woman. I never would have guessed that she only signed the contract to save her brother’s life. That means she can do anything for her brother. People who have such deep love are rare to find these days in our world that has become very selfish," Butler Jones spoke thoughtfully, but he got no reply from the tall man in front of him.

After a while, he went on to ask:

"Do you have any further instructions, Master?"

"Find out how the operation goes."

Bowing slightly, Butler Jones retreated from the rooftop.

Andrew Sterling thought about her voice when she’d suddenly called.

She’d called him as the masked person, asked for his help, ready to give anything.

He knew how cruel the world could be, yet her love for her sibling was so strong she could give herself and more.

Something in his chest had warmed at the fact that she’d called him and no one else.

She’d called him. And since she asked for his help, there was no way he could ever deny her.

That was what his heart wanted at the moment. To give her all she needed, because in his twenty-nine years of life... she was the first woman he’d met whose heart was pure and true.

.....

Time seemed to tick away slowly, but after what felt like forever, red lights turned to green.

Anne surged to her feet, swaying slightly as a wave of dizziness overcame her. Jasmine instantly held her to steady her.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked, a light sympathy showing in her eyes as she noticed how pale Anne’s face looked. Her lips were parched, and exhaustion was visible between her brows.

"I’ll go get you something to drink," Jasmine offered before walking away, while Anne rushed to the operation room door just as it swung open.

A few doctors walked out, one of them very tall and mysterious with a medical mask over his face.

When Anne’s gaze met his, he nodded at her before leaving these succinct words:

"Your brother will be fine."

Those few words made a cool wave surge into her chest, like water poured on burning flames.

She breathed a sigh of relief, tears pouring down her face heavily as a smile came upon her face.

By the time she opened her eyes, about to speak words of gratitude to the doctor, he was gone. She glanced around the hallway but couldn’t find him anywhere.

Shawn couldn’t believe the level of coincidence.

It turned out the person he would be operating on today was actually Anne’s brother.

The case had been very complicated, one of the toughest operations he’d handled so far, but he’d managed to successfully complete the surgery without any complications.

Truth be told, he wanted to ask Anne something very badly.

He wanted to ask her about the person he couldn’t stop thinking about.

She had vanished from his life like air, and no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find her.

He’d been hopeful that he’d find her in this city, but still, ever since his return, she wasn’t here.

Where in the world could she be?

He knew Anne because she was someone his Jasmine cared about deeply. He’d seen her picture and never expected to meet her in real life, but now that he had, he couldn’t even ask her about the person he was searching for because that would be too insensitive of him.

In the past, many had told him to give up on such an ill-fated love. Many had told him to let Jasmine go. But how does one teach their heart to let go of someone whose sole existence is his reason for breathing?

How does one forget the only soul that completes him?

He would never forget, and he would never be able to let her go.

Since his surgery was done, he had no reason to remain in the hospital. Many of the higher-ranked doctors tried to stop him for a word or two, but he skillfully evaded them.

Just as he reached the exit of the hospital, something made him stop abruptly.

The air carried a familiar voice, faint to his ears because it was coming from quite a distance away, but it reached him enough to hear the familiarity.

Every bone in his body went stiff.

He hadn’t heard a voice similar to this in over a year now.

The suspicion that it could be her crept in, and despite his heart beginning to thump loudly in anticipation, he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and take a look.

He remained in the same spot for a while, people passing him by as they went to and fro.

When he managed to calm the chaos in his mind, telling himself not to hope too much, telling himself not to expect too much, he slowly turned around.

That voice came from a different direction, and he followed it with slow steps until it became clearer and clearer.

"...you can leave the keys under the flower pot when you’re done..."

Shawn stopped in his tracks, freezing in the same spot.

Her hair was shorter now, its color no longer reminiscent of strawberry poured on gold, but it was her...

"Yes, thank you," she spoke to the phone against her ear while she got two drinks from the vending machine.

Her voice, her eyes, her face—even if he could only see her from far away.

It was her!

His throat tightened, and he swallowed with difficulty.

"How long have I been searching for you? Three hundred and eighty-seven days, I’ve looked for you," he muttered to himself, taking a step forward before he stopped abruptly, a reminder crashing into his heart.

She wouldn’t be happy to see him.

He knew, more than anyone, that she despised him.

He knew, more than anyone, that the last thing she’d want was to see him again.

He knew that he could never find her because she didn’t want to be found. But still, he’d searched for her, still he wanted to find her, still he’d wanted to be with her.

Countless emotions choked him all at once; he could hardly breathe.

Holding two drinks in her hands, she walked right past him as if he were a mere stranger in her path. She hadn’t even raised her gaze once to look at him. As if he didn’t exist in her world.

A bitter smile rose onto his lips.

He’d known right from the start that loving her was dangerously forbidden, yet he’d loved her all the same.