CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN"I…am…" Cruz's stutter was interrupted by the ringing of his phone and he felt relieved as he answered it with a smile. "Hey, man. I'm inviting you for a men's night out today, are you free Tonight?" Tyler asked as soon as Cruz answered the call. Cruz loved the idea and didn't hesitate to reply. "Definitely! Because of the heavy workload, I am currently bored out of my mind and that would be a perfect getaway but I hope that annoying bit…I mean your wife. I hope she wouldn't…" "Don't worry, she won't cause any trouble for you or us. So just get your ass home early and meet us at the bar in Hotel S." Tyler instructed after which Cruz ended the call after giving a favourable response."Doc, I will take my leave…" "What about the answer to my question?" Dr. Logan asked curiously. "I…you said I could sleep over it, right? I will get back to you in our next session, I'm quite busy today." Cruz suggested, using his plans as an excuse to avoid the fact t
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN"Cruz, what has come over you that you didn't even realize you broke your tumbler?" Justin wondered. 'Oh, I did?' Cruz thought to himself as he looked back to see the broken tumbler. "Are you being so provoked because of Jessica? Because you know she is with another man? Are you that jealous of Klaus?" Tyler asked curiously but before Cruz could defend himself, Micheal spoke up. "Cruz, have you fallen for her?" Micheal gasped. "What? What rubbish are you spewing right now? Just because I care about her doesn't mean I would fall…I can't even bring myself to say it. You know what? I don't care anymore. Just help me treat my wound. It's hurting." Cruz suggested, trying to change the topic. "Are you sure it's hurting because you're still clenching that palm as we speak?" Daniel replied, drawing Cruz's attention to his tightened grip which he quickly released. "I…I was just trying to stop the blood flow. Are you getting the first aid kit or should I g
"Get your hands off me!" Tyler scolded angrily, forcefully freeing himself from Cruz's grip. "Even if you change your mind now, I will never support you!" He added as he knew exactly what Cruz was going to say. "Change my mind? You must be out of your mind!" Cruz laughed hysterically though everyone knew his laughter was insincere. "I will never do that but…don't instigate her into doing anything against her wish. No one has the right to force anyone on her. So just let her make her choice." Cruz explained, hoping that Tyler would drop the idea of pitching Klaus to Jessica. "You always try your best to protect Cade, right? That's exactly what I'm doing for Jessica. So even if everyone else doesn't understand me, I suppose you should." Tyler explained, pricking into Cruz's guilty conscience. "Good night." He greeted them for the last time before walking out on them. "Woah! That was a whole lot of drama for just one night!" Daniel exclaimed a few minutes after Tyler left the gathe
"Jessica, you might be mistaken but I'm not in a heated conversation. I was just making Cruz understand that he was interrupting your rest." Klaus explained, and fortunately, Jessica believed him. "Cruz? Why did you answer his call? He will only spew rubbish and ruin one's mood. That's why I ignored his call all this time." Jessica retorted and Cruz, who was still on the phone, couldn't conceal his anger anymore. "Calm down, Jessica. You should rest some more. I will let him know your stand and end the call." Klaus suggested and Jessica's voice died down, allowing Cruz and Klaus to continue their conversation."You heard her, right? Stay away!" Klaus warned and without another word, Cruz ended the call and sent his phone crashing on the floor. "Who does he think he is?" He yelled, standing up to his feet. "It's not his fault anyway! It's all her fault! How could she change sides so easily?" He howled, pushing everything on his center table away and causing a loud crash that everyo
"You? Have you been eavesdropping on me?" Cruz asked with a sly grin. "FYI, this is a public part of the house and you weren't talking softly either." Cade replied, leaving Cruz speechless. "Nevertheless, my opinion is sincere. I can't believe you'd ever fall in love and that too with my teacher!" He exclaimed but immediately frowned which drew Cruz's attention. "What now?" Cruz asked in confusion. "You know I trust you in every other thing but women. If you end up making her yours, make sure it remains like that for the rest of your life. If you end up hurting her again, I swear I will never forgive you and just like you left home, I will leave your lives forever and you will never get a chance to see me again!" Cruz threatened, scaring the hell out of Cruz. "What's with the threat so early in the morning." Cruz pretended to joke around but Cade was serious. "I'm serious, Cruz. So if you know you can't keep her forever, don't even admit your love in front of her. Remain arroga
"Mia! Are you also on his side! At least you're my personal secretary. You should be on my side no matter how bad I am." Cruz complained. "I'm sure you know more than anyone else that I will always be on your side but if you allow me, I'd love to be honest with you today." Mia suggested as she took her seat across Cruz and with more hesitation, Cruz also sat down waiting to hear whatever she had to say. "All my years of working with you, I never saw this coming. I never imagined that a day would come when Dr. Cruz Westham would be so…" "Just hold it there! I can't begin to count how many times I have heard those words this morning. I said I'm not in love with her, why can't you all just get it!" Cruz flared up but Mia's chuckle made him realize he had overreacted. "See? I haven't even mentioned her name and you are already thinking about her…after all, you never stopped thinking about her." She pointed out, a broad smile dangling on her lips. "If you are here to taunt me, drop th
With much hesitation, Jessica returned to her seat and sipped her coffee before giving the answer Mia was yearning to hear. "Yes." Jessica finally replied. "Look, you have only now to say whatever you have about Cruz because after now, he will be nothing more than the Chief Surgeon to me." She added. "Like I mentioned earlier, Cruz, Klaus and Jason used to be birds of the same feathers. They were best of friends until a few hours before Cruz's kidnap in high school. I'm sure you must have heard this tale from either Jason or Cade, but Cruz had never disclosed what happened to anyone. Not even his parents as any teenager would do at that time. " Mia explained, leaving Jessica stunned. "What? Klaus and Cruz were once best friends? It's so hard to believe. And what's up with their fight before his kidnap? Was Klaus ever suspected for Cruz's kidnap?" Jessica asked curiously. "Yes. In fact, at some point they were both suspects of the infamous kidnap in Palm Springs especially with the
"You know what…I almost fell for this stupid charade of yours!" Jessica blurted out of the blue, confusing Cruz as her face hardened."I can't believe I forgot for a moment that you could never change for anyone. You say this is up to me but you're still trying to force a decision on me. Just quit this charade and stand up because I don't want to hear whatever you have to say." Jessica blurted out before pushing Cruz's hands away and walking out on him. "Jess…" Cruz's voice trailed off as he watched Jessica leave. "Is this what you have reduced yourself to?" Valeria's voice interrupted Cruz's crumbled thoughts and he quickly wiped out his tears and stood up to his feet. "Valeria, what are you doing here?" Cruz asked, trying to divert the topic. "Seriously, Cruz? How could you go down on your knees…" "VALERIA!" Cruz called out, scaring Whatever happened here is none of your business. It's not work-related so you can as well forget you saw or heard anything." Cruz warned and atte