Nina immediately realized what was happening and grabbed Nash's hand. "The poison in your body... it hasn’t been cured, has it?""I'm sorry..." Nash's voice was raspy and weak.Hearing this, Nina felt a sharp pain in her heart. "I don’t want to hear your apologies. We’re going back right now!" Nina grabbed Nash and started to pull him back. She had believed that her father had already cured Nash of the poison, especially since Nash had shown no signs of weakness. She had assumed everything was fine. But now, realizing Nash had been pretending all along, she felt a deep pain in her heart.Just as she was about to head back, Nash held her tightly and shook his head. He knew exactly what she was thinking. She wanted to return to his father for help. But if Dominic had been willing to give the antidote, he would not have let them go in the first place, not without saying a word."He won’t give it up easily. He probably wants to negotiate with us, but we—""I don’t want to negotiat
On their way back to the Yaren Tribe, Nina and Nash rented a car and sat together in the back seat. Nina kept a close watch on Nash’s condition, and fortunately, he seemed stable. However, they were suddenly stopped halfway through their journey.Nash's first instinct was to suspect Dominic's involvement.He pressed Nina down gently and said in a hoarse voice, "I'll get out and check. If things go south, have the driver keep going without stopping. Stick to our plan, but you need to stay in the tribe."If Dominic was truly determined to ignore the international scrutiny, Nash would stay behind. As long as Nina and Orion were safe, that would be enough for him.But Nina shook her head firmly. "You promised me, no matter what happens, you’d stay by my side. Now you want me to go on without you? Not a chance. Don’t go back on your word, Nash."Just as she finished speaking, a car pulled in front of them, followed by several others that kept their distance but stayed close enough to
Dominic ended the call abruptly, leaving Nash listening to the busy tone. Nash realized that Dominic was indeed someone who cared deeply about his reputation.He put away his phone and pulled Nina close. "Let’s head back and make sure this medicine is legitimate."If it was, and he was free from the poison’s hold, he could finally take Nina and Orion back to Birkham and live the life Nina had always wanted.……Meanwhile, back with Orion, he had developed a high fever. The sudden onset left Pharaoh scrambling. After a thorough examination, Pharaoh sighed in relief upon confirming that it was just a common cold and not a rejection or something more serious. However, when physical cooling methods did not bring the fever down, Pharaoh resorted to giving Orion an IV, staying by his side the entire time without a moment's rest.As Orion’s condition stabilized, even Micah, who was concerned, took it upon himself to cook chicken broth for the boy. Freya, seeing Micah busy in the kit
Micah gave her a cold, dismissive glance. "Do I owe you an explanation?"Freya's heart clenched painfully. She had no claim on Micah, no right to demand anything from him. The realization hurt deeply, but there was nothing she could do. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him, her voice trembling. "I know I don’t have the right to ask you this, but... I really want to be with you. If you... If it's true, I could help you. We could pretend to be married. I could help you keep up appearances."She clung to the belief that spending time together could eventually lead to real feelings. She was convinced that if given enough time, she could win his heart.But Micah’s expression remained cold, a hint of disdain curling his lips. "You’re giving yourself too much credit."He brushed past her without another glance, treating her as if she were invisible. Freya stood there, unable to help him with anything. All she could do was watch as he finished everything himself.Micah broug
A hint of crimson tinged with sorrow filled Freya's eyes. She had loved Micah for so many years, and the pain of unrequited love was like a dagger to her heart. Freya believed that by confessing her feelings to Micah, he might be moved by her sincerity, and she could use that to win him over completely. But she had miscalculated.Micah remained as cold as ever. His gaze, filled with an icy darkness, looked at her as if he wished to cut her to pieces."If you can't take my words seriously, don't blame me for being ruthless," Micah snarled, grinding his teeth.In that moment, he truly felt a surge of anger strong enough to kill. He despised anyone who pursued him without understanding their place. He would show no mercy, even though Freya was a woman, because he had already done more than enough for her.Freya let out a bitter laugh, never expecting Micah to threaten her with death. She wanted to say more, but Micah turned his back on her and walked away, leaving her standing there
Otherwise, people would be the ones begging them, not the other way around.Nina gently rested her forehead against Orion's and whispered in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, Orion, Mommy's back.""It's okay, Mommy." Orion replied slowly, his eyes shining brightly like stars. He loved Nina so much and wished he could stay by her side forever. How could he possibly blame her? And now, his dad was back too.Orion reached out his small hand to wipe away Nina's tears. Unlike other chubby kids, Orion was thin, with little flesh on his hands. This made Nina think of the antidote Nash had received. She immediately turned to Nash and said, "You should have Father test that antidote right away to see if it's real."If it was, that would be great. If not, they had not fallen for Dominic's trick, and they would not have lost anything. But after that, they needed to focus on treating Nash.Nash nodded. The next moment, he walked over to Nina and Orion, wrapped an arm around Nina's shoulders, an
In an instant, the crowd fell silent. The burly man's eyes narrowed, his drunkenness quickly dissipating as he asked, "You must be Micah?"Micah did not bother with words. He fired the first shot, barely missing the burly man, which only fueled his anger. The man shouted, "What are you waiting for? Kill him!" But Micah and Mr. Joker moved with such elusive speed that the attackers could not track their movements. Growing increasingly desperate, the burly man gritted his teeth, finally spotting Micah and taking aim. A twisted smile spread across his face. He was about to rid himself of this nuisance once and for all. But just as he pulled the trigger, someone threw themselves in front of Micah.The bullet tore through her body, splattering blood everywhere.Freya’s body went limp, and Micah quickly caught her, simultaneously shooting the burly man with deadly precision. Freya looked up at Micah, a faint smile on her lips. She felt content to die in his arms. Micah, however,
Micah remained silent, his lips pressed into a thin line. His usually handsome face was now shadowed with an unmistakable gloom."Do you need me to..." "No need." Before Pharaoh could finish, Micah cut him off sharply."Feelings only get in the way," Micah said firmly. "Especially for people like us. We're not suited for an ordinary life."For others, starting a family, having a wife and kids was normal. But for them, it was not.They had responsibilities to the Yaren Tribe, and their status made it impossible to lead a simple, personal life. Above all, there was the memory of his mother. After she passed, his father had been lost for a long time, and though other women had come into his father’s life, they were all reflections of his mother. She had been the one sacrificed, and now, as the leader of the tribe, Micah knew he was destined to walk the same path as his father. He could not split himself between the tribe and a family. If he had no wife, no children, then no on
At the time, Wilfred had already guessed that this had everything to do with Harley and his mentor, Professor Zeller. “You and your so-called association don’t focus on benefiting patients. Instead, you spend all your time trying to monopolize everything. And now you want to turn me into one of you? Keep dreaming.” Wilfred’s tone was filled with disdain, his eyes cold with contempt. The smug smile on Harley’s face slowly faded. With a sneer, Harley’s voice turned bitter. “You know what I despise most about you? That self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude of yours. I was offering you advice, but if you don’t want to hear it, fine. There’s nothing more to say. After all, if the surgery fails—” Before he could finish the word “fail,” the surgical light outside the operating room flicked off. Clack!The sliding doors parted, and Karina burst through, her face flushed with emotion. She didn’t even notice Harley. Her focus zeroed in on Wilfred. “Wilfred!” Her voice trem
As the surgery approached, Karina worked overtime, meticulously double-checking for any possible oversights. Before stepping into the operating room, she took a deep breath."Karina, you’ve got this!" a nurse beside her encouraged.This surgery was particularly significant, and the assistants and nurses weren’t from her hospital. They were brought in by the project, specifically by Harley’s team. Without a single familiar face around, Karina felt a twinge of anxiety. Opportunities to lead surgeries were already rare for her, let alone under circumstances like this, with no one she could truly rely on.But there was no turning back now. Gritting her teeth, Karina donned her gloves. As she was about to enter the operating room, her peripheral vision caught sight of a figure standing silently in the distance. It was Wilfred. His steady gaze met hers, his eyes carrying something profound she couldn’t quite decipher. When their eyes locked, a faint smile curved his lips.In th
“Ava.”A deep voice cut through the air, and Karina turned to see a man in a black suit, wearing a hat and a mask, striding toward them. But the man’s white eyelashes and distinctive eyes were all Karina needed to recognize him. He was her albino patient, Xavier Jasper!Xavier also didn’t expect to run into both Wilfred and Karina here. “It’s you two,” he exclaimed in surprise.Wilfred’s gaze sharpened as he calmly addressed Xavier. “Keep your sister in line. Apologize.”Before Xavier could respond, Ava stepped forward and, to everyone’s surprise, said, “I’m sorry. I was too impulsive. Please forgive me.” Karina was taken aback by how quickly Ava apologized. Even Xavier, who knew his sister’s arrogant tendencies well, looked stunned.Karina nodded, her tone steady but firm. “I forgive you, but that doesn’t mean everyone else will. You should work on your attitude. Stop acting so entitled everywhere you go.” With that, Karina turned on her heel and walked away. Although Xavie
”Those were her meticulously compiled notes, the result of hours of hard work—and now they were ruined just like that?” Karina thought.“I’ve never wronged you. Why would you do something like this?” she demanded, her voice trembling with indignation. Something about the situation felt off, and Karina’s sharp intuition told her this wasn’t a simple misunderstanding.Under Karina’s intense gaze, the nurse finally broke down, revealing Ava’s role in orchestrating the whole thing. Karina’s anger turned into a mix of rage and incredulous amusement. “Really? Rich people—did they all enjoy throwing money around like this?”All this trouble, just to ruin her hard-earned work over a seat?Her carefully compiled notes were gone, and there wasn’t a second copy. Arguing wouldn’t bring them back, but Ava wasn’t going to let this slide without giving someone a piece of her mind.Finding Ava wasn’t difficult. In fact, Ava didn’t even try to avoid her. She seemed to be waiting, eager to see
Just as Ava was about to cause a scene, the sound of steady footsteps filled the room. Wilfred strode in, his white coat enhancing his composed, almost ethereal aura. Ava shot Karina a glare, silently committing her to memory, then begrudgingly found another seat. Wilfred’s gaze swept across the room, pausing ever so briefly on Karina before moving on. She wasn’t sure if it was real or just her imagination. “Today, we’ll discuss cellular structures. I’ll start with an example from my doctoral thesis,” Wilfred announced, adjusting the projector. To Karina’s surprise, he was an exceptional lecturer—clear, engaging, and far more comprehensible than many university professors. She listened intently, taking meticulous notes. Yvette peeked over at Karina’s notebook, wide-eyed at the densely packed writing. “Karina, when you eventually get promoted, land a big raise, or go for your doctorate, I promise I won’t be jealous. Truly.”Karina chuckled. “If you need these notes, I can len
Karina glanced at the time and quickly gestured for Yvette to sit down as well. However, barely had they taken their seats when a haughty woman marched up to Karina, her sharp gaze fixed on the chair she was sitting on. “You, get up. I want that seat!” Karina frowned, studying the unfamiliar woman. She didn’t recognize her from the hospital, but the designer jewelry around her neck and the branded bag on her arm screamed wealth. She seemed like the kind of entitled socialite who rarely had to fight for anything, let alone a seat.Unsure if the woman was trying to pick a fight or genuinely wanted the chair, Karina pointed to the open seats nearby. “There are plenty of seats over there. Take one of those.”Then, she lowered her head, dismissing the woman entirely.The woman’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Excuse me? I said I want your seat. Get up. Now!” Not content with words alone, she reached out to pull Karina up by force. Karina, now genuinely angry, shook her off. “I was h
Karina looked slightly surprised. She distinctly remembered that Wilfred wasn’t a drinker. “I thought you avoided alcohol?” Wilfred, ever the epitome of control and composure, preferred to steer clear of anything that dulled his sharpness. Back when they worked at the Birkham Central Hospital, she had seen him reject bottles of expensive wine from people trying to curry favor with him. He sipped his tea slowly before replying, “You’ve started at a new hospital. As your former mentor, I haven’t given you a proper congratulatory gift yet.” “This is… for me?” Karina asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. Wilfred’s gaze was steady as he replied, “Don’t like it? If not, I can send it back and we can find something else later.” He raised his hand to call the server over. “Wait! No need. I like it a lot,” Karina interjected hastily, stopping him in his tracks. The idea of going gift shopping with him later felt uncomfortably like a date. And knowing Wilfred’s personality, w
Wilfred’s gaze swept over her without a word, and Karina climbed into the car on her own. When choosing her seat, she instinctively moved toward the back, but before she could get in, Wilfred spoke, “Sit in the front. It’s more convenient.” Karina hesitated briefly. Not wanting to appear overly particular, she complied and took the passenger seat. Although there was a saying that the front seat was reserved for a girlfriend, Wilfred didn’t strike her as someone who cared about such details. She decided to pretend she didn’t know. After buckling her seatbelt, a phone suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up, her face full of confusion and surprise. Wilfred glanced sideways at her, one hand on the steering wheel, the car still stationary. “I haven’t decided on a restaurant yet. I’ll be driving soon. You pick something.” Karina took the phone. As Wilfred drove, she scrolled through the options, narrowing it down to three restaurants. But her mild indecisivenes
Karina forced a smile. “Really, it’s fine. You all go ahead.”Yvette pouted, her disappointment clear as she relented. “Alright then.”Once the others had left, Karina tried to refocus on work. She pulled out her research materials, determined to get something done. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept wandering. The cheerful chatter from outside finally snapped her out of it, making her realize just how distracted she had been.Karina gave a wry smile and muttered to herself, “This is why you don’t get ahead of yourself. Seriously, one of life’s biggest delusions.”For a fleeting moment, she had thought Wilfred might feel something for her too. But it was better this way, she told herself—better to wake up now than to fall in too deep later. Romance wasn’t her strong suit; focusing on her career was safer.While others might drown their heartbreak in food or a night out, Karina chose the most grueling outlet: work. It might be exhausting, but it was effective. S