Chapter 20

When I saw Ryan Chen, he was dressed formally, standing by the riverbank, talking on the phone.

Upon noticing me, he smiled and gestured for silence with his finger.

Awkwardly, I stood by, waiting for him to finish his call.

“Sorry, there was an emergency patient at the hospital, sorry to keep you waiting.”

I looked up and saw his gentle smile.

His voice was unique, carrying an indescribable warmth.

“It’s okay, work is important.” Could anything be more important than a patient’s safety? I wasn’t that unreasonable.

We walked and chatted together.

He was quite the gentleman, always shielding me as cyclists passed by.

I regretted wearing high heels for a walk; my feet were killing me.

“Want to sit over there for a while?” His gaze fell to my ankle, and he frowned slightly.

I was startled. He had been watching the road; when did he notice my foot?

“Sure.” I followed him to a tea shop by the river.

As soon as I sat down, I wished I could stay there forever; the pain was unbearable.

“You sit here for a while, I’ll be back in five minutes.”

“Okay.”

Once he left, I quickly took my foot out of the shoe to relax.

Using my phone’s flashlight, I saw the skin was broken; no wonder it hurt so much.

“Don’t move.” Just as I was about to touch the wound, a voice appeared above me.

Startled, I hurriedly put my shoe back on, but he crouched down, gently holding my foot.

I was utterly embarrassed. Not wearing shoes was one thing, but after walking so long, I feared there might be an odor.

“Mr. Chen, it’s a minor issue, no need to worry.” I tried to pull my foot back.

He wasn’t the least bit bothered, crouching down and taking out cotton swabs and disinfectant from a plastic bag, “Let me disinfect it for you, to prevent infection.”

So that’s why he went to buy medicine earlier.

“I can do it myself.”

“It’ll be done in a moment.”

After all, he was a professional; I had no reason to argue, but it was just too awkward.

Just then, my phone buzzed.

I took it out and saw, “Where’s my math book?”

It was Liam Evans.

Was he picking a fight? Since when did he want to read?

“I don’t know.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll go to your room and find it myself.”

I was fuming.

“What’s wrong, does it hurt?” Ryan Chen suddenly looked up and asked.

“No…” Arguing with Liam Evans, I almost forgot Ryan Chen was helping with my wound.

“Almost done.” His touch became even gentler.

“Okay.”

Watching his careful movements, I felt guilty. He was helping with my wound, yet I was chatting with another man. I scolded myself to snap out of it.

Then another message came.

“Guess what I found?”

I didn’t plan to reply, whatever he found. There was nothing scandalous in my room.

Another message followed. “Miss Thompson is so mean, hiding my underwear, what for?”

Reading the message, it felt like a bolt of lightning struck my head.

I suddenly remembered, after my mom discovered it last time, I had casually stuffed his underwear in the dressing table drawer.

And then I forgot about it. Now, it was truly hard to explain.