Trapped with a Doctor

"Mrs. Gu, please, there's no need. I'm not actually... that into..." Angela could feel how damaging what she wanted to say was.

Her pain was ineffable, and no-one could truly understand it the way she did. Yes, she liked Arvin's lab, but it meant nothing compared to being with Arvin.

Even though she detested the thought - she knew that Arvin loved another, someone who for whatever reason had left him to his own devices to live in the haunting that was her memory, Angela still wanted to immerse herself in the tenderness and happiness that Arvin brought to her life, even if it broke her.

Though there was still the issue of Nita, who was doing pretty well in the medical sphere. But Angela no longer feared her as an opponent. She was used to being surrounded by medical talents like her. More importantly, she wasn't afraid of her because she was sure that at that moment, she knew she had wholeheartedly fallen in love with Arvin too.

She loved Arvin, regardless of any rival or any setback...

The idea that she had lived with Arvin in secret wasn't because she was afraid of Teresa, it was because she wanted everything to go smoothly with Arvin.

Angela was silent for a long time. Arvin had no way to plumb her depths. Her eyes became red and puffy, and that's when Arvin jolted up to her and dragged her into his arms. "Don't pick on her, mom. Leave her alone. She agreed to live in my house because I forced her to do so!"

"Well, have you considered Angela's reputation? If Rosa came back one day, and you two married, what would happen to Angela?"

The shock of this realization hit Angela like a bomb, making Angela's mind blank in an instant.

If Arvin married someone else...

What sorrow!

As Arvin fought with Teresa, Angela regained her spirit, and stood against his mother once more. "Mrs Gu. You may call me a shortsighted person, because I only focus on what's happening right now. But I've given myself over to Arvin. And I will stick by him, through anything. Even if that union will be short-lived, or I'll get humiliated."

Teardrops fell from her eyes, making everything obscure to her. Teresa's face lost its clarity to the hazy translucency of tears. She wiped the tears away as casually as she could and continued to make her declaration. "If Rosa comes back, I'll leave Arvin."

Angela was pretending to be relaxed, but she knew it was easier said than done to up and leave Arvin when they had built an inextricable romance together.

Teresa sensed how sad she was, but didn't speak out. She had made a promise to herself a long time ago that, if possible, she would never to hurt the feelings of an innocent girl.

Arvin held back, shocked and surprised by her sudden confession. He took out a napkin from his pocket and wiped away her tears. "Angela. Get a hold of yourself. What's the sense in all this crying? Is it such an ordeal, living with me?"

Angela shook her head. Just in a few days, her heart had been fully dominated by Arvin.

She had woken up at midnight to see him sleeping beside her quietly. She had felt that throb of joy from the bottom of her heart.

When Teresa saw Angela crying, she remembered her own daughter. She couldn't feel more sorry for her.

In the end, Teresa had to give in. She had no choice but to tell them. "Fine. You can be together if that's what you want. I'm okay with that."

What she said made Angela smile faintly, but Teresa went on, "But, do not mistake this for my approval. I stand by my views. I would have preferred Nita to Angela."

"..." Angela remained smiling, the tears drying on her face. "Mrs Gu." She struggled to formulate her question. "What if I'm having Arvin's baby?"

One day, when they were shopping in a supermarket, hadn't Arvin played a joke on her, pointing at her having their baby?

"Eh-hem." Arvin who was always a calm man, choked when he heard this.

To make sure she could stay with Arvin, Angela felt brave enough to speak impulsively like this. Teresa looked at Angela's belly with a disappointed look. "If you are... We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Teresa knew she'd backed herself into a corner by joking about this. She had to figure out a solution. She couldn't stand to see an innocent girl's purity ruined by the wrong relationship. Nor would she allow herself to pander to the girl's importunes.

Teresa decided to leave. Angela followed her out shortly after. Arvin drove forward and said goodbye to both of them from the doorway, dumbfounded by the occurrence. Teresa didn't say anything further about the pregnancy. Many employees saw them all together, saying goodbye. They wondered and made speculations about whether Angela and Arvin were dating each other.

When Angela returned to the VVIP inpatient department, she gave Nancy a melancholic hug and told her, "I may have fallen in love with Arvin. What am I gonna do?"

Nancy touched her bangs softly and answered, "So you finally realized you're in love?"

"You knew?" asked Angela out of astonishment. "You knew I was in love with Arvin before?"

"Yes! If you didn't like Mr. Gu, why would you agree to live with him?"

That sounded reasonable...

"Do you think I'm fickle? After all, I just broke up with Randal..." The timing was all out of order. How could she fall in love with someone so quickly?

Nancy gave her a contemptuous look. "No. You are not! Guys like Randal do not deserve you. The reason you dated him was because he wowed you with his looks. But Mr Gu is unrivaled. Between him and Randal, there's no competition. It's not strange at all that you've found yourself with Mr Gu so quickly."

"Maybe you are right..." Arvin seduced her every muscle. Oh, How she wished to know if she had the same effect on him.

"If I didn't have my eyes set on Stanley," joked Nancy, "I would totally be interested in Mr. Gu too!"

Nancy and Arvin? Angela pictured them together, and shook her head immediately. "No! You would never be his type!" She said so in such a blaring, definite tone.

Nancy was amused by her serious look. "I was just kidding. Look how scared you get. Come on. As if I would. Me and Mr Gu will never happen! He's far from friendly. I could never imagine seeing him and not wanting to get far away. It's you I'm curious about. It seems you are not afraid of him at all."

Stanley. Was there anyone on the planet who loved him more than Nancy?

Angela scratched the back of her head with a shy look. "I was afraid, but it got replaced with annoyance. I find him hateful. I have stopped feeling afraid altogether."

Nancy smiled unconsciously. "Oh yeah! We have to go! It's time to have lunch. I still have to change needles for patient number nine!"

"Okay."

One night at Shengfeng Mansion

Arvin was preening over Angela, hugging her tightly. He carried her in his tree-trunk sized arms to the bedroom, and flung her down upon the king-sized bed.

Angela's heart was pounding. She pressed her hands against his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Putting a baby in you," he said, sincerely.

What?"

"You and I are making a baby." He kissed her lips.

Angela covered her face, and told him in an icy voice, "I was only joking with your mother!"

"Yeah. I'm joking with you, too!"

Angela relented, and said nothing. The night overcame the room like the presence of a dark monster.

The autumn days brought with them a cold wind. Angela was changing her clothes after work one afternoon and sent Arvin a message. "I'm going shopping with Nancy tonight. Have fun with your work Mr. Gu!' His reply came swiftly. "I have some social dealings tonight. I'll pick you up after."

"Okay," she texted. Then, she lost herself in the sweet imagination.

At the gate of the shopping mall

Angela put the stuff she bought into Nancy's trunk. They went to a shop and bought two cups of tea. She sucked a mouthful of hers, and when she put the cup down, She saw through the window a figure not too far away. She touched Nancy excitedly. "Nancy. Nancy. Isn't that Stanley?"☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐