Page 116 of Dr. Damaged Protector

The murmurs increased as I walked over to Jane, who stood there with crossed arms. She was smiling like she had won an award or was about to present one.

“You son of a bitch, you did it,” she laughed. “After denying yourself of happiness for so long, you finally did it. Who made the first move? Definitely not the blockhead of a boss.”

“Would you not do it here?” I asked, looking around. Everyone else seemed eager to know the answer.

“It's too late, so you better get it out of the way this morning,” she advised, and the others murmured in agreement. “So, go ahead and tell us.”

“He was the one,” I answered.

“Called it!” one of them said. “The rest of you pay up.”

“Wait, you guys knew?” I blinked twice.

“It was kind of obvious that the two of you would end up a couple a long time ago,” she explained. “But we were waiting for you to make it public…and now you did.”

“I can't believe this.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“But it's the truth, isn't it?” she asked. “I know you're worried about a lot of people saying bad things about you. But don't worry, you're dating the strongest person in this hospital.”

“I guess you're right,” I affirmed and smiled.

I was worried about what everyone else would think, but there was nothing to worry about after all.

****

My joy was short-lived. Although I had a newly established relationship, just one thing seemed to get in the way. The incessant buzzing of my phone was a grim reminder that someone was out there still making demands. Liam had increased his texts.

Sometimes, it would be taunting about the debt. Other times, it's just calling to know how I'm doing. When I got home from work, I put my phone on silent positioned far away so I wouldn't have to check it and bother Lucas.

I pleaded with Liam to tell me what he wanted so I could focus on other things. He was stubborn as a mule, not paying attention to my demands, instead focusing on what he wanted alone. Just when I thought he couldn't do anything worse, he did.

Lucas was busy, and I was at the front desk discussing matters with the receptionists.

“Olivia, there you are.” Liam's voice felt like a thousand needles pricking my neck.

“Liam,” I forced a smile to prevent my colleagues was realizing that something was wrong. “What are you doing here? I am at work.”

“I know, but you weren't answering your texts. I just wanted to see if anything was wrong,” he replied and turned his attention to the receptionists. “Hello, ladies.”

They waved in response.

“So when is your break?” he asked.

“You just missed it, actually,” I responded and walked to him. “But if you want to talk, we can go outside.”

“Amazing. There's a burger joint not far from here. We can grab drinks and see where the conversation leads,” he responded.

“Unfortunately,” I said, gritting my teeth, “we can't go that far. I certainly can't, because I still have work to do.”

I grabbed his arm, careful not to tug aggressively to avoid raising suspicion. As soon as we were outside, I was ready to let loose on him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.

“Same thing I told you when we were inside,” he responded. “You've been slow at replying to my texts. You may have forgotten about our little deal.”

“I haven't forgotten about anything,” I snapped. “You just don't say what exactly it is you want. I'm willing to pay you, but you're being unreasonable by showing up at my office.”

“Jeez, how rude. And to think I used to like you,” he said, like it was my fault.

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