Chapter 6 THE TANGLE

The next morning, I woke up feeling so fresh. I prepared myself quickly and rushed to the hospital. The call of duty had to be adhered to despite what had happened between me and Vincent. I needed to prove the jerk and his whore wrong.

I know. I know.

I did not need to prove anybody wrong, right? Right! But I could not help the urge to see their faces when I made it all the way through and got that title. Then they would know that I was not just a poor dreamer.

I wanted to be a doctor from an early age. All my life, I always pushed myself toward that dream. I had made a lot of sacrifices for me to reach that stage. Nobody had any right to tell me that I was not worthy to be a doctor. The stranger was right to believe that I had all it took to be a doctor.

That old man, huh! Remembering him alone brought a smile to my face and a throb between my legs. I blushed all the way down the long hospital corridor, memories of me and the old man playing in my mind. The soreness from our heated moment was still there, but it weirdly felt all sweet.

Regrets were nowhere close to my mind. He was the reason I was feeling so energetic, so lively. He was the reason why I could meet that cheating son of a bitch and walk past him like he never existed.

I was happy, re-energized, and all that thanks to that one-time moment with a random sugar daddy. That is all that mattered-that I was happy, no longer weeping over things that didn't matter. Things I could not control.

I walked right into the conference room and slid into the empty seat, which, to my bad, was next to Vincent and Marylyn. The rotten idiots. If there was an empty space, I would have shifted there and escaped the negative vibes from the duo. But there was none.

They both smirked at me, their smug expressions igniting anger in me. But I hugged myself cool and tight, refusing to let them mess with my mood.

Just then, Chief Rooney cleared her throat. The room fell silent as she addressed the group. "Today is the first day of your future at Brookside General Hospital. At this final stage, it is not only your knowledge that will be tested, but your strengths too. This is not a place for the weak."

My leg bounced nervously under the table, and I heard a giggle from both Vincent and Marylyn.

"You might want to quit right now to avoid embarrassing yourself in the end, dreamer!" Marylyn murmured, loud enough for me to hear.

I ignored her and maintained my focus on the chief. I was not a weakling. Failing was not an option. Giving them the satisfaction of seeing me fail was not an option either. I had to either make it or MAKE IT BIG! No other choice!!!

"All the same," Chief Rooney continued. "I wish everyone all the best. And without much ado, let me introduce you all to Brookside's most acclaimed surgeon." He paused, looking toward the door.

All the eyes in the hall followed suit, and the door slowly swung open. A tall figure started marching in, his domineering presence and heavy steps commanding immediate attention. Everyone sprung to their feet in respect and honor, except I, whose stomach dropped as my eyes locked with the man's.

That same pair of eyes...

That face...

That same scent...

And that bandage on the face.

Even on the seat, I trembled.

I had fucking worked on that wound the previous day.

"No God-fucking way!" I cursed under my breath, our gaze still locked while still frozen on my seat.

It was he. The man I had broken his car window. The man I had injured. The man I had tended to. The same man I imposed a kiss on. The same man I had sex with the previous night.

He stood right before me-tall, neat with his Italian-made three-piece suit, bold, cold, hot, and sexy. Just like I remembered him from our previous encounter.

"This can't be happening." I murmured to myself in denial again. I took a long blink, hoping that I would open my eyes and find another man staring at me. Just any other person, but not him.

"Hi, Dad," A voice echoed beside me, and I immediately peeled my eyes and shot up in befuddlement and denial, turning to the direction the voice echoed from.

It was Vincent; his face lit up in recognition of the man before us. My breath caught in my throat, my gaze darting between the two men in disbelief. My heart raced as realization sunk into my system, shaking me to my innermost core.

"D...Da...Da...d?" I stammered, earning the attention of everyone.

Vincent turned to me with a smug look that dropped the moment he saw the look on my face. "Yes. This is Senior Surgeon Dr. Aldrich De'Lucca, my father."

No way! That should be a very bad joke!

"Yes, Leylla. This is my soon-to-be father-in-law. Why do you seem so shocked?" Marylyn asked with an equal amount of curiosity that everyone had.

My stomach rumbled loudly, causing everyone to smirk at me. But I didn't know whether they laughed or not. All I wanted was to just wake up from that horrible nightmare that stood before me.

And she asked why I looked shocked. 'Because this can't be fucking happening, for shame's sake!' I howled inwardly before slamming back into the seat, shame and disbelief washing over me.

The fuck!

How could I have broken up with the son and then fucked the father the next minute?

"Are you alright, Miss Leylla Marie Monroe?" Everybody shifted their attention to that voice, while I froze again for the ...th time.

He called my name.

My full freaking name?

"Um, you know her, Dad?" His supposed son, Vincent, did me the honor of asking, and I inwardly thanked him for that because I was dying to know that too.

How could the man that I thought was a total stranger turn out to be not just the senior surgeon, but he also happened to know me?