Said I didn’t Love Him But I Lied

Judging from Dr. Harrison’s face and the fact that he had been keeping silent, Everleigh could guess that he was a little irritated. After weighing it for a moment, she decided to change her opinion and proposed, “How about this? Give me time until the end of this month. Dr. Morgan, if you’re still keen on hiring me by then, I’ll gladly accept it.”

“That’ll be perfect.” Nathan was overjoyed, “I’ll go back and arrange it right now.”

Dr. Harrison’s expression improved a lot as he heard Everleigh’s proposal. It was clear as day that he was glad, but before he left, he decided to insult Everleigh one last time. “You know you’re allowed to leave your job after you accept it. You have one month left to think about it. Don’t worry, I won’t laugh at you too much if you chicken out at the last minute.”

Everleigh shook her head and sighed after watching Dr. Harrison and Nathan leave the place. She muttered, “Stainley, don’t you think as Dr. Harrison grew older, he tends to act more childishly? He loves to argue and even be sarcastic.”

“I think he only does that to you. Everyone knows Dr. Harrison looks up to you the most. If you decide to teach here, I bet he would be the happiest person alive. He’ll even let you conduct his future research.” Stainley’s voice came from next to her.

“Yes, I don’t think I can leave. Come on, let’s go.”

The two of them walked side by side to the backstage of the office, chatting as they walked.

“Did you take up Dr. Morgan’s offer because you were afraid you would upset Dr. Harrison?” Stainley was curious.

“What else could I do?” Everleigh said helplessly, “Didn’t you see how gloomy Dr. Harrison’s face was just now? Had I disagreed just now, I bet he would never recognize me as his student anymore!”

Looking at Everleigh’s side profile, Stainley’s tender eyes softened a little.

The world was changing, and so were people. However, time seemed to always stop for Everleigh. Her confidence, pride, and kindness had never changed.

He would accompany her until the end, regardless of what it was going to cost him, even if he could not be with her.

As soon as Stainley and Everleigh reached backstage, they could hear noises from an ongoing ruckus.

“Keep looking. How could they just disappear?”

“I’ve looked everywhere, including the backstage lounge. They weren’t there.”

“Could they be in the restroom?”

The ruckus staggered Everleigh and Stainley. They were puzzled as they observed the bustling group of students in front of them. As Stainley noticed the junior who had helped to look after Everleigh’s children, he waved his hand at him and called, “Shawn, what’s going on?”

Shawn rushed towards Stainley and Everleigh the moment he saw the pair. “Everleigh! Stainley! Did Adrienne and Alastair go looking for you?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Stainley was startled.

All colors escaped from Shawn’s face as he said, “Alastair and Adrienne are missing!”

“What?” Stainely’s face also paled.

Shawn was so shaken that he looked like he was about to break down and cry. “I was watching for them when Miss Iverson asked me to help move some equipment. She assured me that she would take care of the kids but they were gone when I came back.”

After Erica had graduated, she became a lecturer at the university, while William, her husband, was also a lecturer at the medical department. The couple’s influence at the medical department was what allowed Erica to easily instruct medical students when compared to instructing students from her own department.

“Where is Erica?” Stainley asked nervously.

“When I questioned her about it, she told me she didn’t see the kids. She left just a moment ago as she had urgent matters to attend to.” Shawn’s eyes turned blood red as he apologized hurriedly, “Everleigh, I’m so so sorry! It was not my intention! I have already asked others to go and look for them! I’ll go check the security cameras now!”

Shawn was young and naïve. He was terrified that he had to deal with the kids’ disappearance out of nowhere.

However, Everleigh was calm as she said, “It’s okay. Calm down first. Don’t be afraid. Alastair has a cell phone with him. I’ll try calling him. Otherwise, I’m still able to track the location of his phone.”

It was surely a big issue if other people’s children went missing. From Everleigh’s experience, if her children went missing or they were taken away, she was instead worried about the kidnappers or at least the people who had taken them away.

Everleigh’s call connected and then Alaistair’s voice rang, “Mommy.”

Everleigh breathed a sigh of relief as she heard her son’s voice. She gestured to everyone around her as a sign to calm them down.

She then asked, “Where are you and Adrienne? Why are you running around again?”

“I’m not sure where this is but they sell a lot of fruits here.”

It was the backstreet. That was the only possible place in all of Ocpeace Medical University to sell fruits. Everleigh knew by instinct that her children were always attracted by food.

“Was it Adrienne’s doing again?”

Before Alastair could speak, Adrienne’s soft and somewhat dissatisfied voice came from over the phone as she defended herself. “No, it  wasn’t me, Mommy. Erica told us she was going to buy us ice cream but she disappeared after we followed her here! Alastair and I were thinking about reporting to the police to help look for Erica.”

Everleigh held her forehead and uttered, “Alright. Stay there and don’t move. I’m on my way now.”

Everleigh thought that Erica was obviously up to no good, but since the children were unharmed and coupled with the fact that she was too lazy to argue with Erica, she decided to just let it go. She hung up the phone and left for the backstreet in a hurry.

She saw William on her way out, but she only gave him a simple nod as she walked past him.

Everleigh was always a good-tempered lady and she had rarely treated others indifferently. Thus, this shocked William. He grabbed Stainley who was following behind Everleigh and asked, “What’s wrong with Everleigh?”

Stainley frowned and he answered with an upset tone, “William, why don’t you go and ask Erica? She brought Everleigh’s children out and left them alone in the middle of nowhere. Will she be responsible if anything happens to them?”

“What?” William’s face stiffened.

Behind Stainley, Shawn also said indignantly, “Erica has gone too far! She shouldn’t joke around by using the children even if she has some kind of grudge against Everleigh. I was almost scared out of my wits!”

“Did you hear that?” Stainley made the cold remark before brushing away William’s hand and left for the backstreet.

In the interim, the fruit stalls at the backstreet of Ocpeace Medical University were bustling with people.

Adrienne and Alastair found a shaded spot near a stall and sat down. Alastair was enjoying a slice of muskmelon, making it seem as though it was very delicious, which attracted a large crowd.

As onlookers passed by, they decided to buy a fruit or two from the stall.

Adrienne had finished her slice of melon earlier and she was helping the stall owner promote their fruits. She said to a lady, “The sweetness of this melon is out of this world! I assure you that you’ve never tasted anything as good as this!”

Hence, people kept swarming to the stall.

A student asked, “Little girl, is the mangosteen any good?”

Adrienne shook her head. She took another bite at her melon and replied honestly, “I didn’t eat the mangosteen so I can’t say much about it.”

The chubby stall owner heard Adrienne’s remark and immediately set her hands to work. She peeled open a ripe mangosteen before handing it to Adrienne, “Here you go! Come on, have a try!”

Adrienne’s mouth was stuffed with the offered fruit. While her mouth was still full, she claimed, “This is sweet! Let’s buy this!”

“I’ll take some mangosteens, please.”

“Me too.”

In the blink of an eye, a basket of newly-restocked mangosteen was sold out.

The stall owner was happy and it showed from her narrowed eyes. She asked her husband to collect payment from their customers before looking proudly at the pair of children in front of her. Whose children were they? Not only were they adorable, but they had also brought her good fortune. She had made a lot of money with their help.

The stall owner wanted to keep the momentum of her business. She immediately cut some other fruits and put them on a plate before handing it over to Adrienne, “Come, try this pineapple!”

Adrienne rubbed her tummy under her tiny pink dress and said, “I’m full.”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Although her mouth said so, her hand did not stop moving. It moved towards the handed plate and grabbed a piece of pineapple.

Everyone at the stall laughed at this sight.

“Adrienne.” Alastair pulled her aside. He was afraid that she would have eaten too much.

When Adrienne looked up, her doe eyes immediately lit up. She jumped up and rushed behind Alastair before shouting her lungs out, “Daddy!”