Chapter 6 Women Will Scheme to Get Close to You
Matilda's day at work was the same as usual—busy, occasionally irritating.
The irritation naturally came from those who showed up with minor aches and pains.
But there were still plenty of real patients.
Every time Matilda had office hours, her appointment slots would fill up within half an hour. This was mainly because she was patient and warm with patients. She never gave anyone a cold look even when they asked lots of questions, always explaining things enthusiastically and reminding them what to watch out for.
Most importantly, she genuinely hoped patients would recover soon, and she never prescribed medications randomly or pushed expensive drugs.
Some hospital doctors would tell patients to get admitted at the drop of a hat, but Matilda would always analyze the situation first and let the patient choose. Admission had its treatment approach, and outpatient care had its own—it just took a bit longer to get better.
At noon, she saw off her last patient, then someone else sat down next to her.
She was confused—hadn't she finished seeing all the morning appointments?
When she turned around, she saw Reuben.
Reuben was still wearing his hospital white coat, probably having just gotten off work.
"What are you doing here?" Matilda asked without any warmth.
Reuben also had a cold expression. "You think I want to be here?"
"Then why did you come?"
Reuben pulled out his phone and showed Matilda a photo. "You damaged my car yesterday. Addie says you need to pay up—at least $2,000, because she also put in $20,000 for that car."
Matilda was so angry she almost laughed. "Yesterday you slammed on the brakes first, that's why I hit you."
Reuben was dismissive. "Matilda, do you even know the traffic rules? Even if I braked first, the fact is you were following too close. What were you rushing for? A date with that guy from yesterday?"
"None of your damn business!" Matilda cursed.
But her voice was naturally soft with a slightly sweet tone, so it didn't sound fierce at all.
Reuben said, "Anyway, you have to pay back the $2,000 today, and you need to transfer it through Zelle. I need to show it to Addie, or she won't forgive me."
"When you broke up with me to please Adalyn, didn't you already block my number? How am I supposed to transfer money to you?" Matilda asked.
Reuben had a solution. "I'll unblock your account, and after you transfer it, I'll block you again. Same thing."
Matilda was speechless. "I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. You say pay up and I should just pay? Why don't you call the traffic police instead? Whatever the police say I owe, I'll pay."
With that, she shut down her computer, took off her white coat, and grabbed her bag from the desk. "I'm getting off work!"
Reuben followed her out. "It's just two thousand dollars—you really won't pay it back?"
"It's not that I won't—if I'm at fault, let the traffic police punish me. You don't have the right!"
Matilda had already reached the nurses' station. Two nurses were still busy, and when they saw them coming, they looked over curiously.
Hadn't they broken up? Why was this Reuben still chasing after her to the pain management department?
Reuben probably felt embarrassed, so he stopped following Matilda.
……
That afternoon.
The Gonzaga Group's new product launch went ahead as scheduled.
Because Charles had his assistant spread the word that he would attend the launch, many socialites showed up that afternoon. Some even flew in from out of town, having just gotten off the plane and changed into their evening gowns in the taxi.
Charles introduced the new products on stage, while Wentworth sat in a corner in the back row, sitting up straight as a bell tower.
When the launch ended, it was time for the reception.
As soon as Charles came down, he was surrounded by socialites.
And Charles deliberately stood somewhere close to Wentworth.
"Mr. Gonzaga, I'm Lisa from Orchid City. What a coincidence—I just arrived in Phoenix City yesterday, and I get to see you today!" said a girl in a gold evening gown.
Charles held a glass of red wine in one hand and had the other in his pocket, giving Lisa a faint smile. "You just got off the plane. Even though you changed into an evening gown and heels, your ankles still have marks from your socks. You were wearing sneakers ten minutes ago, right? Want to wipe the sweat off your forehead first?"
Lisa fell silent.
Another socialite came over. "Mr. Gonzaga, I heard you like surfing. I'm also a surfing expert—let's hang out sometime."
Charles said coolly, "Your name is Rose. Last month you just got your Level 2 beginner surfing certification abroad. Although I wasn't there, my friend was a judge and I saw the list. You've worked hard to get close to me."
Rose fell silent.
Charles didn't care at all whether the women felt embarrassed, which made some of the scheming girls nearby hesitant to approach.
But then a rather innocent-looking woman appeared, holding a piece of cake.
"Mr. Gonzaga, I heard you like tiramisu. I made this myself. I hope you like it."
Charles didn't look at the cake, but his gaze lingered on her for quite a while.
Just when the people around thought Charles was interested in this woman, Charles smiled with disdain.
"You're Cinda Turner from the Turner Group. Your real purpose isn't to get me to eat your cake—it's that your current look, you dressed up to copy someone. Your scheming runs pretty deep."
Cinda fell silent.
……
Before the reception ended, Charles left with Wentworth.
In the car, Charles said to Wentworth, "You saw that just now, right? When women want to get close to you, they'll scheme and spare no effort. So, that doctor you mentioned is probably the same. She's a doctor—she probably found out through some channel that you have insomnia, so she prepared some sleep medication in advance."
Thinking of Matilda, Wentworth couldn't help but smile.
"Dr. Spencer isn't like that."
"How many times have you even met her?"
"Just three times total."
"So do you really know her? Give me her information—within an hour, I'll dig up everything about her!"
Wentworth sent Charles the photo of Matilda's ID he took yesterday, then said, "Charles, go ahead and investigate. I trust Dr. Spencer."
"You're that sure?"
"The person I've chosen shouldn't be wrong."
The business van stopped at the entrance to Wentworth's residential complex.
Wentworth asked, "Want to come up and sit for a bit?"
Charles glanced at the complex entrance, frowned, and said, "Are you comfortable living here? How about I buy you a villa?"
"I'm not used to villas."
"Why are you being polite with me? You're my most beloved little brother."
"I'm really not being polite—I like it here."
"Then I'll come up another day. I still have things at the company today."
……
Matilda also got off work.
She got on her scooter and had just left the employee parking area when she saw a black BMW parked ahead.
A man and woman stood by the car door, seemingly waiting for her.
It was Reuben and Adalyn.
Seeing Matilda come out, Adalyn nudged Reuben, signaling him to go over.
Then Reuben blocked Matilda's path.
"What do you want?" Matilda asked.
Reuben said, "Still about the money."