Ivy’s heart skipped a beat–she thought she’d run into Jamison again. Why did that guy haunt her like a ghost?
But when she looked closer, it was just an expert profile flashing on the digital
screen.
“Honestly, jumpy much…” Ivy muttered under her breath.
“Uh…” Katrina suddenly remembered, and gave an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, I forgot. You don’t like talking about Dr. Ludwig…”
Ivy looked away and kept walking toward the exit.
The moment they stepped out of the clinic building, a tall, striking figure appeared in front of them.
He was upright, elegant, and handsome–Jamison always stood out in a crowd, unmistakable.
Several young women nearby couldn’t help but turn their heads, eyes full of admiration as they watched him walk by.
Katrina blinked in surprise, then shot a cautious look at Ivy and whispered, “Well, this time you really did run into him…”
She wanted to add that the two of them were always crossing paths at the worst possible moments, but thought better of it.
Jamison was moving quickly, heading straight for the ER.
He was supposed to be on the late shift, but the emergency room had just called. A construction worker had fallen from the scaffolding–a steel rod had pierced his chest. It was life or death.
Thoracic surgery was Jamison’s specialty. The lead surgeon had no choice but to call him back in for the rescue.
He hadn’t expected to see Wy at the hospital again.
Their eyes met–both of them cold, distant, and perfectly polite.
Jamison’s phone rang. He answered immediately, pace quickening.
By the time he passed Ivy, he was practically running.
Ivy and Katrina could hear the tense urgency in his voice as he gave
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instructions–something about pushing epinephrine, clearly in the midst of directing an emergency.
A swirl of air followed in his wake as he rushed by.
Once he was gone, Katrina let out a low whistle. “Dr. Ludwig is incredible–always fighting death for his patients.”
Ivy said nothing, but for once, she didn’t feel any urge to criticize.
She remembered the last time she came to the hospital for her cramps and fought Jamison for a parking spot–he’d been rushing to another emergency then, too.
Maybe… he really was good at what he did. Otherwise, why would they always call him for the toughest cases?
If he were just in it for fame, there was no way he’d take on such stressful, high–risk emergencies.
On the drive home, Katrina was at the wheel while Ivy checked the stock market on her phone.
Sure enough, everything had changed–the hot sectors from the past few days were crashing hard now.
Thankfully, she’d shifted her portfolio just in time yesterday.
The “Stonks Only Go Up” WhatsApp group kept pinging with new messages.
Ivy opened the chat to see Dale and Jay lamenting their losses–their stocks had hit rock bottom.
Bob: Lucky I listened to Mrs. Smith and cashed out while I could.
Coach Murphy: I’ve been busy lately, kept my positions small. Not losing much.
Dale: @Mrs. Smith @Dr. Handsome Where are you two? How bad is it? Dr. Handsome must’ve lost money too–come on, make me feel better. [crying emoji]
After climbing the stairs, Ivy replied to a few messages.
But Dr. Handsome hadn’t appeared in the chat at all.
Bob: Dr. Handsome’s probably swamped.
Dale: He’s on the late shift tonight–should have some free time by now.
Jay: How do you know his schedule? Are you two chatting privately?
Dale: Nah, it’s about my niece. I talked to Dr. Handsome last night–he said he’s
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working late today and has clinic appointments the day after tomorrow. Told me to bring the kid in then.
Reading that, Ivy felt her opinion of Dr. Handsome rise.
She’d never met him, but somehow, she found herself trusting that he was every bit as skilled and decent as his nickname suggested.
It wasn’t until evening that Dr. Handsome finally popped up in the group chat:
[Had a trauma case this morning–came back for emergency surgery, took more than six hours, missed the market. Just checked–my stocks crashed too.]
The moment he appeared, everyone jumped in to reply.
But he only sent that one message and vanished again.
Ivy was eating dinner when she saw it, and for no logical reason, the image of Jamison rushing through the hospital that morning popped into her mind.
He’d come in from outside, tense and focused–clearly heading to an emergency.
A strangé feeling surfaced for a moment, but reason quickly snuffed it out.
When Ivy was finally healed up, Emma’s birthday rolled around.
The Windsor family had noticed how down Emma had been since her miscarriage, so they talked it over with Micah and decided to throw her a birthday party-something to lift her spirits.
When Emma heard about it, she protested that she didn’t want a party, but secretly, she was pleased.
At least it meant everyone still cared about her.
On her birthday, Emma headed out early for a spa treatment, then met her hairstylist for a fresh new look.
By four in the afternoon, she finally left the salon, admiring her reflection in her phone’s camera as she walked to the parking garage. She imagined Micah’s reaction that evening–surely, he’d be captivated.
Suddenly, everything went black–a hood was pulled over her head!
Her phone crashed to the ground.
“Help-” Emma gasped, but before she could scream, a hand clamped tightly over
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Chapter 102
her mouth. Her feet left the ground as she was lifted and bundled into a car like a
sack of flour.
Someone stooped to grab her fallen phone, got into the car, and slammed the door.
A luxury SUV tore out of the garage. The whole abduction took less than a minute.