Chapter 41

Feeling distraught, Lisa walked along the hallway, her mind racing with thoughts of what to do next. As she was about to walk out of the entrance, she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Lisa!" Leah's voice rang out, stopping Lisa in her tracks. She turned to see Leah walking towards her with a smile.

"Hey Lisa, What are you doing here? Did you come to see me?" Leah asked, her tone friendly.

Lisa shook her head. "No, Leah. I needed to meet up with Ethan," she replied, her voice sounding hollow even to her own ears.

Leah paused for a moment, her smile fading slightly. "You know Ethan?" she asked, surprised.

Lisa nodded. "Yes, I do," she replied, her thoughts still preoccupied with her current situation.

Leah's eyes widened in shock. "Wow, do you mean that? How come I never found out?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

Lisa shrugged, not wanting to reveal too much. "We went to high school together," she said simply.

Leah's expression turned thoughtful. "Hey, Lisa," she said, changing the subject. "Do you want to sit and chat over a coffee?"

Lisa hesitated for a moment, her mind still preoccupied with her failed meeting with Ethan, but she finally agreed. "Sure, that's fine," she said with a small smile.

Leah led the way to a space at LIM where they could get coffee. As they sat across from each other, they chatted about their lives, catching up on old times.

"Hey Lisa, you said you met President Ethan at high school. Can you tell me how he was, all about him, I mean," Leah asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.

Lisa felt a twinge of irritation at Leah's open admiration for Ethan, but she managed to conceal it with a smile. "Well, he was just like any other high school student, I guess," she replied, trying to downplay the situation.

"What do you mean by any other high school student. I bet a lot of female and even the male students were wallowing in admiration for him. Isn't he just too awesome and cute " Leah said, her cheeks flushing with color.

As they talked, Lisa suddenly received a message notification on her phone. Her heart skipped a beat as she read the message, and she knew she had to leave immediately.

"I'm sorry, Leah, I have to go," she said quickly, gathering her things.

Leah looked disappointed but understanding. "Okay, no problem. We'll catch up later," she said as Lisa hurried out of the coffee shop.

After parting ways with Leah, Lisa drove towards the Edward Manor. The message notification she had received was indicating that her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward had landed in the country and were now at their manor.

Lisa gripped the steering wheel tightly as she navigated through the busy city streets, her mind was buzzing with Ethan been at the upcoming event. She berated herself for her short memory, knowing that she had been meaning to tell Ethan about her willingness to be his date for the party.

Her eyes flicked over to the passenger seat, where her phone lay silent and dark. She had intended to set a reminder to talk to Ethan about the event, but somehow, she had forgotten.

After a short drive, Lisa arrived at the imposing gate of Edward Manor. Rather than honking her horn, she reached for her phone to search for information about the business event. As she scanned the details, her frustration grew as she realized that the event was being held at Kilton hotel, a ten-hour journey from her current location. To make matters worse, the dinner was scheduled for 9:00pm, and it was already 5:00pm. Lisa swallowed hard, feeling frustrated at the weight of her mistake.

Few minutes later**

At the dinner table with her parents, Lisa sat picking at her food while they ate. Suddenly, her father mentioned that he had received an invitation to a business dinner at Kilton Hotel that evening. However, due to his late arrival in the country, he was unable to attend.

At the mention of the hotel, Lisa's head snapped up, her interest piqued. She knew that her father owned a real estate company in their previous country of residence before being appointed by the government as a business ambassador between the two nations. She asked her father cautiously, "Dad, when did you receive the invitation?"

"Umm, maybe a month or two," her father replied nonchalantly.

"A month? Dad, why didn't you inform us about this earlier?" Lisa asked, feeling a little bit annoyed.

Lisa, I informed your mum too," her father said, not understanding why Lisa was showing so much interest in a business dinner event.

Lisa turned her head from side to side, staring intently at both of her parents. "Mom? You knew about this too, and no one bothered to tell me?" she asked, her voice tinged with frustration.

"What's going on, Lisa? You sound so interested all of a sudden," Chairman Edward asked, staring at her in disbelief. "You've never shown any interest in anything related to business, not even when I tried to force it on you. Has something changed?" he continued, while Mrs. Edward nodded in agreement.

Lisa paused, thinking about what to say. She knew she had to come up with a good excuse if she wanted to attend the dinner. "Well...umm, I know I don't usually do this, but this is different. It's one of the biggest dinner events done once in a year. I'm about to open my arts studio soon, and I need recognition at this time. If I don't attend events like this, how will my business grow and get recognized?" Lisa said, bringing up a cover-up reason.

"Well, that's true, sweetie, but you can always put up ads or get a big advertising company to promote your business," Mrs. Ed suggested.

"I'm not interested in that kind of recognition. It sounds empty to me," Lisa replied, her frustration evident in her tone. "What I need is to meet influential people in the business world, like the ones at this dinner. If you had told me about this earlier, I would have prepared and attended the dinner on your behalf. But now, it's too late," she continued, feigning anger before abruptly standing up and striding off towards her specially designed room, slamming the door shut behind her.

As Lisa stormed off, her parents watched her leave with a mix of concern and sadness. They knew that Lisa had always been ambitious and driven, and they were proud of her determination to succeed. However, they also worried that she was placing too much pressure on herself at such a young age, and they hoped that she would find balance and happiness in her pursuit of success.

****

As Mel and Ethan drove towards Kilton hotel, they suddenly saw a crowd of people gathered on the side of the road. Mel could see that something had happened and she felt a pang of curiosity. "What's going on over there?" she asked, peering out the window.

Ethan quickly pulled over and got out of the car to investigate. Mel followed behind, eager to see what had happened. As they got closer, they could see that a young boy was lying on the ground groaning in pain whilst been surrounded by concerned onlookers.

It was clear that he had been hit by a car, which had fled the scene. The boy's mother was crying and screaming for help, but no one seemed to know what to do.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ethan rushed forward and knelt beside the injured boy. With a quick assessment, he realized that the boy was bleeding profusely from a deep wound on his leg and was struggling to breathe. Ethan could feel the weight of the crowd's anxious stares, and he knew that the situation was quickly spiraling out of control. It was evident that the boy needed urgent medical attention, but the ambulance was nowhere to be found, and time was running out.

Ethan's heart pounded as he quickly formulated a plan. He could see that the boy's leg was clearly broken, and he knew that he had to act fast to prevent further damage. Without hesitation, he began to manipulate the boy's leg gently, trying to reduce the pain and stabilize the fracture. The crowd watched in awe as Ethan worked with skill and precision, and soon, the boy's breathing began to slow, and his cries of pain grew softer.

Despite the chaos around them, Ethan remained focused, carefully he continued to gently manipulate the boy's leg, trying to ease the pressure and reduce the swelling. He could feel the boy's muscles tensing and could hear his cries of pain, but he didn't stop. He knew that he had to do everything he could to help the boy until the ambulance arrived.

Using his medical knowledge and improvising with the materials at hand, Ethan was able to stabilize the boy's condition and ease his pain. The boy's breathing improved, and his mother was finally able to calm down

Mel watched in awe as Ethan worked tirelessly to care for the boy. She had never seen this side of him before and she was amazed at his knowledge and skill as a doctor. She felt a rush of pride and admiration for him, and knew that he was someone truly special.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ambulance arrived and took the boy to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Mel was still in awe of what had just happened. She couldn't believe that Ethan was a doctor and he had been able to use his skills to save the boy's life. As they walked back to the car, she couldn't help but admire the way Ethan carried himself. He was calm and collected under pressure, and it was clear that he was truly passionate about helping people.

"I had no idea you were a doctor," Mel said, her voice filled with admiration. "You were amazing back there."

Ethan smiled humbly, "Thanks Mel" he answered softly, flashing a smile at her.

Mel couldn't help but feel drawn to him even more. She was finding her stern serious boss extremely attractive this days, but seeing him in action had made her realize just how much of a hero he really was. As they got back into the car, she found herself stealing glances at him, wondering what other surprises he might have up his sleeve.

"I have to say, Ethan," she finally spoke up. "I'm really impressed. You're not just a pretty face, huh?"

Ethan chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I could surprise you. But let's not make a big deal out of it, okay? I just did what any doctor would do."

Mel nodded giving out a awed smile as they continued their trip, she couldn't wait to see what other surprises he had in store for her.