Valeria had always stayed five feet away from people she didn't know, she always felt uncomfortable.And now, hearing that Ares’ mother was coming made her feel off.How would his mother react to seeing her in the house? And heavily pregnant at that.He had once told her his mother had been insisting he marry, won't she blame her for obstructing the plan?Who would want to be friends with him when there's a heavily pregnant lady in the house?And for the first time, she felt uncomfortable in the house, she wouldn't want to be the cause of Ares not having a relationship.She was already thinking of a plan, to probably get out of the house, when the doorbell rang.With sweaty palms, she opened the door and beheld a short middle-aged woman.She smiled from ear to ear when she saw Valeria. “You must be Valeria, ah?”The Singapore accent is visible in her speech, one of the things Valeria had learned in her few months of staying in Singapore is their accent.It took her a while to understa
After Valerie had said goodbye to Sandra, she went back to her room while Ares drove his mother to the airport.Ares felt awkward after he overheard his mother’s conversation with Valerie, so instead of going back to the house, he went to the hospital.He later went home when it was getting late and checked up on Valerie.“Are you feeling better now?” He asked her as they watched a movie together.There had been awkwardness between them, as they watched and Ares decided to break the silence.“Yes, I can't believe my kids will be here in less than a month.”“Have you decided on their names yet?”“No, I will, when I hold them in my arms.”“That’s nice.” Silence again as they went back to the movie neither of them fully concentrating on it.Ares wanted to apologize to her for what his mother said, while Valerie wanted to let him know she valued their friendship and wouldn't want to spoil it with any intimate relationship.“Let's go out on a date.” The words spilled out of his mouth witho
The day was her check-up day, she was nervous and excited.They were about to leave the house when Ares received an email message. He opened it and saw a request for an interview from a journalist, he swiped it away and ignored it.Ares repeatedly reassured Valerie, while they drove to the hospital.The babies and her were healthy which put a smile on Valerie’s face, they were about to go home, when one of the nurses met up with them.“Doctor Ares, you've someone requesting your presence.”“Who?” Ares raised a question curiously.“He said he is a journalist.”Ares straightened up. Isn't it the journalist that emailed him earlier on?“What does he want?” Valerie asked.“An interview, he had been coming since two days ago, but you've not been around, and because of yesterday's emergency, we couldn't tell you.”“Where is he at?” Ares asked.“Outside.”“Tell him to come back next week, Valeria needs to be home now.”“No, Ares, you should attend to him, it might be important, you can neve
Valerie didn't know why the journalist was adamant about the so-called Interview.She didn't know why Ares didn't suspect anything, he only felt worried but at the same time, he wanted his hospital name on the front page of the newspaper.In a few hours, the journalist would come, to confirm her suspicion, she was going to check him up on the Internet.She had thought of it, since the night before, she was going to unleash her past strength.It was time to bring back her game, the one she had thought she wouldn't have to use again.If her suspicion turned out to be real, she would have to help Ares, because he doesn't deserve to be blacklisted.***“Thank you for having me in your house, Doctor Ares.”“You're welcome.”Xavier said down, all the while smirking.“So, Mr. Xavier, which organization do you say you're from?”“XYZ ma'am.”Valerie nodded and gave him the go-ahead to continue with his business.“Doctor Ares, I must say your home is comfy.”“I appreciate it.”“So back to the b
Valerie hesitated. While she was upset about the way the journalist tried to manipulate Ares, she was not sure if it was ethical to hack into his phone. She knew that it was against the law, and she could get into serious trouble if she was caught. It had been three days since the journalist came over to the house and he sent an email to him, telling him he was going to uncover the truth and make him pay for the misdiagnosis that happened in his hospital years ago. She had been trying new ways to support Ares and expose the journalist, and after hours of searching,She finally found a verified account of a retired investigative journalist, that texted her on Reddit. He was interested in the case and wanted to take up the case personally.Valeria was worried about how the situation was affecting Ares' mental health.He had been stressed out and worried about his reputation, and Valeria could see the toll it was taking on him.That gave her another reason to fight for him because sh
"You have two choices. Either you publicly confess to the misdiagnosis and have your hospital shut down, or you lie and say that you did it intentionally. Either way, your reputation and career are ruined. The choice is yours. You have 24 hours to decide." Both Ares and Valerie looked stunned, and almost immediately the email got deleted, making it stiff for them to Re-read it.But they knew what he wrote, and that got them worried.“I never did it, it wasn't even a mistake, the person was brought in almost dead, and there was little or nothing we could have done to save him.”And now Liam was giving him 24 hours to confess to a crime he never committed.“If any scandal should occur in the hospital, my license might be revoked,” Ares said, squeezing his brow.Valerie was short of words, she knew how important the hospital was for Ares, and if they shut down the hospital, he wouldn't remain the same.She hoped Steven had some evidence to use against Liam. She headed to her room and lo
When Valerie woke up, she was in a different room. The lights were dim, and there was a quiet, peaceful feeling in the air.She was still hooked up to the monitors, but she felt more relaxed than she had before. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Ares sitting in a chair next to her bed. He looked tired, but he smiled when he saw her. "Welcome back," he says. "How are you feeling?" Valerie tried to nod, but her head was too heavy. All she could do was keep smiling at Ares. He reached out and took her hand. "It's okay," he said. "You're safe now. You did great." Valerie closed her eyes again and relaxed. She felt safe and protected with Ares by her side. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again. This time, she felt a bit more alert. "What happened?" she asked weakly. Ares explained everything that happened during the surgery and told her that she and the babies were all healthy. Valerie felt glad and happy, she remembered that she couldn't finish the text she sent
Valerie's fingers tapped anxiously on her phone screen as she messaged Steven about her illness. Almost instantly, his reply requested an audio call. Valerie complied, her voice tinged with relief and excitement as she shared her progress."I'm so happy with how everything is going," she said, the words laced with gratitude. "Do you think we can go public with the evidence now?"Steven, on the other end of the call, was cautious. "We need more than just evidence. We need people who can testify against him, firsthand witnesses to his manipulations."Ares, who had been silently listening, spoke up. "I want to know who Liam, the cunning journalist, is working with. There must be someone behind the scenes pulling the strings."Steven paused, as if considering how much to reveal. "Liam often receives anonymous emails from someone. I've been trying to trace them, but it's been challenging."A sudden message notification interrupted their conversation. Ares glanced at his phone, the screen