Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Halston turned around and stared at the bowl of dumplings, his heart warming up at the sight. Receiving traditional food in a foreign country during such a dark time was rather meaningful.
“Thank you. Did you make this?”
Despite Halston’s cold nature, he couldn’t possibly maintain his hostility when faced with such kindness.
“Uhm…” The nurse looked rather uneasy, replying. “Our hospital provides these for… our Aeos patients, and it’s our hope that you can taste something from home and relax a little.”
“Thanks.” Halston took the dumplings and opened the lid without hesitation. He then quickly scarfed them down, as he was indeed feeling rather famished at the time.
“It tastes great.” The man nodded, a lump forming in his throat.
This bowl of dumplings had truly hit him right where he was weak. As he remembered, he had never told anyone that the only Aeos dish he liked were dumplings, specifically seafood dumplings.
Yet the hospital here was providing him with his very favorite. ‘I guess… This world is very kind…’
Watching as Halston happily finished the dumplings, Flossie started smiling behind the wall around the corner as well.
‘That’s right! Good food always helps to melt your worries away!’
A couple of hours later, the doors to the operating room finally swung open. As the doctors exited, Halston immediately approached them nervously.
“Don’t worry, she’s still alive, but her back and legs are severely injured. The patient will be required to stay in bed for a while,” the doctor spoke up. “As her guardian, you’ll have to take care of her during this period of time.”
“Thank goodness she’s okay.” Halston let out a sigh of relief as a weight instantly got lifted off his chest.
Flossie, who was still standing in the corner, gulped. ‘What? Murphy hurt her back too?! This is such a coincidence!’
Moreover, she had no clue that all the orthopedic wards were on the same floor, which meant that… Jovan and Seraphina’s rooms would be near.
‘That means we’re going to bump into each other no matter what?!’
Flossie didn’t wish for any awkward situations to happen, so she tried her best to arrive early and leave late, staying by Jovan’s side as much as possible. If she had anything she absolutely needed, she would ask the nurses for help instead.
With that, three days passed. Though she’d put in all that effort to avoid him, the two never bumped into each other.
Being the considerate fiance he was, Halston was peeling an apple for Seraphina. Despite the pain inflicted by the injuries, the woman found his actions very sweet.
A nurse happened to come by to change her IV drip, and when she saw the affectionate sight, she sighed in envy. “Mr. Guajardo sure does treat Miss Murphy well. Are you people from Aeos always that sweet when it comes to love?”
Seraphina smiled. “Isn’t love supposed to be sweet? What does it have to do with race?”
The nurse explained. “Well, you’re right, but that’s because we’ve seen another loving couple from Aeos as well. That’s why it made such an impression on us…”
“In our town, this couple had always been known as the standard. Their names are Joan and Van. Their story is quite touching, actually. Van is handsome but disabled and blind. And Joan had always taken great care of him, swearing to never leave his side. It always brings tears to our eyes when we mention them.
“Coincidentally, Van got injured and was admitted to our hospital. Joan even bought him some cake and fed it to him just to make him feel better. Our male staff was green with envy. They all wished they could have a girlfriend like Joan too.” The nurse continued speaking, her expression filled with loving hope.
“They’re the standard?” Seraphina was intrigued. “If they’re from Aeos too, we might just become friends!”
“Joan?” The man’s memory had always been strong, and was able to remember that this was the name that belonged to the woman he met in the marketplace. He couldn’t help but feel as though his heart was longing for something.
“What’s wrong? Do you know her?” Seraphina was sharp enough to notice the man’s attitude change, asking carefully.
“No.” Halston shook his head. “I just think the name is interesting.”
“Hey now, don’t go running around to other girls while I’m bedridden! You’re stuck with me forever now!” Seraphina whined to the man with a sweet voice. “Say, if I end up disabled and blind one day, would you take care of me or abandon me?”
“Of course, I won’t abandon you, you silly thing. I’d take care of everything for you like a little baby. After all, you didn’t abandon me during my darkest times.”
“Y… Yeah!” Seraphina replied with a guilty expression. She knew that their relationship was based on mere lies, rendering her rather insecure the entire time.
As noon approached, the nurse brought a warm bowl of delicious seafood dumplings. These days, the dumplings had always arrived either in the afternoon or evening, as if they were specifically scheduled to be delivered to him.
“Mr. Guajardo, here are your dumplings. Have some while they’re still warm!” The nurse then placed the bowl down on the table.
“Thanks.” Halston nodded, feeling as if he was about to drool at any moment. Habits were indeed quite an odd tendency, as the man soon got used to eating them, despite only having them for four days.
Sensing a threat, Seraphina shot the nurse a dirty glare. She asked coldly, “Where did these dumplings come from? Isn’t it Aeos cuisine? Can I have some too?”
“Uhm… No!” The nurse refused without any hesitation. After all, Joan had specially bought these dumplings for Halston. She couldn’t possibly make another bowl.
“Why not? Could it be that you’ve been personally making these for my fiance? Aren’t you being a little too considerate then?”
“No… I…” The nurse felt awkward and failed to explain herself.
Halston quickly came to the nurse’s defense. “You’re still recovering, and seafood is prohibited.”
“Yes, yes! Eating seafood may affect wound recovery, which might leave scars on your skin.” The nurse let out a sigh of relief, amazed by Halston’s quick thinking.
“Sure, I won’t eat it, but can you tell me where these dumplings came from?” Seraphina insisted, adamant about getting to the bottom of this.
Nowadays, any woman in Halston’s life could potentially pose a threat to their relationship, so she had to be careful to not let them get their way with him.
“Our food court provides these for our Aeos patients.” The nurse said stiffly, not accustomed to lying.
“Really?”
“Y… Yeah!”
“Then I’d like a portion of these seafood dumplings now. I can at least smell it if I can’t eat it, right?”
“Ah, well… uhm…”
Seeing how Seraphina was clearly giving the nurse a hard time, Halston spoke up with his deep voice. “Alright, alright, stop messing with the girl. She’s been putting a lot of effort into caring for you too.”
He then turned to the nurse and said, “You are dismissed. I can handle her.”
After the nurse left, Seraphina was so furious that she turned her head away from him.
“What’s wrong?” Halston comforted her patiently. “You’re not mad at me over some dumplings, are you? I can always stop if you don’t like me eating them.”
“Not that! I just think… that nurse is trying to seduce you!” Seraphina pouted and huffed.
Halston found this rather ridiculous. “How is she trying to seduce me?”
“These dumplings smell traditional, so there’s no way it came from a hospital food court, let alone one in a foreign country! There are barely any Aeos people here; how could they possibly make something like this for you?”
“So?”
“So it’s very possible that she’s trying to seduce you and made this for you personally. As many people have said, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! Just look at how much you’re enjoying them!”
“Haha, Seraphina, you’re overthinking. They’re just dumplings. How could they possibly replace you?”
Despite comforting her, Halston couldn’t help but think. ‘Are these dumplings really from unknown sources?’