Filed to story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
Had he known he’d meet his ideal girl, he would’ve spent extra hours every day sculpting his physique!
“I thought we were meeting at three? Why are you guys here so early?” Derrick thought he would be the first to arrive, but there they were, chatting outside the café. He checked his watch—it was only 2:50.
Romeo being early was one thing, but since when did Timothy stick to a schedule?Moreover, they were both braving the chill.
Such brotherly unity.
“I heard you’re meeting the girl you fancy for coffee today? Where is it happening? Romeo and I thought we might swing by and see.” Derrick teased Timothy, throwing a impish look in Romeo’s way, ignorant of the awkward conversation that had just occurred.
Timothy didn’t expect the topic he had just managed to avert making a swift return. He laughed awkwardly and said, “She had a last-minute thing. I had plans to ‘wow’ you both.”
“Isn’t she pretty?”
“More than that, she’s got it all.”
“I’ve never heard you rave about a girl like this before. I’ve gotta see her for myself one day. But, you know, I’ve recently met a girl who’s pretty unique too.”
Derrick looked like he was on cloud nine, having a spring in his step.
“What’s so special about her?” Timothy wished for nothing more than for Derrick’s entire attention to be on this topic.
“Why don’t we go inside and grab a seat?” Derrick suggested, and turned to Romeo, “Weren’t you going to introduce us to your fiancée? Don’t you need to pick her up?”
“She’s already here.” Romeo teased, “You said the girl you met is really special, stunning, right?”
“Absolutely, I can guarantee you’ve never come across anyone as breathtaking in all your twenty-
something years.”
Romeo didn’t buy it – the only woman who had ever taken his breath away was his Bella.
You couldn’t find a second one with Bella’s skills in the whole world, let alone with her beauty and grace.
Timothy didn’t believe it either. The only person who had ever dazzled him was Romeo’s fiancée, the woman he loved but couldn’t have.
“Guess her job?” Derrick held the door to the coffee shop open for them to enter, grinning ear to ear, “You’ll never guess.””Artist? Writer? Celebrity?” Timothy blurted out, “Teacher? Lawyer? Doctor?”
“Eh, you guessed it right.” Derrick laughed as they approached a table by the window. When his gaze met Mirabella’s, he thought, what a coincidence. Dr. Bell? She’s here too?
Mirabella stood up when she saw them, and Romeo’s hand found its way to her slender waist as he introduced her, “This is my fiancée, Mirabella Collins.”
Derrick looked incredulously at Romeo’s hand on the girl’s waist. What had he just said – this girl was his fiancée??
Suddenly, Derrick could almost hear the sound of his own heart shattering.
Timothy was surprised too. The girl’s last name wasn’t Bennett; was she a Collins?
What a coincidence – the same last name as Serena Collins.
But with so many people in the world named Collins, and considering she’d raced with Sean’s drift team, it was unlikely she had any connection to the Collins family.
Besides, he had attended several Collins family banquets, but had never seen a girl as striking as her.
. It’s probably just a coincidence..
“Hello,” Mirabella greeted Derrick warmly.
“So, is Mirabella Collins your real name? Nice to meet you.”
Hearing Derrick’s comment, both Romeo and Timothy blurted out, “She has another name?”Derrick was momentarily confused by their questions, “Dr. Bell, that’s her, right?”
Mirabella was taken aback; how did he know about her other identity?
“I saw you at my hospital saving a life yesterday.” Derrick explained, “At first, I was puzzled at how there could be such a young lead surgeon, until someone mentioned Dr. Bell.”
Romeo settled his gaze on Mirabella, his voice hushed with intrigue, “You did a lifesaving stint at the hospital yesterday?”
“Just a deal,” she replied curtly.
With those three words, Romeo pieced it together. She must have performed surgery for someone in exchange for a reward.
“The hospital you went to happened to be under his name,” Romeo clarified.
That’s when Mirabella connected the dots. No wonder Derrick knew about her identity as Dr. Bell.
“It’s all destiny, pure destiny,” Derrick chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He couldn’t believe that the girl he’d taken a fancy to was his best mate’s fiancée.
He felt an urge to cry.
At that moment, it seemed like the whole world was basking in love and affection, leaving him the sole castaway in the sea of solitude.
Even Timothy, the eternal bachelor, managed to snag a coffee date.
While he hadn’t even started dating, he already felt like going through a breakup!
Timothy was astonished at Mirabella’s accomplishments, not to mention her secret identity as a medical prodigy. She looked no older than a teenager, yet she was already a lead surgeon.
The surgeons at Derrick’s hospital were notoriously arrogant, but they allowed Mirabella to be the lead.
Her medical skills must be off the charts.”We were just guessing what occupation the girl he likes might have.”
Perhaps worried that Mirabella would feel out of place and bored, Romeo brought up their earlier conversation, with his eyes shifting to Derrick, “So which is it? Artist, author, celebrity, teacher, lawyer, or doctor?”
Derrick felt an even stronger urge to cry. Please, no more questions, he silently pleaded, already feeling utterly humiliated.
Just then, Timothy had his mouth dropped open as if he had figured something out, “You were at the hospital yesterday and saw Mirabella in surgery, and then you mentioned meeting a special girl. You’re not talking about?”
He shifted his gaze incredulously between Derrick and Mirabella, while Romeo narrowed his eyes with a hint of danger.
“Quit joking around,” Derrick,with his survival instincts kicking in, quickly deflected, “Mirabella, don’t get it wrong, Timothy just loves to tease.”
Mirabella didn’t jump to conclusions, but Romeo seemed to see right through Derrick with his intense stare.
He quietly asked the girl beside him, “Bella, did you encounter anyone unusual at the hospital?”
Mirabella shook her head.
She had spent only two hours in the rest room after the surgery, waiting till that Sean guy woke up and signed the island sale agreement before leaving.
“The special girl I mentioned is a celebrity. Maybe when I catch her interest, I’ll introduce her to you.”With this deflection, Derrick grabbed a cup of coffee and took a couple of sips, laughing to mask his discomfort.
Timothy was about to point out that it was his coffee but seeing Derrick already sipping from it, he decided to keep quiet.
“What’s her name?” Romeo’s gaze remained fixed on Derrick. “I remember you said once that the showbiz crowd wasn’t your cup of tea.”
“Just, you know, the one who plays the piano and sings beautifully.” Derrick was clueless about the current celebrities; he’d lost interest in the entertainment industry long ago after finding none of the celebrities appealing.
“A musical talent? My fiancée might know her,” Romeo mentioned, casting a tender glance at Mirabella as he introduced, “My fiancée has two other personas: she’s Melody and Summer.”
“You gotta be kidding.” Both Derrick and Timothy looked utterly shocked. This woman had already revealed so many facets of her life, and now she was also Maestro Melody and Teacher Summer?
Not too long ago, the internet buzzed with speculation when Summer made a surprise appearance at a David Collins concert. Everyone was hoping for a romance between them.
It turned out that Summer was the fiancée of their good buddy.
Romeo caught the shocked and incredulous expressions on their faces and curled his lips into a smirk, “Scared already?”
His fiancée had more identities than they could imagine.
Each one was at the top of their game in the industry.
Timothy couldn’t believe that the girl he liked was truly extraordinary.
As for Derrick, well, he never imagined that such an outstanding girl would only ever be his buddy’s wife, leaving him with a heartache and a desire to cry.
“So, my fiancée might know the person you mentioned.”
Romeo’s words had Derrick waving his hands and chuckling, “She’s no match for Melody and Summer.”
Suddenly, Timothy remembered something. “Oh, by the way, speaking of Melody, I’ve got something here for her to take a look at.”
He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through Facebook, saying, “With the holidays around the corner, I am thinking of getting something nice for my grandparents. I stumbled upon someone selling a painting created by Mirabelle. He claimed that he bought it at a premium from Maestro Melody herself, intending to give it as a gift to his own fiancée. But since their engagement party fell through, he didn’t want the painting to remind him of her, so he’s put the painting up for sale.”
Timothy opened the picture and showed it to Mirabella, “My grandparents are big fans of Mirabelle’s works, so I wanted to ask you how much you sold it to him for. He started by asking for fifty million.”
It wasn’t that Timothy couldn’t afford it, but that the seller was now claiming there were others willing to pay sixty, and even seventy million.
Mirabelle’s paintings were indeed rare, but Timothy had the nagging feeling that he was being swindled.
Mirabella glanced at it and smelled a rat.
“Have you ever painted something like this?” Romeo asked in a low voice.
