"I just wanted to bring you something to eat," Ashley said hesitantly. Feeling awkward, she suddenly
didn't know what to say to Andrew.
Looking at the small plate on the desk, Andrew frowned. There was a delicate dessert and a glass of
milk on it.
Both of these were his least favorite foods. He hated the sweetness of desserts and the taste of milk,
so he drank coffee all the time.
Ashley stood before him, looking embarrassed. He looked up at her and said in a low voice, "You don't
have to do this. You just need to have a good rest now."
Ashley nodded, feeling more puzzled than ever.
At the S Hospital
Ellie emerged from the ward and was amazed at the tall figure standing in front of her.
It was Andrew, the one she had met once in L City.
Ellie hadn't expected him to come here to see her.
"You must have something to tell me, right?" Ellie asked.
Andrew nodded.
They found a relatively quiet place in which to have a conversation.
"Thank you for helping me. I will return the money to you later," Ellie promised earnestly.
It was mostly due to Andrew's aid that Brown and Laura were able to come to J City. Moreover, it was
Andrew who had arranged to get Brown admitted in this hospital. So, although Ellie had a bad
impression of the man because he had secretly married Ashley, she knew that he clearly had done
nothing wrong.
"Don't mention it." Andrew said with a gentle expression, "Since you're Ashley's friend, you're mine
too."
Obviously, he had known everything before he came here.
Ellie was a bit stunned to see Andrew behave differently when he spoke about Ashley. She had only
seen Andrew twice.
When Andrew had come to her home, Ellie was impressed by his air of nobility.
At that time, his image in her mind was that of a cold-hearted man who was indifferent to emotion. So
when she found out that Ashley had married him, she was worried about her. She believed that her
friend had been forced by Andrew to marry him. But now, she realized that they must have married for
other reasons.
Andrew suddenly asked her, "Could you spare some time to spend with her?"
"Huh?" Ellie looked at him, confused.
Frowning, Andrew briefly explained to her what had happened that day. Being a straightforward man,
he didn't like to talk in a roundabout way.
"Okay, I see. I'll go to see her whenever I have the time."
Andrew nodded and then left.
Looking at Andrew's back, Ellie suddenly realized that her friend had married a good man.
'He must love her. Otherwise, he wouldn't come here and tell me about it. He did it simply because he
was worried that Ashley would be bored alone at home, ' Ellie thought.
However, it was a different story for someone else.
Francis had returned to the hospital for some business. To his surprise, he saw Andrew who was
always very busy. He was about to greet him when he suddenly saw Ellie walking beside him. Although
he was unable to hear what they spoke, it looked like they were friendly with each other.
Francis was startled. He had never seen Andrew get along with a woman like this.
'Didn't he like that girl named Ashley? Then what is his relationship with this girl beside him now?' he
wondered.
At first, he could only see her back, so he didn't know what she looked like.
Only when Ellie turned around did Francis see her clearly.
'Isn't that the girl I met yesterday? I tried to accost her, but she ignored me.
Does she also like Andrew?' Francis felt a bit depressed. He wondered why all the girls he met lately
liked his arrogant, cold-hearted friend.
Francis came over to Ellie and said in a taunting tone, "You're so close to him! Are you in love with
him? Don't you know that he has already got a girlfriend? He loves her with all his heart. So how could
he fall in love with you?"
Ellie looked at Francis with exasperation, as if he were a fool. Of course, she knew that Andrew had a
girlfriend. Moreover, it was not right to call Ashley his girlfriend now because they were already married.
Ellie was about to turn away. Francis simmered with rage when he saw that she despised him. 'I was
kind enough to inform her of Andrew's girlfriend, but she gave me a cold shoulder!' Francis complained
in his mind.
Ellie's indifferent attitude wounded his pride. Pouting, he touched his face carefully. 'I specially dressed
up before coming here today. How could she be indifferent to a handsome young man like me?' he
wondered.
Just then, a young nurse passed him by. He gave her a flirtatious look, and her face flushed red. She
quickly turned away shyly.
Francis was satisfied because he had proved that he was still attractive to girls.
Since her leg was hurt, Ashley had been carefully tended to at home by Andrew. This was the second
time she experienced his pampering.
Having stayed home for several days, Ashley was bored. She had almost recovered now and she
wanted to go out for some fresh air. Every night before they went to bed, Andrew would apply the
ointment, which he had managed to procure from somewhere, to her scalded skin. It was really
effective. Now the wound on her thigh was almost healed, and there were no scars left on her skin.
Ellie had come to see her once while she was recovering. Ashley was obviously very surprised by her
visit.
"Ellie? What brings you here?" Ashley asked curiously. She held her hand and they sat together on the
sofa.
Andrew had gone to work and Claire had gone to the market to buy vegetables. Ashley and Ellie were
alone in the villa.
Ellie looked at her best friend with a mix of emotions clouding her face.
Ashley was confused. She wondered why Ellie was looking at her like that.
Ellie asked, "How's your leg?"
"It's almost healed," Ashley replied.
"Ellie, I really didn't mean to hide my marriage from you. I was going to tell you about it when you told
me you had to go back home because of some emergency. Then you left for L City. So I didn't have the
chance to tell you until now."
Ellie nodded and then asked, "Can you tell me about your marriage now?"
Ellie was angry because Ashley didn't tell her such an important thing. If Andrew hadn't come to L City
to see her, she wouldn't know how long Ashley would have hidden it from her.
So, the first thing Ellie wanted to know was when the wedding took place and how they had developed
a romantic relationship.
Ellie stared at her expectantly, making Ashley a little nervous. After organizing her thoughts, Ashley
began her explanation.
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