"Mr. Juarez, what are your thoughts on marrying my only daughter, Cana?"

"Sir, Pardon?" my eyes widened at Mr. Vandia, my employer. 

Tonight was the 62nd annual anniversary of the Vandia Corporation. I became a registered surgeon today and they had just announced it to everyone at the party. Right after I got off the stage, Mr. Juarez invited me to seat with him and his wife. 

I hadn't said a single word when Mr. Vandia suddenly asked that question. I was left stunned while the couple stared at me widely, most likely hoping for a positive answer. 

Five years passed and I was never able to forget Athena Calleen Vandia. I tried to date other women, I tried to drink her away, I tried to overwork myself but none of it helped in taking her off my head. As if that was not enough, now, I was being offered to marry her. 

When Mr. Vandia realized I was speechless, he spoke again, "We want you to take over the company someday and the best way for you to get that position quickly without getting too many questions from the workers and the media would be to marry my daughter." 

"I- Sir, the offer is too generous but is Miss Vandia willing to accept such a deal? She is a young woman, after all, she should have her freedom to choose who she wants to marry, right?" I asked. 

"Don't worry about her part, we have a deal and I know that she would stay true to that," Mr. Vandia smiled and I returned it, a little forced. 

"I shouldn't be hesitating sir but would it be alright if you could give me some time to think about it?" I asked. 

I was in no position to ask for such a favor, I knew everyone else had been trying to kiss Vandia's ass the past few years to get that position but none of them succeeded. Right now, I was being offered that slot when I haven't even done anything to earn it. I shouldn't even be hesitating. 

"Mr. Juarez, of course, it would be alright, we have decided to give you at least a year to decide, if you don't accept it, we would move down to the next candidate, Mr. Harold Stan," Mrs. Vandia smiled. I knew she was a very kind woman but right now I felt like there was a small threat in her voice. Maybe I came off sounding like I didn't like her daughter when I asked for time to think.

Oh, Mrs. Vandia, if only you know how much I used to love your daughter. 

Correction, how much I still love your daughter.

I always denied that I still had feelings for Vandia but I also knew deep inside that it will always be her. She never gets tired of running in my head, she was always my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. Everything seemed to remind me of her. 

Still, if I was to decline this offer, Vandia was going to have a weird husband. Mr. Harold Stan was already in his forties, he looked wrinkly and old. I pictured Vandia and her in my mind which made me stifled a laugh. 

"Speaking of the devil," Mrs. Vandia smiled and pointed at the huge doors of the hall. Vandia had just made her entrance, I felt my jaw drop. 

She was still as stunning as ever. 

She wore a skintight royal blue tube dress that ran until her knees with a thick belt covered in diamonds. Her hair was tied up in a neat ponytail and it ran until her waist. She had a silver watch on her right hand and a pandora charm bracelet on the other. She looked taller than usual, probably because of her silver stilettos. 

She looked like she didn't age at all, looking as fresh and young as ever. 

She let her eyes roam around the room, probably scanning for her family. It took her only a second to spot Mr. Vandia. I quickly turned around, I was not ready to face her yet. 

"Sir, if you'll excuse me, I have a call," I lied. Mr. Vandia gave me a questioning look but nodded for me to go. I quickly walked to one of the huge pillars and watched as Vandia made her way towards the table I was at. 

She gave her mother and father a peck on the cheek before seating opposite them, on the chair where I had sat. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how gorgeous she was. 

Her caramel eyes seemed to shine brighter than before and her lips were as seductive as ever. I wanted to kiss her, hug her, hold her hand but I knew I couldn't. I had fucked up our relationship which caused her pain. I had hurt her and let her down. 

I knew I didn't have the right to enter her life again. 

I knew I shouldn't accept the offer. 

I knew it all and yet all I wanted was to have her back. 

~>.<~

"Mate, she's seeing someone new again."

I had told Chase a million times that he didn't always have to tell me what was going on in Vandia's life but he always would. Ace and I met today to talk about Edward's case but instead, he kept tattling on Vandia. 

It had been nine months since Mr. Vandia's offer and I still had not responded.

"I don't care," I lied. 

"As if!" Chase laughed out loud before he took a sip of his coffee. 

"But you got to believe me, she seems pretty serious this time around, she actually bought him home," Chase added and that caught my attention. Chase was always the one who brings news about Vandia which was why I knew very well that she had not taken any guy seriously ever since we broke up. She has never taken a guy home, except for this one. 

"What the name?" I asked. 

Mirth filled Chase's eyes, he smiled teasingly, "Joshua Green."

"That surgeon from the Le Grada Hospital?" I scoffed. 

Joshua Green was also a rising doctor just like me, he was someone working for the rival company of the Vandia hospital. Why would Vandia go out with a guy like that? 

"Yeah which was probably why my dad got mad at her the other day," he laughed. Chase was about to take a sip of his coffee again when his eyes suddenly widened. I immediately looked at where he was staring only to find Vandia. 

You've got to be kidding me. 

Chase stood up and pulled me behind a pillar when he saw them entering the cafe. 

"Why are you hiding?" I asked.

"I told her I couldn't fetch her cause I was on a meeting," Chase laughed a little. 

"You lazy ass," I sighed. I pretended like I didn't care but I was watching their every move. Cana was in her work clothes, she looked formal yet elegant. Joshua was in formal attire as well, he had his arm around her waist which made my blood boil. I wanted to grab his hands away but I was in no position to do so. 

They didn't stay long in the cafe, they ordered to go. Chase and I got back to out seat when they finally left. Chase made a few remarks but I ignored him. I told myself to stop getting distracted by her and just focus on Edward's case. 

That night I wasn't able to sleep and the following day I finally talked to Mr. Vandia. 

I accepted his offer, I will marry Vandia. 

~>.<~

I need a ring. 

Mr. Vandia had invited me to a formal dinner so that he could introduce Vandia to me formally. On the other hand, Mrs. Vandia said she was already looking for an engagement ring. I didn't like the idea that someone else was going to be looking for the ring we would wear so I volunteered to buy it. 

I had been to four different jewelry shops - Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Verragio, and Tacori -  and I still couldn't find a nice ring for the two of us. I was about to head back home when I decided to check one more shop, Harry Winston. I was glumly looking through the collection when a kind saleslady approached me. 

I told her the type of ring I wanted and she showed me a few of the collection they had. I was about to leave when a simple ring caught my eyes. 

A pear-shaped cluster diamond engagement ring. It had a tear-drop diamond center stone and it was elegantly framed by six smaller diamonds.  It reflected the light, shimmering, and standing out from the rest of the rings. I knew immediately how beautiful it would look when she wears it. 

I had asked if it had a partner and they said it did because it was an engagement ring in the first place. I paid and asked them to deliver it at home by tonight, I was glad that they could. 

I was about to head back home so I could change and take a shower before going out for dinner but my phone rang and when I answered it I knew immediately I wouldn't be able to reach for the night. 

I headed towards the hospital where there was a patient in need of a surgeon. It just so happens that there was another emergency and the head surgeon was the one operating on the other one. I was called out to head this team. 

I asked a junior nurse to immediately call Mr. Vandia and relay the news that I was currently in the operating room and I wouldn't be able to make it there tonight. I had also asked him to message Harry Winston's shop so that they could mail the rings separately, one will head to the Vandia's mansion and the other would head to me. 

It was already past two am when we finished the job and I found a message from Vandia. I was surprised that she had my number. When I viewed the message, I found myself smiling and smirking at the same time.

From Vandia: What was more important than meeting your fiancee for the first time?

From Vandia: Please don't waste my time again the next time around. I am also a very busy woman. 

I managed to scoff, she was still as amusing as ever.

~>.<~

To Vandia: What is more important than having dinner with your fiancee? 

We were supposed to have a family dinner tonight with both the Vandia and Juarez family but I was shocked to find out that Vandia will not be able to make it so we ended up canceling it. Mr. Vandia said that she was going to be up all night working at the company. 

Curious and a little worried because the gunning incident had just occurred last night, I decided to check on her. As I was expecting she was not at work, her office was empty. When I asked the guard if she had left already, he said she didn't even go to work today. My head immediately boiled. 

Where the hell was she?

I was about to head back home when I got a message from Ceasar. 

From Ceasar: Dude, your ex is so wasted right now. 

He sent a photo of Cana smiling widely at an unknown asshole. His hands were around her shoulders and she was leaning close to his chest. She had a glass of alcohol in one hand, looking very wasted. 

I have never seen Vandia drunk before but I always heard stories from Anne on how low her tolerance was and how crazy she would get only to forget what had happened the next day. 

I zoomed in on the photo, trying to register that Vandia was out in a bar with this asshole. 

To Ceasar: Where the fuck is that? 

From Ceasar: Black and White, 7th Street, you better hurry. Someone is also getting on my nerves right now.

I turned my phone off and made my way towards the Black and White bar. I parked the car in the lot, unbuckling my seatbelt frustratingly. I got out of the car and slammed it shut. I was about to make my way inside the bar when I found a man trotting with a woman who was very very drunk. 

This stupid Vandia. 

The man, who was also the same one in the photo looked happy. He kept looking over at Vandia with nothing but lust in his face. I decided to stay still, watching as he made his way with her towards his car. I pretended to be busy, his car was only one lot away. 

I felt my fist slowly balding up but I tried to calm down. I wanted to get Vandia from him in the most diplomatic and civil way possible. I didn't want to start a fight but I knew it was going to be hard especially when I was on the verge of exploding.

Be civil, Ace. 

I was about to approach the man, he had just helped Cana sit at the jumpseat when his phone rang.

"Dude, I got so lucky tonight," he boasted to whoever he was talking to. 

"She's so drunk and wasted, on top of that she's goddamn sexy. Someone's gonna get laid tonight, I bet she'll taste good in be-"

He wasn't able to finish his filthy sentence.

My fist met his face and his phone flew to the floor, skidding until it reached the corner. I grabbed him by his collar, pinning him to the door of his car. He looked at me, shocked by the sudden turn of events. 

"Sorry, my hands move on its own sometimes," I laughed. 

"Anyway, that girl, the goddamn sexy one, she's my fiancee so I'm bringing her home. Also, how can you get laid when your dick can't even function?" I asked. 

"What do you me-" He asked but even before he could finish I kneed his groin. He ended up yelping, falling to the floor. I opened the shotgun seat and carried Vandia out, she was as light as ever. 

Right before I went back to my car I sneered at the asshole one more time, "Mate, taking advantage of someone drunk makes you the worst kind of scum. I hope you know that it is considered rape when you don't get proper consent from the other person, keep that in mind when you target someone else." 

The guy glared madly at me before he got inside his car quickly, shouting curses as he drove away. 

I placed Cana at the back of the car so that she could lie down properly and I got inside the driver's seat. I stared at her peaceful face and suddenly shuddered when the idea of what could have happened entered my mind. I pictured her helpless and drunk as the guy just now take advantage of her. 

What a pain in the ass.

"How stupid can you get?" I asked as I stared at her innocent face, she looked so calm as if she was in a state of tranquility. 

I sighed heavily before I started to drive her home. We were midway when she suddenly got up. She looked around the car unaware of her surrounding, she gave me a look and squinted her eyes. 

"Who ah you? Ah yow here to kidnap me, huh? Imma gonna punch yow if sow," she challenged and my eyes widened. She couldn't even speak properly, she sounded like a five-year-old.

"You really are a pain in the ass."

"Assh? I have an assh, oh and I also know an assholey," she laughed as if she was thinking. 

"I love an assholey!" she added, smiling widely this time. She was swaying to the car, her body wasn't stable at all. 

"You love an asshole? Who?" I asked.

"His namey is Acey! He is my boyfwen! If  you kidnap me, he'll punch yow!" She glared.

How ironic, I just saved her ass and she claims I'm the kidnapper. She can't even recognize me, the boyfriend she was talking about. Anne was right, Vandia is a drag when she is drunk yet I was so fascinated by her. I laughed out loud as I continued to drive. 

"Hey, Mister Kidnapper, I need to-" she paused and her face looked horribly sick. 

She's going to throw up. 

I was about to pull over but right before I did, she vomited at the back. I unbuckled my seatbelt and looked behind, she had vomited at the cupholder. A sour stench filled the car. She looked horrible as she wiped her mouth with her outfit. I bit my lower lips. 

I am not letting this girl get drunk, ever again, never.

I sighed as I got out and opened the trunk to get extra clothes for her, I always had extra shirts at the back. I got back inside and took the cup holder, throwing it in a trash bin. I guess I had to buy a new one. 

I got back inside only to find her taking her top off. 

What the heck?!

"Vandia, what are you do-"

"It stinks!" She pouted and thew her top on the car floor. She was only wearing her black bra yet she looked so comfortable at the back, not showing a tinge of embarrassment. Honestly, I would have preferred her staying that way but the car was cold so I immediately gave her my shirt. 

She smirked at me, "I don't want this, I'm not a guy!" 

"Wear it!" I ordered. 

"No!"

"Yes! Listen to your boyfriend! Wear it!" I ordered again and she poked her head at the driver's seat, she scanned my face, squishing my cheeks with her hand. She was so close I felt like kissing her despite the fact that she had just vomited. 

"You're not my boyfwend, he has a more squishy face than yow," she concluded and my jaw dropped. 

Ugh!

"Wear it," I sighed. 

"Ay won't wear it!" She firmly said. I was about to force the shirt on her when she suddenly asked a question that got me curious. 

"Yow won't kwry will yow?" she asked like a kid. 

"I will if you don't wear it," I pretended to pout and her face suddenly turned shocked and guilty. 

"Don't kwry! Don't! I'll wear it!" and she began to wear it. She gave me a short look before she immediately fell on the car seat. I poked her face to test if she was awake but she didn't respond. She was asleep again.

Anne and Tony had to handle her like this? How did they last that long?

I clicked my tongue to the side of my cheeks as I stared at her, still in disbelief of what had happened. I was about to drive away when she spoke again, barely audible, under her breath. 

"Ace... I miss you"

~>.<~

"Is the emergency room prepared?" I asked John, my assistant when we finally arrived at the hospital. The ride barely took five minutes from the cite.

"Yes sir, we'll get her inside through the stretcher, Mr. Ronald is ready to operate on her," John replied and I shook my head. 

"No, I'm operating."

"But sir, she is someone you know, we can't allo-"

"Tell everyone that I have permission from Sir Vandia himself, I don't want to waste time arguing, I want my team in the emergency room, right now," I ordered and all John could do was nod. I watched as a group of nurses rushed Vandia to the emergency room. 

Chase, Mr., and Mrs. Vandia should be on their way by now. I took a deep breath before going inside the hospital, towards my room where I began to sterilize myself. I knew I wasn't in the right condition to lead an operation but I couldn't let anybody else handle it. I couldn't trust anyone, not after being betrayed by one of the nurses in this very corporation. 

I wouldn't have been locked up in that site if I hadn't believed that nurse who told me that Vandia was there. Vandia wouldn't have been shot, this wouldn't have happened. 

I stared at my hands which was still shaking. I sustained a lot of injuries so I wasn't even sure if my hand was shaking because of that or just because of how afraid I was. I have never felt fear as powerful as this, Vandia's life was on the line, I just wasn't sure about anything anymore. 

I need her alive. I need to save her. 

After making sure I was fully sterilized, I wore my scrubs and headed straight to the emergency room where a group of nurses had already done the first few steps before an operation. They gave her oxygen and blood. 

"Everyone else gets out, except for my team," I ordered.

"Aceson, I cannot allow you to do this," Ronald, the surgeon who was supposed to operate on her stood in front of me. 

"Leave," I ordered again. He shook his head and was about to grab me but I kicked him in his shin which made him yelp. 

"I already got the permission to operate on her, now, fuck off."

Ronald and the nurses under him scampered away, leaving four of us inside the emergency room. The four consisted of my team. I knew all of them personally so I knew they had no connection with Macklet. They were great surgeons, I knew they were going to support me well, nothing would go wrong with them the only problem is if I make a mistake. 

"Dr. Juarez, your hands are still shaking, are you sure-"

"Let's not waste time," I took a deep breath.

Vandia may die at any given second,  I knew that it was the reason why my hands were trembling so I turned it to be the same reason why it should stop. If I wanted her alive, I had to do this like how I usually do it. I stared at her face which was pale, her lips were cracking and she looked so lifeless. I suppressed myself from shaking her awake, knowing that in no way will that help. 

I stared at her stomach which was now bare, they had already covered it up except for the area where the bullet was at. I knew it was going to be a difficult operation, the bullet was located at a complicated spot, we had to be careful or else things would go wrong very quickly. 

My heart raced as I calculated all the possible turn of events. 

Calm down, Ace. 

Listening to her heartbeat, I manage to steady my own beat. I grabbed the scalpel and stared at my hands, looking for any sign that it was going to tremble again but it didn't - I smiled.

"10:58 pm, the operation on our patient, Miss Athena Calleen Vandia will begin. A bullet landing half an inch near her stomach, 4 inches deep," I nodded my head at the group. 

"We are keeping her alive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:"))