And so, there I was, facing such a grim fate.


    "Max....." I turned around, seeking thefort of his shoulder, but being much shorter, I found sce against his chest instead, and suddenly, I couldn''t help but burst into tears.


    "Max, do you think ude is truly blind? Kate killed his mother. Kate has done all the evil deeds. Yet, he acts as if he didn''t see anything, utterly oblivious. I thought his coldness toward me was bad enough, but Mrs. Hart was his mother!" Max didn''t hug me. He patted my back gently.


    When my tears had subsided, Max handed me a pristine white handkerchief to dry my eyes. Looking into his eyes, so calm yet reflecting my image, I couldn''t help but feel he saw me, really did. How else could he always be there when I needed him most? "Max....."


    But I couldn''t bring myself to ask if he liked me. After all, we''d only known each other for a month. It would seem too frivolous, too self-conceited.


    Max said, "Pull yourself together. I need you for heart surgery."


    I was stunned.


    He handed me the handkerchief and a ss of water before continuing, "After this surgery, I''ll rmend you for a research position at a school."


    Then, he turned, leaving me with a view of his retreating figure, almost godlike in its departure. He had intended to find me for the surgery, not to follow or watch over me on purpose.


    It was good that I hadn''t asked. How awkward that would have been.


    I.ne


    I nced back toward Gabrielle''s hospital room at the end of the hallway. Encountering ude made me realize that everyone faced misfortune. But was ude''s ambition that important? Aiming to surpass the Hilton family, he forgot that his initial desire to outdo them was to protect his family from being manipted by power.


    I could understand ude''s pain when the Hilton family broke his parents up, but wasn''t his desire for strength meant to protect them? With his mother dead on the path of his ambitions, what difference was there from losing his original purpose?


    I caught up with Max and got my emotions under control. The Hart family was part of my past now.


    I nced at Max. "Max, your mom must have loved you deeply to raise someone as emotionally stable as you when she was alive."


    He paused mid-step, ncing at me with a slight smile, "She died when I was born."Original from N?velDrama.Org.


    Suddenly, I was the one rooted in ce. Had Max never known a mother''s love? No wonder he seemed so detached. He didn''t understand love.


    "It''s okay. We both grew up without mothers, but we turned out kind. We''re not heartless." I thought of ude and Kate, those pampered and loved.


    He snorted softly, not saying anything more.


    As we prepared for surgery, our patient was a young woman in need of a heart bypass. It wasn''t a major operation under normal circumstances. But she was pregnant.


    As the anesthesia started to work, she gripped my hand tightly. "Doctor, no matter what, please save my child."


    At that moment, I couldn''t help but nce at her protruding belly, then at my t stomach, remembering how desperately I had wished for something, anything, to save my child.


    But there was no lifeline for me. My child was gone. And in this life, I longed to have my child again.