As soon as the words left his lips, he gave her no chance to resist. His thin lips once again locked onto her soft ones and kissed her deeply.
At first, Serena struggled.
But gradually, as the room's temperature rose and her willpower faded, she fell into the tender embrace, sinking with him into this whirlpool of passion.
A sudden noise-the sound of the door opening-shattered the intimate moment inside.
Facing the door, Serena opened her eyes and immediately locked eyes with someone standing at the entrance, completely stunned.
Xavier reluctantly pulled away from her soft lips, turned with an impatient look, and shot an icy glare at the intruder. He snapped, "Ever heard of knocking before entering?!"
Dr. Wale immediately lowered his head and stammered nervously, "S-sorry, Young Master! I... I couldn't find you anywhere and panicked, so I..."
Xavier turned back and discreetly shielded Serena behind him. "You'd better have a damn good reason. If not, I'm going to be very upset. And the consequences will be very serious."
Dr. Wale shrank back, his voice trembling, "Young Master, just now... Mr. Blaze called. He said... he's coming to the clinic! Your friend is staying here-if Mr. Blaze finds out, we're all screwed!"
"What?! My dad?! Why is he suddenly coming here?!"
"On the call, he only said he's bringing a friend to tour the clinic, nothing more. Also, he was already on his way when he called-said he'd be here in about ten minutes."
As he spoke, Dr. Wale quickly lit up his phone and glanced at the time. "I went to the ward first and couldn't find you, then ran here-it's already been about ten minutes. That means Mr. Blaze is about to arrive!"
Sweating bullets, he was on the verge of tears. "Oh no, what should we do?! If Mr. Blaze finds out I admitted someone behind his back for treatment, he'll never forgive me. I'm done for. My job's gone!"
Xavier pressed his lips into a thin line. "Quit panicking! Pull yourself together!"
Dr. Wale was still frantic, "I want to stay calm, Young Master, but the roof's practically on fire! I can't keep it together!"
Serena gently tugged Xavier's sleeve from behind. "Is there a back door here?"
He turned slightly, his voice soft. "There is, but Celia can't walk right now."
"Then what do we do?! Should I go out and stall Uncle Blaze?"
"No! That's even worse!"
His father had always disapproved of how close he and Serena had gotten-especially because of her divorce. If he saw Serena at the exclusive clinic, he'd definitely suspect they were still involved.
Worse, in his anger, he might try even harder to interfere with their relationship again.
"There's only one option left!" Xavier's expression turned firm. He asked Dr. Wale, "Did my dad say who he's bringing to tour the clinic?"
"That... he didn't say much. But I did hear him refer to the man as 'Mr. Carter'."
"Mr. Carter?!"
In all of Vernon, there was probably only two person his father would respectfully call Mr. Carter-Karina's grandfather or Karina's father.
His father had always favored Karina as the future daughter-in-law of the Blaze family.
That explained why he was bringing someone to visit the clinic.
If he and Karina officially married, then the Carter and the Blaze families would be bound together. Naturally, the Carters would also get access to the Blaze family's exclusive clinic.
"Serena, stay here. Don't go anywhere!"
"What about you?!"
"Right now, if we want to keep my dad from finding out about Celia's suicide attempt, we must keep him from stepping through the door. I have to stop them from coming over."
"But how can you?!" Serena clutched his hand, her face full of worry.
He gave her a comforting smile. "Don't be afraid. I'll handle it. You just stay safe and leave the rest to me!"
With that, he gently patted the back of her hand, then steeled himself and pulled his hand from hers.
The car carrying Henry and Mr. Carter was now less than five minutes away from the exclusive clinic.
The two men chatted and laughed in the back seat. Suddenly, Mr. Carter's phone rang.
He looked down, then chuckled and showed the screen to Henry. "Mr. Blaze, look-it's a call from Karina. She probably wants to ask how our meeting went today!"
Henry laughed heartily. "Miss Carter is refined and thoughtful. Go ahead, take the call."
"Alright!"
Mr. Carter answered cheerfully, "Karina! What's up?"
"Dad, where are you and Uncle Blaze right now?"
"Your Uncle Blaze is taking me to tour the Blaze family's exclusive clinic. It has the best medical resources in Vernon-heck, probably the whole country! And it's only for the Blaze family."
His tone was full of pride, as if already sure he would soon enjoy the clinic's privileges too.
"We'll be there in a few minutes."
"Well... can you two come home instead?"
"Come home? Why?"
"It's almost evening. I wanted to invite you and Uncle Blaze to dinner tonight! I heard the clinic is huge-if you take your time to really explore, you'll probably miss dinner."
"Ohh, dinner!" Mr. Carter suddenly understood. "Of course we'll eat. We should definitely host your Uncle Blaze properly. But you're right, time is a little tight today. Maybe we should reschedule the dinner."
"But I want it to be tonight!" Karina insisted.
"Tonight? What's the special occasion?"
"That's a surprise! You'll find out when you get home."
Before he could say anything more, she abruptly hung up, seemingly afraid he'd refuse.
"This girl! What's gotten into her?!"
"Did Miss Carter need something?" Henry asked considerately.
"She insists we have dinner at home tonight. I originally planned to host you more formally another day. But it's almost dark, and if it's tonight, I'm afraid we won't have time to tour the clinic."
Henry nodded. "That's fine. We can tour the clinic anytime. Since Miss Carter has already arranged it, let's follow the young ones' lead and enjoy a meal tonight."
"Great, great!" Mr. Carter said gratefully, clasping his hands together. "My daughter's a bit headstrong-thank you, Mr. Blaze, for understanding!"
"Not at all! You're being too polite!"
Shortly after, Karina received a text from her father:
[We are heading home now. You and your mom get everything ready-don't embarrass the Carters!]
Smiling sweetly, Karina opened the chatbox, clicked on a pinned chat at the top, and sent out a message.
***