Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68 Pretend to Be Together

“I’m first and foremost a human being, then a doctor. It’s normal for people to have desires, including me.”

Elspeth’s phone suddenly went off and vibrated violently. The word ‘Lydia’ appeared on her screen. She took a deep breath and caved in. “Okay. I agree to your terms.”

“You’d better not plan to renege on your words after the surgery is completed because her mother would need at least three more months of treatment after the surgery.”

She shot him a cold stare. “Okay, I get it. Go on!”

“Aw, be nice. After all, I’m now considered your boyfriend, so you should be nicer toward me.”

Arthur stretched and rose to his feet. “Alright. I’ll head over and complete the surgery. Be a good girl and wait for me to come out.” He pinched her cheeks and left with a smile.

Almost immediately, Elspeth rubbed her face hard with her hands, feeling utterly disgusted. Since she needed a favor from him, she could not possibly reject his request. She had put in too much effort to rescue Lydia’s mother to lead everything into disappointment in the end.

Subsequently, Elspeth headed over to the operating theater and waited outside. Lydia was sobbing hard, so she reached out to take Lydia into her arms and gingerly comforted her by telling her that everything would be fine.

“My mom wouldn’t bear to leave me, right?”

“She would never do that. She would always be by your side.”

The surgery went on for nearly ten hours. When Arthur finally came out of the operating theater, night had fallen, and the streets were brightly lit.

He was dressed in his white coat, and despite having a face mask, his exhausted face was evident.

“The surgery has ended. It was successful, so there is no need to worry,” he reported the good news to Lydia with a smile.

As soon as Elspeth saw the smile on her face, she immediately felt a huge relief wash over her.

“Elspeth, come with me to the office.” Arthur turned his head and directed a deep look at her.

“Sure.”

The two of them walked into his office as he changed out of his white coat and donned his normal attire. Hereafter, he suddenly grabbed her hand.

She jolted in fright from his sudden move, and instinctively, she could not contain the urge to fling his hand off her. “What are you doing?”

He frowned slightly. “What’s wrong? We’re in a relationship right now, aren’t we? Why can’t I hold your hand?”

She clenched her teeth vehemently. “There is no need to rush things.”

“You’ll get used to this in no time. Besides, it’s not a big deal, so relax.”

Elspeth tried her best to suppress her anger and finally managed to stop herself from swinging his hand off.

The couple walked hand-in-hand out of the room and ended up bumping into Callum, who was here to see Arthur.

“You guys…” Callum glanced at their intertwined hands as anger simmered within him.

Noticing his turbulent emotion, Arthur became full of smiles. “Callum, we’re about to have some supper. Would you like to join us?”

The words that he spoke were meant to be provoking, so Callum’s expression instantly darkened significantly. “What’s your relationship?”

Elspeth remained silent by the side while Arthur tightened his grip on her slightly and waved their hands in front of Callum. “What’s wrong, Callum? Can’t you tell from this?”

At that point, it was no longer possible to clarify the situation.

At first, she had no idea how to explain things to Callum anyway, and now that she saw his death stare, she found it even harder to come up with the words to say.

“You two should enjoy yourselves, then.”

As for Arthur, he revealed a smug look. “We sure will. We’ll try our best to make it home tonight.”

Try… At that moment, Callum’s expression was thunderous. He curled his palm tightly into a fist.

“Enough. I thought you wanted to get some supper. Let’s go.” Elspeth tugged on Arthur’s sleeve and gestured for him to leave this awkward scene as soon as possible.

“Sure. Callum, we’ll make a move now.”

With that, Callum watched as Arthur left hand-in-hand with Elspeth.

As soon as the couple walked out of the door, she immediately threw his hand aside.

“What’s wrong? Are you mad?” Arthur glanced at Elspeth, who seemed to be suppressing her anger, yet his smile remained. “I know you’re in love with Callum, but you’re now my girlfriend, so you shouldn’t lose your temper at me because of some other man.”

It was then she felt that she had made the wrong decision to seek help from him earlier. “Arthur, do you truly feel happy behaving this way?”

“Yes, I do.” He had some goals he wanted to achieve, so he was indeed happy to be able to make progress.

“What’s your point of doing all these? There is no way that things would work out between the two of us.”

However, he did not care about all this. “I think I have the confidence to make you fall for me within three months.”

“That’s impossible.” Does he take me as an easy woman? Fall for him within three months? More like hating him to the core within three months.

“Let me try.”

Elspeth took a step backward. “I told you there is no way I would fall for you, so you’d better give up. That’s all for today. I’m not hungry, so enjoy your supper yourself.”

“Come with me. You’re aware of the consequences if I get upset, right?” Arthur knew she was trying to find a way to get away from him and did not want to let her have her way.

“I’m a patient and have been feeling poorly for the past few days. The doctor strongly recommended me to be on bed rest, so I can’t help the situation.”

He lifted his brows. “I’m a doctor.”

“Arthur Winthrop, there is a limit to my patience!”

As soon as he saw that she was about to lose her temper, he realized he should stop because the situation could backfire if he went too far. As such, he shrugged and compromised. “You should head back and get some rest, then. I’ll have supper by myself.”

Immediately, Elspeth felt a wave of relief upon gaining freedom. She was about to return to her room for rest when she was suddenly startled by a figure standing by the entrance. She could vaguely make out a flickering flame in the distance.

She reined in her emotions and walked over to take a closer look. However, she was stunned in place. Is that Callum?

The man had a cigarette in between his fingers, and the lights flickered faintly. Under the night skies, the lit-up cigarette butt was eye-catching.

“Callum, why are you—”

As far as she could remember, he never smoked.

“I need a smoke break. I’ll head back soon.”

She was unsure why she felt apprehensive, but she voiced out instinctively, “Are you unhappy?”

“I’ve got nothing to be unhappy about. On the contrary, I think it’s great that you’ve entered into a relationship with Arthur.”

Hearing those words secretly hurt Elspeth a little.

“So, you think it’s good news, then?” She tried her best to muster up a smile. “Fine. Your wish shall be granted.”

Elspeth turned on her heels and was about to head up the stairs when Callum suddenly pressed her against the wall. He held her firmly around her waist, and the burning rage in his eyes nearly consumed her. “Can’t you tell I don’t mean those words at all, Elspeth?”

Facing him, she felt her heart skip a beat and could not quite explain her feelings. She glanced at the usually composed Callum behaving so out of control and confessed, “I have my reasons.”

“What made you so willing to be with him? Elspeth, you’re not someone who’s so easily threatened.” The anger in his voice was unmistakable.

“I have my reasons—that’s it. Of course, though, I won’t actually date him. As soon as the timing’s right, I’m done with him.”

In response, Callum’s expression turned cold. “And when is that right timing?”