Peter turned to look at Florence with confusion and sadness in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but only managed to utter one word, “You-”
What could he say? You’ve changed? You’ve disappointed our parents? This isn’t like you?
He hesitated for a moment before deciding not to say anything at all.
Florence looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with me? Didn’t you used to say that Patrick and I were perfect together? Now that I want to marry him, isn’t that great news for us both? Come on Peter, hurry up and win over Jane so Patrick can be mine.”
Peter didn’t know what else he could do or say anymore as he glared fiercely at Florence for the first time ever before turning around and walking back into his room.
—
Maria watched as the ambulance drove away with the old lady inside it; her heart finally feeling relieved now that she knew she was going to be okay.
The director let out a sigh of relief too as he instructed his assistant to contact the old lady’s family members since filming had been stopped due to this incident happening on set.
“Thanks again for your help,” Maria said gratefully towards Kim who sat across from her; suddenly finding herself admiring how tall and strong-looking he seemed now compared before when they first met earlier today on set.
“I’m just doing my job as a doctor,” Kim replied nonchalantly while smiling slightly; acting like saving someone’s life was no big deal when clearly it was something extraordinary indeed!
“I was really scared at that moment, completely unsure of what to do,” Maria recalled, still feeling a sense of unease when she remembered the elderly lady collapsing right in front of her.
If Kim hadn’t been at the filming location today, or if nobody knew first aid…
In an instant, Maria felt her hands turning cold.
Seeing Maria’s pale face, Kim walked up to her and spoke softly, “Alright, the doctor said that the elderly lady is going to be okay.”
“But…” Maria hesitated, but Kim interrupted her.
“There’s no ‘but’ anymore. Don’t worry, the director has contacted the patient’s family, and I’ll keep an eye on things with the hospital.”
Looking at Kim’s smile, Maria felt a sense of relief wash over her. She blinked and glanced down at her phone, her expression somewhat dejected.
“Oh… I’ve missed the timing.”
“What timing?” Kim curiously asked.
“It’s a mukbang livestream of someone I like. I was supposed to watch it after finishing the advertisement shoot today, but now I’ve missed it,” Maria explained.
“A mukbang?” Kim emphasized the word, and Maria immediately detected the surprise in her tone. She quickly explained.
“I just watch it. If I’m on a diet, I can’t eat, but I can at least satisfy my cravings by watching others eat.” Maria pouted as she spoke.
After a quick search for the anchor that Maria mentioned, Kim watched the brightly colored video and twitched his mouth.
“Dieting is not good for your body, and watching these food videos won’t make you less hungry.”
“You don’t even let me have a little psychological comfort. What can I do? Who made me a big star?” Maria complained.
“How about this? Let me give you a diet menu that allows you to lose weight while still enjoying delicious food. How does that sound?” Kim raised his eyebrows teasingly at Maria.
“Can you really do that?” Maria was surprised.
“Just expanding my business.” Kim laughed and shook his phone. “Dr. Ragsdill’s exclusive recipe, free of charge.”
Maria chuckled at his joke but before she could say anything else her agent called her over and they parted ways.
“Who is he? He’s very handsome,” the agent turned around curiously to look at Kim as if she had never seen such a celebrity in the entertainment industry before.
Playing with her phone absentmindedly, Maria replied nonchalantly, “He’s a friend of mine and also the young master of Jiale Company.”
The agent looked surprised as if she didn’t expect Maria to know him or see how well they were getting along during their conversation earlier on; it seemed like they were quite close friends.
“Come on now tell me honestly how did you guys meet?” The agent caught whiff of some juicy gossip brewing in their relationship history.
Thinking back on those unpleasant experiences from before, Maria frowned, “It was kind of an accident.”
The agent was busy searching for information about Kim on her phone so she didn’t notice anything strange about Maria’s expression, “But seeing him save that old lady today makes him seem like he might be working in healthcare?”
“Yes, he’s a doctor.” confirmed Maria by nodding head.
Glancing at Maria, who was engrossed in her phone, the agent seemed to recall something and spoke mysteriously, “Could it be Mr. Ragsdill, the person who anonymously sends you flowers every day?”
Those words caused Maria’s hand to pause for a moment. She blinked and chuckled softly, “That’s impossible…”
After completing the delayed scenes for the advertisement, Maria sat in the car, rushing to the company. However, to her surprise, there were several people gathered in the lobby of Star Entertainment, and one of them was none other than that elderly woman, who had suffered a heart attack last time.
“Little girl!” The old lady brightened up when she saw Maria approaching, and quickly walked over with help from her relatives.
“Madam, what are you doing here?” Maria was surprised when she looked up and saw Kim standing behind the old lady.
The two of them exchanged a glance, and Kim smiled at her, leaving Maria even more confused.
“Miss Marner, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you saving my mother that day, she might not have…” The young man standing next to the old lady handed Maria a large bouquet of flowers and thanked her repeatedly.
Maria looked at the bouquet in her arms and hadn’t fully recovered from her shock when the old lady praised her again.
“I didn’t do much that day. Dr. Ragsdill deserves most of the thanks,” Maria was unsure how to respond to this situation for the first time.
“It was Dr. Ragsdill who brought us here. He said if it weren’t for you discovering it in time that day, he wouldn’t have been able to save my mother.”
The old lady patted Maria’s hand back comfortingly.
Maria suddenly looked at Kim; why did he push all credit onto her?
However, Kim acted as if he hadn’t seen Maria’s expression and continued with what the elderly lady had said, “Yes! And Miss Marner also called an ambulance just in time.”
“Kim…” Just as Maria opened her mouth to speak up about this matter being shared equally among them all, a bright red banner blocked off any words from escaping out of her mouth.
Looking at the long line of words on the banner made Maria dizzy; no one had ever given such an honor before!
Kim chuckled softly while looking at Maria’s expression.
Later that afternoon, social media exploded with praise for Maria; journalists captured footage of Maria receiving a banner which they later used during interviews with the elderly lady on set.
In an instant wave after wave positive comments flooded online platforms; Maria already had great popularity among strangers but today’s events led many fans into becoming die-hard supporters.
Thus began Maria’s title as “the beautiful woman whose heart is pure” amongst netizens everywhere.