章 23: A Hard Time

Yera was about to walk out of Xander's office with Dr. Gong to head toward the Surgery Department. Dr. Gong was going to introduce Yera to everyone in the surgical team. Xander was about to follow them, but Yera stopped him.

"Why would the CEO come to introduce me? Do you want people to get suspicious? I want to be recognized for my own capabilities and not be labeled as someone who got in because of a big fortress on my back," Yera scolded him. Dr. Gong couldn't help but grin but quickly dismissed it when Xander threw him a glare.

"Alright. Go then, you two..." Xander conceded as he gestured for the two to leave his office.

After an hour of waiting, Xander put on his lab coat and roamed around the hospital to check on patients. But in all actuality, he was just curious to see what and how Yera was doing.

"When will Rui arrive?" Xander asked assistant Ron, who was walking behind him together with his secretary.

"Sir, he will arrive anytime today. He said he'll call or visit you directly…" answered assistant Ron.

"Tsk… How dare he leave on vacation without my permission," Xander scoffed. He was in a profound dilemma and would need Rui's psychiatric expertise to help him because Rui was the only doctor who knew about his condition at the hospital.

"What about the renovation progress of Yera's personal office?" Xander asked.

"It is still ongoing, Sir…" answered secretary Ness. Xander nodded. Of course, he would give his wife her own office, where she could rest, although she insisted on using the staff's regular on-call room.

Then something suddenly dawned on him, and he paused his steps. He turned around to face his two employees. "The on-call room, do we have separate ones for male and female?" He asked with a frown on his face.

"Sir, we only have one on-call room that is equipped with everything that our staff needs when they require it," answered assistant Ron. Secretary Ness seconded with a nod. She even remarked how pampered their staff is since the room could be mistaken for a hotel room.

"But there are cameras everywhere, right?" asked Xander, who looked displeased, hearing his wife would possibly have to stay with other men in one room in case duty called.

Assistant Ron nodded and said, "There are cameras in every corner, except the shower room and the restroom…"

"Make sure to finish Yera's office early!" said Xander. Secretary Ness could sense why her boss suddenly seemed wary, so she suggested, "Sir, if you're uncomfortable with Dr. Song's sleeping arrangement in the on-call room, you can always ask her to sleep in your office."

She only found out today about her boss and Dr. Deyna Song's marriage from assistant Ron. And just like Dr. Gong, she also had to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Xander's face lit up as he winked at his secretary and smiled, "Brilliant idea, Ness. Because of that, you'll receive an extra bonus this month."

The secretary's lips curved from ear to ear as she thanked her boss for his generosity while assistant Ron could only scratch his head while he scolded himself for not being the one who came up with the suggestion.

"Yowww, Physician CEO Yang!" a familiar voice that was coming from Xander's back startled the three of them. It was Rui, who was smiling widely as he pulled his suitcase.

Secretary Ness's face started to redden as she saw another handsome Doctor. Assistant Ron's face twisted as he whispered, "How come your face only blush when you see a selected few of handsome doctors? Why doesn't it blush when you see me…? I'm also quite handsome…"

Secretary Ness' face crumpled as she cried silently, "Handsome, my foot…"

Xander looked at the two assistants and instructed them to go back to his office. He then followed Rui to his office.

"How dare you…" Xander started when they were already inside Rui's office. The later only laughed and threw him a bag of chips. "There, try that Dr. CEO. It tastes awesome…" Rui said, grinning.

Xander opened the bag of chips while Rui sat comfortably in his chair.

"So, did you enjoy your mini vacation?" Xander asked as he began to bite on the chips. "Oh, this is good," he remarked.

Rui laughed and said, "I have more. But, anyway, what is it that's so important that you had to bug me during my wonderful vacation? You still look pretty normal to me, so what's with the 'I'm going crazy soon' messages? The heck, Xander, I'm not even tanned enough..."

Xander laughed, but his face turned serious when he looked at Rui as he began to narrate his story. "So, this is what happened while you were gone…"

Rui was like a brother to Xander, so he was comfortable telling him every single detail. Rui already knew about Xander's picky little buddy, who only reacted to one particular woman, and the two of them even celebrated it.

But Xander had never mentioned who the woman was. He thought he was already cured, and any other women would be able to arouse him as long as he found them attractive. So, he felt the woman's identity would not have mattered. But then to his disappointment, his little buddy was only interested in Yera.

Rui made himself a cup of coffee as he listened to his friend describe everything from the beginning. And as soon as Xander was done, the first question Rui asked was, "Does Bernard's father know?"

Xander nodded as he explained, "Yes. He wanted me to take care of Yera. He reassured me that Bernard would absolutely want the same thing. He was actually happy for me… And he only hoped that Yera could soon move on with her own life and with her real identity."

"He knew about the contract too?" Rui asked in disbelief.

Xander frowned and quickly answered, "Of course not! I mean, we did get married for real. And that contract… The truth is… I will tear it apart soon..."

Rui laughed out loud. Xander was very vocal about him liking Yera Han, and that he was on a mission to make her his wife, in the truest sense of the word.

"I have to meet her in person to assess if you even have the slightest chance on her, my friend…" Rui teased Xander, laughing at the crumpled face of his friend.

Just from assessing Xander's reaction at the moment, he could tell that Xander was already having a hard time...