Page 77 of Billionaire’s Promise

That lie had earned me popularity among my peers. Who didn’t like a nice fluffy doormat to walk all over? Someone they could easily bully?

I wasn’t someone who had a strong belief in anything. Changes were necessary. They were part of life. When they came, I welcomed them with open arms. But I never said that changes weren’t hard. My parents’ divorce. Chloe’s fake death. My brother lying about her being alive. None of those were easy to deal with.

Right now, I don’t want more changes. I don’t want to be wrong.

Kai was not there to greet me when I finished my operation. His little team was gone. The reception area seemed weird without him there. There was no trace of him, like he and his team had never existed. Siti seemed to love the silence that had returned. If she hadn’t mentioned how quiet it was now that they were gone, I would have thought that I fantasized the whole thing, that Kai and his people were never ever here, and it was all a dream.

It would have been much simpler if it was just a dream.

As soon as I finished a routine checkup on my VIP patients, I darted out of my office.

I patrolled the hospital floor to floor, from top to bottom, just in case Kai was hiding somewhere, ready to jump out and surprise me. Next, I walked around the parking lot, looking for expensive looking cars, or any cars with dark tinted windows – no one jumped out from any cars to surprise me. Then reluctantly, like a drunken ex-girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, I drove around different places looking for him. I even went to all the restaurants and establishments that I knew he owned.

I could have picked up the phone and called him. But I wasn’t sure I could face what he was going to tell me. I was a grown up and this wasn’t my first rodeo with being dumped. Yet, I’ve never felt like I needed to know the reason why I got dumped or ghosted until now.

Kai came on to me so hot for the last few days that a small moment of cold felt odd and unacceptable. I parked my car across the street from Kai’s building and waited, entering a stalker mode that I didn’t know I had in me. This must have been how stalkers started obsessing over their subject. Shaking off the thoughts – a loud laugh escaped me.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I asked myself.

A knock on my window startled me. I recognized the face next to mine, only inches away separated by a piece of glass.

“Hi Dr. Bennet, are you here to see Mr. Li?” The doorman asked politely. Their security camera must have seen me. Kai would want a building with good security. It still surprised me how fast someone came checking on me. I’d barely been stopped there for five minutes.

A career as a spy or private investigator was definitely out of the question for me. So was obsessive stalker girlfriend.

“Yes, I was supposed to check on Jenny,” I lied smoothly, “Mr. Li’s guest. I am a little early, so I thought I would wait in the car.”

I felt guilty for being caught red-handed. I wondered if he saw right through me.

“Oh, of course.” Then it occurred to me that I had completely forgotten that Kai had deliberately tried to hide Jenny’s whereabouts. And I had accidentally mentioned her name. He mumbled into his tiny mic on his collar before looking back at me. “Ah I see, no one is at the property I’m afraid. They haven’t returned since this morning.”

No one? What did he mean?

I thought about asking him to call me when someone returned, but that would just raise some red flags. Besides, he probably wouldn’t anyway. “Thanks, Mr.…”

“Jeff. Just call me Jeff.”

“Thanks Jeff.”

Driving off was the only thing a sensible person should do. What made me drive here and camp out in front of Kai’s building in the first place was probably hurt. That was the only explanation that I could think of.

Or I could wait here until he gets back.

Shit! He had done it again.

Three years ago, I thought that we were going somewhere, and then he left without saying goodbye. The only difference was that we didn’t sleep together back then.

The hurt was worse this time. Tremendously worse. I thought sleeping with him would fix my obsession. I was wrong.

I drove away, to my place, looking around as though my apartment was unfamiliar to me. Home didn’t feel like home. His ghost remained there, even though he’d only spent a very short time here. The mug he used for coffee sat there next to the sink mocking me about his disappearance.

The quicker I accepted this change, the better. Life must go on.

I flattened out, face up, on my bed. My eyes fixed on a spot on my ceiling. My face felt heavy from the mixture of oil and make up on it, and my body felt a tad sticky for whatever reason, yet I had no will to drag myself to the shower.

The room wasn’t really quiet. It never was here in my apartment. However faint it was, I could hear the street, sirens, cars honking, and occasionally people shouting. Then my tummy decided to join in, like it had a mind of its own.

If I hadn’t had lunch today, I wouldn’t feel hungry at this point in the evening. This has been my experience with fasting. The more often I eat, the more I feel the urge to eat.