Chapter 5

Zachary had come hitching a ride from Isaac to meet up with Irene.

When he saw that it was Whitney coming instead, he alighted. "I'm leaving."

After that, Whitney got in and sat opposite Isaac, feeling insecure since she realized that Isaac had mistaken her for someone else.

However, she already experienced the benefit of his influence—the chief of the hospital had always admired Irene, but Isaac just had to speak, and Whitney was given the internship at the Second Militarized Zone instead.

She had made up her mind to keep him.

Such an opportunity—such good fortune—would only happen once in a lifetime. It was a blessing from the gods, and she must therefore seize it.

"I've made up my mind," she said, looking up.

Isaac twitched—he did not expect her to decide so quickly. Though he appeared unconcerned, he was actually curious about her answer.

"I don't want anything."

Whitney knew for sure that something important must have happened, which was why Isaac had offered to take her hand in marriage. However, if she were to ask for that or anything else, it would make her look greedy. Therefore, she decided to hold back so that she could secure a better prospect.

"Let's just be friends for now."

Isaac pursed his lips, feeling an emotion he could not describe just then.

"Is that your decision?" he asked silently.

Whitney nodded.

As such, Isaac decided against changing her mind—what happened last night had probably occurred in the heat of the moment.

"I will respect your decision."

-

Irene was reading a book in the lounge area of the hospital. Her shift was over, but she did not want to head home or what she perceived as Isaac's territory.

For her, killing time at the hospital by studying was ideal.

Knock, knock…

The door soon opened, and Zachary entered.

Finding Irene, he asked, "Why are you hiding here?"

"I'm not hiding," Irene replied as she closed his book. She then set it on the table and walked up to him. "Why are you here, Zachary?"

"I have to thank you for helping me out, don't I?" he chuckled. "Come, let me treat you to something nice."

Irene shook her head. "I'll pass."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Zachary asked, suddenly noticing that she was in a bad mood.

Irene avoided his gaze. "No."

Zachary naturally doubted that. "Come on, you can tell me… Or do you not trust me?"

"No." She quickly replied with a sigh and explained, "We won't be colleagues anytime soon."

"Why?" Zachary frowned, suddenly feeling a little angry. "Did the chief change his mind? Who did he give the internship to? I'll talk to him."

Irene caught his wrist as he turned around, shaking her head.

"Wasn't it your dream to become an outstanding military doctor? It's going to become a pipe dream if you can't even get to Central!" Zachary exclaimed.

Somehow, he felt that Irene was not being herself today—after all, did she not study diligently and work so hard for that dream?

Irene lowered her eyes.

She did not actually give up on her dream—it was reality which had let her down.

Moreover, she did not want to cause trouble for Zachary.

Pursing his lips, Zachary growled, "Fine."

Irene forced a smile then. "Let me treat you to dinner instead."

"Next time, maybe," Zachary growled while quickly doing the math in his head.

It had been decided for a while that the internship was Irene's, and it would take someone's machinations to take it away from her.

Irene had always been too soft-spoken and unimportant, but Zachary would not take this without a fight.

"I just remembered I have something to do. See you around."

With that, he turned to leave, and stormed into the hospital chief's office angrily—he had confidence, not just because he had rank and status—his own family was quite influential as well.

The chief was talking on the phone.

"That's all," he said, cutting the conversation short as he got up and greeted Zachary with a smile. "What brings you here, Dr. Slate?"

"Wasn't it decided that Irene would be given the internship at Central Hospital? Why change that? Who is it? How much did they pay you? I won't let this go unless you give me a straight answer right now!"

The hospital chief was naturally left in a difficult situation, but he explained, "My hand was forced on that matter. What do you think I can do when Isaac Jefferson himself told me to take good care of Dr. Cox?"

Zachary's brow wrinkled at the mention of Isaac.

"Well, if you have a bone to pick, go to him," the hospital chief added, smartly pushing off the responsibility in the face of someone he could not afford to provoke.

Nonetheless, Zachary was furious and left to find Isaac.

He had just stepped out of the hospital entrance when he found Whitney getting out of Isaac's MPV, and strode toward it.

Whitney smiled to greet him. "Dr. Slate."

Zachary had no idea how he should react.

Glancing inside the car, he simply grunted, "Uh-huh."

After Whitney left, Zachary felt that Irene had been dealt an injustice, and the culprit had to be a friend of his.

Still, Isaac had never cared about women that much, and his special treatment toward Whitney indicated that they were not just friends.

As such, how could he ruin his friend's happiness when it was so rare for Isaac to be eager to win a woman's favor?

"I don't get it. What do you like about Whitney Cox?" Zachary asked.