"Are you okay?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I forced a smile and nodded. "I'm good."

I wondered how she would react when she learned that I was infertile...

"Because of your pure intention, I won't fire you," she smiled.

I sighed in relief and bowed. "Thank you so much..."

"Oh... no need."

"I will make sure it won't happen again!"

"Come on, you're funny."

.....

"Hey... why are you looking like that? Did you see a ghost?"

That was when I realised I was already home. I was hugging my handbag tightly to my chest!

"Oh, I'm home," I scoffed and dashed to my room, Sofia following me in confusion.

"Lisa, are you okay? Why are you in tears!"

"I'm fine," I sniffed.

"Hey, wait..." She caught my hand before I could enter my room. I couldn't hold it anymore, I burst into tears.

"Oh my gosh... what's going on with you, babe," she whispered and hugged me, placing my forehead on her shoulder, patting my back.

"Whatever you're thinking, it's going to be alright. I promise."

Will I really be alright? I always wished for romantic love with a good-looking man, especially one who was caring. That's why I mistook Timothy's care for love. I'm scared... scared of staying alone, scared of being single while my mates celebrated five, ten, twenty years of wedding anniversaries.

One thing I despised was divorce... Why would he divorce me if he loved me so much? I want someone who will care for me too, to treat me like a queen and a kid.

But, what I'm afraid of... It's happening.... That's why I'm always depressed. Getting this homeroom teacher job was just to kill boredom.

If I knew things would turn out like that with my ex-husband, I wouldn't have rushed into that marriage. Rushing into marriage isn't good... I'm regretting it.

Why did I submit myself to a man who didn't value me? Ahh! I'm the one at fault! I shouldn't have let fear dictate my actions. Sometimes, it's okay not to be okay...

I'm embarrassed about my parents' relationship. I'm not fine with it. I keep thinking it's a generational curse. My grandmother was alone. I have no idea who my grandfather is. I heard he was heartless. There's a secret picture of my grandmother with a swollen face... that says it all.

My mom also ended up single for one reason or another. I'm not fucking okay with that! I'm scared of meeting a man like my father or grandfather! I should have burned that feeling... of being alone... I shouldn't have been afraid of it. Now I've ended up labelling myself a divorced woman. Every man who finds out looks at me differently, thinking I cheated on my husband, that's why he divorced me...

After divorcing my husband, I learned one thing, rushing into marriage isn't good. I think it's the same mistake my mom and grandma made. I should have thought about it before letting fear eat me alive.

Not every man who approaches a woman wants to follow the law of forever and ever.

.....

"I think my case is far worse than theirs," I sighed and sat on my bed, Sofia sitting beside me.

"Will you stop doing this to yourself," she frowned. "If you keep doing that, how will you be respected? The first rule of life is loving yourself!"

"I know," I giggled. "I'm just trying to understand something. My case is different from my mom's or my grandmother's. My husband divorced me because of... the infertility stuff... I don't want to talk about it"

"Hmmm... is that what you've been telling yourself?" she frowned. "Don't tell me you still love that jerk."

I quickly shook my head. "Of course not! I'm just saying no man will want me because I'm disabled."

Sofia suddenly roared with laughter. "Wow! I didn't know you were this stupid for real."

I froze. "What?"

"Listen, idiot," she said seriously. "Whether you can bear a child or not is none of his concern. He didn't love you. He wanted a child because his family was desperate for one."

"Ohhh..."

"Exactly. You're saying all this because you've never experienced real love. If a man loves you, Lisa, he won't care about anything bad about you. And you're not disabled! Look, there's a famous hospital. You can go for a check-up. Whatever the result is, it's the truth."

"Dwell Health Hospital?" I looked at her in confusion and froze when she nodded.

"Where will I get the money for their check-up?" It's the best hospital. I heard the doctor barely comes around because he travels a lot. He's the best, with many professional doctors and expert nurses under him. Only the richest can afford him...

"I can just try a local one..."

"Listen, gullible," she said. "I was able to book an appointment through my fiancé."

We both paused. She shook her head and continued.

"He managed to book with the doctor himself."

I froze. "Wait... what? How did he do that?" We've been investigating his job and found nothing special except the wine he sells. He made it sound like nothing serious.

"I don't know either," she sighed. "I feel like he's hiding something from me..." She dropped the card in front of me. "I'm scared to marry him."

"Don't even dare marry him if you're still doubting him," I warned. I don't want her to make my mistake.

She chuckled. "Don't worry. We've been together for three years. I'll handle it. Today is my appointment with them." She checked her watch. "Ohh, it's almost time. You should start going. You're about to meet the owner himself."

"Ahh... really? Thanks. I'm not prepared for that..." I paused. "But why did you even book an appointment for me? Are you sick?"

She thought for a moment. "Actually, it's for you. I told him about your situation and he wants to help."

"You told him about me?" I froze in embarrassment. What if he sees me as disgusting... as his fiancée's broken friend?

"Don't worry. He isn't a jerk like your ex. He understood."

I rolled my eyes and headed straight to the hospital. Even with Sofia's directions, it took me a long time to locate the first floor. The tallest among the sixteen buildings.

I was told to wait in the waiting area. Not many patients. They designed it this way in case of emergencies. Nice idea. There were so many doctors and nurses. No wonder it's the best hospital.

Then a tall man in a black suit approached me. "Miss Lisa Gilbert?"

"That's me," I said, standing up quickly. Oh... the appointment is really for me. It's registered in my name...

"Follow me, please."

I nodded and followed him into a luxurious office nervously. A couple walked out, and then I saw a man in a navy-blue suit writing on a jotter.

My gosh. He's deadly good-looking!! "Have a seat," he said.

I sat nervously. "Good... good afternoon, sir."

"Good afternoon, Miss Lisa," he said, then looked up at me.

I froze. I was surprised to see him! The man who sat beside Mr Donavon when Mrs Donovan was introducing me to her husband! But how?

I'm doomed!

He looked at me for a while. " May I help you, Miss Lisa?"

" Ohh... yes... sure." Why was I even feeling guilty? Not that I committed any offence. I was only a teacher for his friend's son! " I came for a check-up."

He nodded. " What exactly do you want us to check?"

I blinked. Why did I feel like this question was deeper than it appeared? " I..."

" I mean, where do you want us to focus on? Or do you want a full body check-up?"

" Yes..." I quickly nodded. There's nothing wrong with telling him my problem, but I wasn't comfortable with the man, and I was even confused about why I was feeling that way.

" Noted." He then stood up immediately. His blank expression made me feel at ease. We went into a room filled with expensive equipment, some of which isn't common in normal hospitals because patients wouldn't be able to afford it.

After the check-up, he dropped his stethoscope and sighed. I noticed he was trying to hold his anger, making me wonder what I did wrong...

" Madam, if you are having issues with your husband and want to punish him by wasting that amount of money, there are lots of ways to do it."

" What?" 'cause I didn't understand him at all!

" Do you think I'm that free?" he said coldly. I wouldn't lie, I felt the chill. Shouldn't a doctor be friendly? Why was this man so menacing? He looked cute and scary at the same time.

" What are you talking about, doctor?"

" Your medical report is clean. You are perfectly fine," he said as he gently stretched the report toward me.

My heart softened. He was pissed, yet gentle. Kelvin needed a lot to learn. I collected the report and smiled. That was what we called maturity, unlike Kelvin who wanted to attach, whoa! Why was I thinking about him again?!

" What's funny?" I heard his scoff.

That was when I realised what he was telling me. " I'm fine?" I asked in disbelief.

He still had his weird expression. " You thought you were sick?" He seemed to be trying to understand me.

I nodded immediately. " I... I'm... are you sure I'm fine?" I quickly located my digestive system and intestines. I knew I would see whatever was happening in my stomach, but everything seemed normal...

" The only thing you have to take care of is to rest more..."

" Please, are you sure I'm okay?" I still didn't know if I had heard it correctly or not.

He looked at me for a while and sighed. " What do you think is happening with you, Miss Lisa?"

" I..." Why was I even hesitating? It was embarrassing, and it was the kind of thing men ran away from.

"Patient's personal matters won't be discussed with anyone, is that what you are afraid of?"

" Ahhh... not that," I denied. " I thought I was infertile..." I murmured.

" You are what?" He tilted his head toward me. " You thought you were infertile?"

He chuckled. " I don't know why you would think that, but I'm very sure your womb is perfectly fine. You just don't have sex at the right time."

I blushed and looked away. He thought I was currently with my husband? " Ahh... I see."

I didn't know how I got home. Really?! Was I normal? But... we did the test and the doctor said I was infertile. I still had the result with me.

" Are you for real?" Sofia asked in disbelief. " You are normal?"

I looked out the window in a daze. Things were more complicated than I thought... What was going on? We were with the doctor throughout the check-up and the result came out showing what he said. Now that I had tried another hospital, why was the result different from the other one?

" Yes!!" Sofia clapped happily. " That's a good thing! At least you will stop saying you are disabled. Let's focus on getting you a husband..."

" Oh, stop," I said, shaking my head.

" What is wrong with you!"

" Listen, let me make money first, then we will talk about that later. Right now, I want to focus on my student, okay?"

Sofia scoffed. " Yes, madam."

The next day.

Kelvin's sad face welcomed me. He was frowning at his laptop.

" Care to share?" I asked worriedly.

He glanced at me and sighed. " I failed again. There's no point trying again."

Looking confused, I asked, " What is that?"

" Howard University. I kept failing their exam despite all my efforts. It's my dream school."

I chuckled at his serious face. Sometimes he looked cute, sometimes he looked scary. " Well, I would advise you not to give up. Why don't you try again?"

" What? I said I kept failing..."

" It doesn't mean you should give up. Why would you even give up on something you failed once?"

" Not once, but twice." He rolled his eyes, tired of arguing already.

" Listen, try one more time. I will help you get their previous questions to study. Then you will apply for an exam, very similar to the Howard exam. I will introduce it to you later. If you pass it, there's a high chance you will pass the Howard exam."

" Really?" He smiled...

Ahh, that smile made my heart tremble. How could someone be blessed with gap teeth and dimples at the same time? Was this a trap from the devil?

I quickly looked away and nodded. " If you have the determination to achieve it, of course getting it won't be difficult."

He quickly brought his textbooks. I could see the hope in his eyes. Teaching a student who wanted to start from the beginning wasn't easy, but I tried my best to teach him in a way he would understand.

Days turned into weeks. I managed to keep my job steady. This made Mrs Donovan happy, and she doubled my salary, including the bonus for anyone who managed to keep the job for a month.

Sometimes they forced me to eat with them in the dining room, thinking it would distract me from my feelings toward Kelvin, but things didn't go as I expected.

This feeling grew stronger inside me. Especially when I sat in front of him in the dining room one day, I couldn't take my eyes off him. His mouth, the way he chewed and swallowed, I couldn't stop imagining the kiss.

I started feeling uneasy when he began giving me weird looks. He had caught me peeping at him hundreds of times. I bet he had noticed something was off with me.

Until one day... The first thing that welcomed me was his happy face. " Good news?"

He calmly looked at me and smiled more. I blushed. The journey was almost five months, and he felt more mature than the first time I met him.

" Look, I passed their test."

" Really?" I gasped and collected the book. I was surprised he scored more than we planned. This meant his chance of getting into his dream university was very high!

" Yes!" I screamed happily and hugged him. " I knew you would do it!"

" Yeah..." he chuckled.

That was when I realised what I just did.

Why was I hugging him?

We looked at each other for a while. Then I saw him glance at my lips.

Gosh! His lips were tempting me! I unconsciously leaned in and quickly stopped midway, my eyes widening. What was I even doing?

I pulled away and forced a smile. " I'm very happy for you, Kelvin."

" Thanks," he said sharply, looking straight into my eyes... for the first time.

While teaching him, I couldn't concentrate. I felt his gaze deepen, and my thoughts grew wilder. I felt wrong and went home earlier than the time given to me.

I had fallen for my student, and the feeling was getting uncontrollable.