Love My Friends with Benefits novel Chapter 54

The doctor looked at me with pity in her eyes.

She didn't continue, and I felt a little embarrassed to ask her what she meant.

There were no other patients in the emergency room at the moment. I sat there and stared into space, all of my thoughts focused on Grandma.

"What I meant was..."

After a while, the doctor said, "You're young, and you have a long road ahead. You shouldn't do something as terrible as being someone's mistress."

The word "mistress" hit me in a sore spot.

I sprang out of my chair and raised my voice. "I'm not!"

My head spun. I fell back onto the chair, looking dishevelled.

She frowned but remained patient as she tried to talk some sense into me. "I can tell that you and that young man are very intimate. He has a girlfriend, and she injured you..."

It looked the doctor already had a whole soap opera plot in her mind.

I gave her a wry smile and said feebly, "Doctor, you've got it wrong. My sister was the one who beat me up. He's just my brother-in-law."

She was a little surprised. "Really? Things like this actually happen?"

I nodded but didn't say anything.

Being mistaken for a mistress shocked me so badly that I couldn't even bring myself to speak.

Me? A mistress?

My heart twisted as I remembered the bitterness and hatred that had taken over my mother.

I'd sworn that I would never, ever be someone's mistress.

Leonard made all the arrangements for me to be hospitalised and entered the room again. After greeting the doctor, he picked me up and turned to leave.

I wanted to resist, but I didn't have the strength to.

I didn't know whether I was being too sensitive, but I felt like there was a sense of contempt in the doctor's gaze as she watched us leave.

Leonard carried me all the way to the ward and put me down on the bed.

I looked around at my surroundings.

I was in a single room. Since it was nighttime, the whole area was silent.

Leonard sat down beside me and stared at me.

Feeling a little uneasy, I asked, "How much does it cost for a night here?"

I remembered that this was one of the best hospitals in the city, and they charged a lot. I was a big spender and didn't have much savings. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle the expenses.

He frowned. "Not much, about five thousand dollars."

...

I gaped at him.

Five thousand dollars was equivalent to half of my monthly salary. I'd splurged on a few things before this and I didn't have much money left. How was I going to foot the bill?

"What are you panicking for?" Leonard snorted. "I'll pay your hospital bill."

Taken aback, I asked, "Why?"

He coughed, seeming a little awkward. "My woman was the one who injured you, after all."

He said that Phoebe was his woman.

A wave of bitterness washed over me as Leonard continued, "It's my fault for not keeping Phoebe in line. When you're feeling better, you can name a price. Take it as me compensating you."

He even wanted to compensate me?

I started to laugh so hard that I teared up. "Do I really look like I'm that desperate for money?"

However, I couldn't ignore the bitterness in my heart. Leonard obviously viewed Phoebe as one of his own, while I was nothing but an outsider.

Since one of his own had injured an outsider, some monetary compensation was enough to settle the matter.

If an outsider had injured one of his own, what would he have done? I doubt that he would've let me off the hook so easily.

The more I thought about it, the more disappointed I felt. Leonard didn't seem to catch my mockery and asked seriously, "How much money do you have left, Queena?"