A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 81

"It's you!"

Winifred Shultz stared at the elegant, smiling man in front of her. She had absolutely no recollection of him.

"I'm your patient!" the man said, practically buzzing with excitement.

That explained it. Back when she worked at the Adams Wellness Clinic, she treated hundreds of patients every day. She saw a sea of faces; it was impossible to remember them all. When it came to her practice, she maintained strict professional boundaries and rarely forged personal connections. She offered him a polite smile but didn't say much else.

The man, however, was thrilled. He started by complimenting her appearance, then quickly launched into a detailed account of his acupuncture session at the clinic that very morning.

"I recognized your voice, Dr. Shultz! And you're stunning—even more beautiful than I imagined! What incredible luck to run into you here tonight. But, I have to ask... why weren't you at work today?"

He didn't wait for an answer. "The woman who treated me today—Dr. Hale, I think her name was? She was terrible. Her technique was completely unpolished, like she was just going through the motions. And she didn't even use the same pressure points you do! Halfway through, I started feeling sick and asked if she'd made a mistake. I told her you only ever use eight needles, and when you do, I can feel the energy flowing, clearing out all the tension. She used seventeen! It felt like my blood pressure was spiking in all the wrong directions."

He rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing as if reliving the trauma. "And you know what she said to me? Under a thick mask of makeup, she had the nerve to say, 'Every doctor diagnoses differently, so the treatment plans and needle placements vary.'"

The man gritted his teeth. He had looked it up afterward. Some amateur holistic healers who lacked confidence in their diagnosis would just scatter needles everywhere, hoping to hit the right spot by sheer luck. It was a nightmare for the patient. If the treatment went wrong, it could cause serious adverse reactions.

Winifred looked into his earnest, eager eyes. Her healer's instinct tugged at her, but she had too much on her plate. She had to move her kids to a new home, and a massive legal battle with Quentin Adams was brewing on the horizon. On top of that, Mr. Lockwood's grandmother had texted her last night, urging her to finalize their contract, and she still had three months left on her health services agreement with Nelly. She was stretched completely thin.

Sensing her hesitation, the man grew even more desperate. He quickly offered an introduction.

"Let's properly meet. I'm Stanley Xenos, chairman of the provincial writers' association and a bestselling novelist. You might not know my face, but you've probably heard of my work. That massive fantasy drama that just aired, *The Nine Embers of Dawn*? It's based on my original novel."

As soon as he finished speaking, a smooth, deep male voice chimed in from behind them.