The Fake Heiress and Her Purrfect Partner novel Chapter 237

Chapter 237

Colter watched Nina walk away, a wave of frustration washing over him.

As he was lost in thought, James, who had stayed behind, walked over and handed him a document.

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“Is this an investment proposal?” Colter asked, taking it with a puzzled look. “Mr. Hayes has only been here for less than an hour, and he’s already decided to invest?”

He looked troubled. “Sorry, but this is a big decision. I need to talk it over with my dad first. I can’t give you an answer right away.”

James smiled and shook his head. “Officer Emerson, you’ve got it wrong. This isn’t an investment proposal.”

He flipped open the first page, showing the title, Hayes Medical Group Public Welfare Program. “It’s an orthopedic rehabilitation program we’ve been running at Hayes Hospital for years now.

“Every year, we reserve a set number of spots for military veterans and police officers who were injured on duty, whether they’re retired or reassigned, so they can get the rehab they need, free of charge.”

Colter was stunned.

Most of the coaches at his dad’s training center had been forced to move to desk jobs or get reassigned because joint problems, spinal injuries, and other physical setbacks made it impossible for them to keep up with the tough standards of frontline duty.

This kind of thing was pretty common in high-intensity units like SWAT, military police units, and field

teams.

His dad was one of them, forced out of active duty by injury. He went through a tough transition to civilian life before finally starting this training center, helping out others who’d walked the same hard road.

“This program doesn’t just offer free rehabilitation; we’ve also introduced cutting-edge biotech therapies, and right now we’re recruiting volunteers to try out these new treatments,” James explained.

His words brought Colter back to reality.

“If we move forward with the partnership, we’ll make sure your training center gets state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment as well,” James added.

Colter’s grip on the document tightened unconsciously, and he stood there, stunned for a long moment.

The rehab program in this file was just what the coaches at the center had been desperate for.

Years of grueling training and tough assignments had left them with all kinds of lingering injuries.

Even now, after switching to coaching, those old aches and pains still flared up from time to time, creeping into their everyday lives.

Colter’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as he realized how he’d misjudged Quentin earlier.

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Quentin was nothing like the spoiled rich kid he’d imagined.

“Mr. Hayes actually cares about things like this?” Colter murmured, his throat tightening with emotion.

James smiled, “Mr. Hayes used to be a field medic; he’s fought side by side with a lot of comrades.”

Colter felt a wave of respect wash over him as he carefully put the document away. “Please pass on my thanks to Mr. Hayes.”

“I’ll let him know,” James said, adjusting his glasses and nodding. “Thanks for looking out for Ms. Summer and showing her the ropes today. Mr. Hayes really cares a lot about how she’s doing in training.”

The training ground fell silent.

Colter looked down at the project proposal in his hands.

Suddenly, he got why his dad sounded so overwhelmed on the phone.

‘This was more than we ever expected,’ Colter thought.

*****

At the restaurant, Nina pushed the menu toward Quentin with a flourish. “What do you want to eat? My treat today.”

Quentin took the menu and asked casually, “So, how’s Officer Emerson?”

He added, “You seemed pretty into your training with him.”

“He’s great,” Nina replied, still buried in the menu. “No wonder he’s a top instructor from the higher authorities.”

Her eyes kept bouncing between the two dishes; clearly, the food was way more tempting than any small talk.

“It’d be even better if he weren’t the blind date Simon set up for me,” she added with a sigh.

Nina sighed, ticking off her list on her fingers, “Still haven’t seen my mom, still haven’t gotten to the bottom of Simon’s job transfer mess, the new vaccine project is barely off the ground, and I still have to keep up with my workouts.

“I’m so busy that I wish I could split myself into eight just to keep up. Dating? Who’s got time for that?”

She propped her chin on her hand, looking troubled. “I just want to grow up faster and be someone who can take on anything life throws at me.”

Quentin froze for a moment. The thought, ‘Should I offer to be your new blind date?’ circled on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it down, letting it settle quietly in his heart.

He watched her long lashes, his throat tightening as he said, “Maybe you could lean on someone. Like me.”

Nina’s doe eyes shimmered with pure light. “But you’re already helping me.”

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Chapter 237

Her eyes lit up, and she thumped her chest. “You’ve helped me out, so I’ll make sure to pay you back a hundred times over.”

“Just you wait, Dr. Hayes. Don’t underestimate me just because I’m not there yet; one day, I’ll have your back,” Nina said with a big grin.

She got more and more animated. “Honestly, there’s so much overlap between veterinary medicine and human medicine.

“Take arthroscopic surgery for horses, for example. If you tweak the technique a bit, it could totally work for human knees, less trauma, quicker recovery.

“But I don’t really know much about human medicine, and you’re the expert. Maybe you could help me figure out how to make it work.”

Once Nina started talking shop, she was on a roll, rattling off ideas a mile a minute.

Quentin was so into it that he instinctively reached for his pen, ready to scribble down whatever she said.

The vibe totally shifted; they might as well have been at a science conference instead of a restaurant.

By the time Quentin caught on, there was no way to steer things back to normal dinner talk.

Nina rattled off her ideas without even pausing for breath, feeling like she was a total genius.

She grabbed his hands in both of hers, eyes blazing with excitement. “Dr. Hayes, if we join forces and blend the brilliance of veterinary and human medicine, we could totally take the medical world by storm.”

Quentin looked down at the hands holding his.

They were soft and delicate, with a hint of pink at the fingertips, nails perfectly rounded and trimmed, right now, gripping his hands with unexpected strength.

‘The good news is that she finally took the initiative and grabbed my hand,’ Quentin thought.

‘The bad news is that the way she grabbed his hands, it felt more like a high-stakes summit between two countries than anything romantic,’ he wondered.

On the not-so-bad side, her grip was so firm, he was basically stuck and couldn’t pull away even if he wanted

Quentin could only sit there, feeling the warmth in his palms, and sigh to himself.

After getting back to the zoo, Nina headed straight for the reptile house.

The blunt-headed two-tailed snake she’d saved at the hospital, almost killed just for being in the wrong place

at the wrong time, was now staying here for the time being, thanks to her quick action.

With the right environment, the little guy was getting better every day. The moment Nina showed up, it excitedly slithered over to the glass and called out in a clear, crisp voice, “Hi, Ms. Summer.”