Claimed by my Ex's Boss

Chapter3

The elevator doors slid open, and I rushed out before they fully opened. That familiar antiseptic smell hit me, making my stomach tighten instantly.

I despised this place.

Memories I had buried years ago tried to claw their way in but I forced them down as I kept walking. Not today. Not now.

Mum used to say hospitals were a place of hope, but the day she died, hope was nowhere to be found. It disappeared.

I shook my head sharply, pushing the thought away as I moved faster toward the reception.

When I reached the reception, my breath was uneven and the lady behind the desk seemed not to notice me, or maybe she did?

“Please,” my voice came out sharper than intended. “My father… he was admitted here today.”

That got her attention.

She finally looked at me. “Patient’s name?”

“Vaughn, Daniel Vaughn,” I said.

Her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard. The seconds felt a bit too long. I kept tapping my foot on the floor.

Then she nodded slightly and looked up at me again.

“Room 224,” she said.

I didn't wait for anything else. I was already moving, almost running.

A few minutes later, I found the room number. I couldn't bring myself to step in, and I stood there for some seconds. I felt a sharp shudder but I managed to gather some strength and pushed the door aside and saw my father lying on the bed.

“Daddy!” I ran to him, tears already burning my eyes.

“Leah?…” his voice trailed. “Where have you been?” he added.

“I'm so sorry Dad, I disappointed you. I will tell you about everything later,” I said while wiping away my tears with the back of my palm.

“I’m okay, it's stress. The doctor said I will be okay, don't worry too much my girl. Your mum was worried about you too,” Dad said, turning to my step-mum.

That's when I realized that she was present, and besides here was her daughter, Emily.

I gave her a dry look and, without looking at Emily, I focused back on my Dad. I laid my head gently against his chest. The chair creaked softly as I stood up. Emily left shortly after without a word. “At least she has some shame,” I thought to myself.

“I'm coming Dad, let me go see the doctor, I'll be right back.” He nodded in response and I turned and walked out of the room.

The corridor turned right toward the reception. A receptionist was already attending to someone, so I stopped and waited.

The scent of his cologne caught my nose. It smelled… “expensive.”

“Are you paying in full, Sir?” the receptionist asked the cologne man.

“Of course, this card has no limit,” he said coldly, holding up the card between his two fingers. It was a card I had seen before. It was for the wealthy ones. We have one too, but I guess we won't be using it anymore. I shook my head. Something else caught my attention—it was his voice. I've heard this domineering voice somewhere, but I couldn't make out where.

Suddenly he turned. His eyes met mine immediately and he froze. I couldn't help but notice his expression. I saw his eyes flicker, his brow raised. I didn't understand those expressions, but the man who caught my attention for a few minutes was very handsome. He had beautiful eyes and full lips. His hair was unique and permed smoothly, which elevated his looks even more.

“Are you done checking me out?” His voice jerked me back into reality.

“Huh? I wasn't,” I lied quickly, totally mortified at the situation and chiding myself for checking out a man when my dad was sick and two weeks ago I had caught my ex cheating on me. I never learn my lesson with boys.

The stranger smirked coyly and walked away, his steps echoing.

Then I headed to the receptionist, got the info I needed, and left for the doctor's office. I saw Luke and Emily standing together like nothing had ever happened, but I paid it no thought and headed toward the doctor's office.

A hand grabbed mine. I turned to look at the person. It was no other person but my good-for-nothing ex. The audacity he has to show up here!

“Let go this instant if you don't want to get slapped,” I said calmly, glaring at him.

He let me go but came before me as I was about to walk away.

“I'm sorry baby, I don't know what came over me, please forgive me Leah,” he said on his knees, rubbing his palms together, making a puppy face he always gave me whenever he did something wrong, but I wasn't having it.

“Luke! You've gone nuts right? You really have. The audacity you have to come to me acting like the fool you are, I'm glad i never made the vows with you.” I said, my voice a bit high. This situation made some people look in our direction.

“You better stand up and go meet her and stop causing a scene here, and you better not appear before me again, you cheating bastard!” I added pointing my finger at his face. Then i darted my eyes toward Emily's direction who was watching us.

I pushed him aside and left for the doctor's office. As I was about to leave again, this time his grip came stronger.

“I cheated, I know! Can't you let go of this just once?” he raged.

I knew this was getting out of hand, so I had to talk things through calmly with him this time in order to be free from his grip

.

“Let go of that hand this instant!” a familiar voice said sharply, and Luke and I turned in unison to see who it was. He came strutting towards us, a hand in his pocket. His cologne wafted towards my nose as he came closer. He released Luke's tight grip on my hand and turned towards me.

“Mr. Shawn?” Luke said in utter disbelief.

I looked at Luke then back at this stranger.

“Now that you've finished dealing with your past… we can talk about your future.” Mr. Shawn said, staring deeply into my eyes