CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 177: I WILL NEVER MARRY AN OLD MAN

Simon Sterling returned to his office.

The door closed behind him, isolating all the sounds from the corridor.

He walked behind the desk, sat down, turned on the computer, and pulled up the images of several patients he needed to focus on today.

The black and white images from the CT and MRI appeared on the screen, and he frowned slightly, concentrating on analyzing every detail.

Just as he picked up a pen, ready to jot something down in his notebook, the office door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, making a light "bang" sound.

A figure quickly darted in, moving as swiftly as a startled rabbit.

Simon Sterling looked up, seeing the newcomer clearly.

A girl who appeared quite young, about seventeen or eighteen years old.

She wasn’t tall, about 160 cm, wearing a well-made light pink dress, the hem reaching above her knees.

She had long, straight black hair with neatly cut bangs, complementing her small, fair, and delicate face.

Her eyes were large with beautiful dark brown irises, slightly rounded now due to running and nervousness, like a startled deer.

Her nose was small and slightly upturned, her lips naturally cherry pink, slightly pouting.

The girl didn’t look at Simon Sterling, or rather, she didn’t have time to look at him.

She rushed in like a gust of wind, quickly darted behind the spacious desk, then dove under it, curling up and tugging down Simon Sterling’s lab coat hanging nearby, trying to hide herself.

Simon Sterling was stunned, the pen still suspended mid-air.

Before he could inquire, he felt the little thing under the desk move, and suddenly a pair of slightly cool small hands reached out, tightly hugging his leg clad in trousers.

"Shh," the girl whispered from beneath the desk, with a noticeable plea, "Doctor brother, please help, don’t make a sound, I beg you."

Her voice was clear, with the sweet stickiness unique to young girls, even when lowered, it was like a feather gently brushing over the eardrum.

Simon Sterling looked down, only able to see the top of the girl’s black hair and a small segment of her fair neck.

She held his leg with a notable strength, and even through the fabric, he could feel the warmth and slight trembling of her palms.

At that moment, urgent and heavy footsteps sounded outside the office door, sounding like more than one person.

Soon after, there was a knock on the door, and without waiting for a response from inside, the door was pushed open again.

Two tall men in black suits stood in the doorway, expressions solemn, scanning the office with sharp eyes.

Their gaze swept across Simon Sterling sitting at the desk, then looked around the relatively empty office interior.

"Doctor, sorry to disturb you."

One of the men spoke, his voice low and commanding.

"Have you seen a girl? She’s about 165 cm, has straight bangs, long black hair, looks like a high school student, wearing a light-colored dress."

Simon Sterling felt the arms holding his leg tighten more beneath the desk, he could even sense the girl holding her breath.

She raised her face, looking at him from the shadow beneath the desk.

A flushed little face was completely exposed in his view.

Under the light, her skin was almost transparently fair, her long eyelashes fluttered like little fans, her big eyes filled with pleading and a watery sheen, making her look pitiful, yet with an innocent naivety.

She mouthed silently to him: "Don’t... I’m begging you..."

Any normal man, faced with such eyes, might find it difficult to harden their heart.

Simon Sterling was wearing a fitting white coat, under it was a well-pressed light blue shirt, with the collar buttoned neatly.

He sat straight, handsome features, high straight nose, lips thin and well-defined, exuding a clean and cool aura.

His face expressionless, eyes calmly watching the two bodyguards at the door, leaving his thoughts a mystery.

The two bodyguards waited a few seconds, receiving no response, glanced at each other, their gaze more alert.

Simon Sterling lowered his gaze, his eyes settling beneath his desk in that shadowed corner, meeting the pleading big eyes for a second.

Then, he raised his gaze, looking at the bodyguards at the door, saying nothing, only extending a long, clean finger with distinct joints, pointing down to the location beneath his desk.

The gesture was crisp without any hesitation.

The eyes of the girl under the desk suddenly widened, the pleading in them turning to disbelief and betrayed anger.

The two bodyguards immediately understood, striding forward.

"Miss, please come out."

One of the bodyguards bent down, speaking to the space under the desk, the tone polite yet commanding.

The girl knew she could no longer hide.

She suddenly let go of Simon Sterling’s leg, like an annoyed kitten, and crawled out from under the table.

After standing up, the first thing she did wasn’t to deal with the bodyguards, but to turn around, lift her foot, and stomp hard on Simon Sterling’s polished black leather shoe.

She was wearing small heels, and she used quite a bit of force this time.

Simon Sterling was caught off guard, and his brows furrowed immediately. He grunted, and the pain in his foot made him reflexively want to pull it back.

But he ultimately held back, only his expression became a few degrees colder.

After stomping on him, the girl still wasn’t satisfied. She tilted up her face, beautiful like a porcelain doll, and glared angrily at Simon Sterling, her big eyes almost spitting fire.

"Traitor, bastard, you have a good-looking face for nothing, not an ounce of sympathy."

Simon Sterling looked at her expressionlessly, as if it wasn’t his foot that was stomped just now.

Seeing this, the two bodyguards quickly stepped forward, slightly blocking the girl from the left and right, preventing her from doing anything excessive.

"Miss, please come with us."

The girl shook off their attempting-to-support hands forcefully, giving Simon Sterling a fierce glare, with an expression that seemed to say, "I’ll remember you."

She lifted her delicate chin, like a proud little princess, speaking to the bodyguards in a way that seemed meant for Simon Sterling to hear as well.

"Fine, I’ll go, but listen up, I absolutely will not marry that old man."

"This time you take me back, next time I’ll escape again. If you dare, watch me twenty-four hours a day."

After saying this, she snorted and walked out of the office first, head held high, footsteps thumping loudly, pink dress swaying.

The two bodyguards immediately followed, guarding behind her.

The office door closed again, restoring silence.

Simon Sterling looked down at the clear little shoe print on his black leather shoe, his brows still slightly furrowed.

He bent over and took a disinfectant wipe from the drawer, carefully wiping the shoe surface until the shoe print completely vanished and the leather shoe regained its shine.

Then, he precisely tossed the used wipe into the trash can, picked up his pen again, and his gaze returned to the image on the computer screen.

The air seemed to still carry a trace of a girl’s fragrance.

It was different from the usual smell of his office, sweet but not cloying, unexpectedly not annoying.

Simon Sterling prepared to continue the work that had been interrupted earlier, but the phone screen on the desk lit up and vibrated slightly.

He glanced at it, seeing it was a message from his mother.

He swiped open the screen.

The message was simple, just one sentence.

"Simon, this is Dean Ford’s daughter, Miss Ford. Look, what a pretty girl."

Attached below was a photo.

The girl in the photo wore an exquisite light pink dress, her long black straight hair neatly combed, with bangs framing a fair and delicate face.

She smiled slightly at the camera, her big eyes curved like crescent moons, with two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, looking sweet and well-behaved, carrying an innocent naivety.

He frowned, that face looked somewhat familiar.

Wasn’t it the same little girl who crawled under his table, stomped on his shoe, and called him a traitor and a bastard just now?

Simon Sterling held the phone, staring at the photo for a full five seconds.

There was no expression on his face, but in the depths of his eyes, there was a hint of surprise.

He put down the phone, leaned back on the chair, and moved his gaze from the phone screen to the tightly closed office door.

Just now, the girl in the pink dress, like a little firecracker, stormed out through this door.

The air was still lingering with her sweet and capricious perfume, mixed with the scent of his disinfectant wipes, a bit contradictory.

He remembered her throwing out that fierce line when the bodyguards took her away.

"I absolutely will not marry that old man!"

Simon Sterling’s lips moved slightly.

He lifted his hand, his fingertips lightly tapped the smooth desk surface unconsciously.

His voice was so low that it was almost inaudible, finding it somewhat absurd.

"Old man?"

He looked in the direction of the door, his gaze free of emotion, yet there seemed to be a slight shift in his pair of calm, untroubled beautiful eyes.