Chapter 1741

Karina handed the menu to Wilfred. “Take a look and let me know if there’s anything you can’t eat.”
Wilfred’s reply was brief. “No.”
Relieved, Karina took the menu back and carefully selected a few dishes she could afford within her current budget. “How about this?” Wilfred glanced at the choices.
His expression was calm as always, but Karina felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. She couldn’t even lift her head. She had invited him out for dinner, confidently saying it was her treat, yet this was all she could afford. “He must think so little of me,” she thought.
But before her thoughts could spiral further, Wilfred withdrew his gaze. “This is fine, but you don’t need to factor in my preferences so much. Order whatever you like.”
Karina flushed, realizing he had seen right through her. She had indeed chosen the dishes based on what she thought he would like.
The food arrived quickly.
Karina, ever attentive, handed Wilfred a set of utensils. “This restaurant has self-serve utensils at the front counter. Here, they’ve already been sterilized.”
Wilfred’s brows relaxed slightly as he accepted them.
As a doctor himself, he understood the slight germophobic tendencies many in their profession shared. “You’re considerate. Thank you,” he said, his tone carrying a trace of acknowledgment. Karina smiled faintly. “Well, I’m a doctor too. Occupational hazard.”
Wilfred’s lips curved subtly in response.
Suddenly, his gaze swept across the room and froze on a slender figure in the distance. His composed expression shifted ever so slightly, and Karina noticed.
A single name slipped from Wilfred’s lips. “Nina?”
Nina, hearing her name, turned around instinctively.
Karina followed his line of sight, and for a moment, she was struck by Nina’s elegance and beauty.
Nina’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise as she spotted Wilfred. Holding Orion’s hand, she walked
over with an easy grace. “What. brings you here? I thought the hospital had you swamped as usual.”
Her gaze shifted to Karina, pausing briefly before a knowing look flickered across her face. “So… you’re taking the young lady out on a date, huh?”
Karina panicked, waving her hands
in denial. Her cheeks burned as she stammered; “No, no, it’s not like that. I was the one who invited Dr. Wilfred out, but not for that reason. He’s helped me a lot, and I just wanted to thank him. That’s all.”
Nina chuckled softly, her gaze settling on Wilfred.
She didn’t say a word, yet Wilfred unexpectedly looked away, avoiding her eyes-something he had never done before.
A knowing smile played on Nina’s lips, her eyes gleaming with quiet understanding.
Orion tugged on her sleeve and looked up at her with a mischievous grin. “I know what this is. Isn’t this what they call ‘pursuit’ on TV?” Nina laughed, ruffling his hair. “Oh, don’t put it so bluntly.”
Karina was ready to sink into the ground. Her hands had nowhere to go, her gaze locked awkwardly forward. She didn’t even dare glance at Wilfred, afraid she might see disgust on his face. FindNovel
Finally, Wilfred broke the tension. “We’re not in that kind of relationship. Don’t make assumptions.”
His tone was calm but distant, carrying an undeniable chill.
Karina felt as though the blood in her veins had turned to ice.
Nina gave her a sympathetic glance before turning to Wilfred, her lips twitching into a half-smile. She muttered an apology, took Orion’s hand, and left.
Even after Nina was long gone, Karina’s gaze lingered in the direction she had walked.
She wanted to comment on how beautiful Nina was, but when her eyes met Wilfred’s dark, unreadable ones, the words caught in her throat.
“They must be very close,” Karina thought, “maybe even more than friends.”