Chapter 06: Not A Stranger Anymore

"Is there something wrong?" Aidan asked her again, looking at her face and then at the medical result in her hands. "You don't look very well. Do you want me to call a doctor?" 

Avery lowered her head. She hesitated, before shaking her head. 

"No. There's no need to," she replied. A doctor wasn't what she needed. Avery needed answers to her questions. 

"By the way, while you were asleep, I did something that might make you angry," Aidan suddenly said. He paused for a brief moment before he continued his words, "Earlier… the doctor who came with the medical result asked if I was your husband." He raised his head to look at her, "And I said yes."

Avery lifted her head up and met his gaze. 

But strangely, there was no emotion that fleeted across her eyes at his words. No surprise. No shock. No angry reaction. Nothing. 

She just stared at him. 

After a short while, Avery said, "It's alright. You don't have to apologize." 

Avery thought she would be furious when he said this. How could a complete stranger play the role of her husband without her permission. But her emotions were strangely calm. Too calm that she even doubted herself. 

But could this incident even compare to the shock she had just received upon hearing she was pregnant? Perhaps, not.

"Instead, I should thank you for taking me to the hospital and helping me with the paperwork," Avery continued. She had already heard from the nurse that the bill and the papers for her to leave the hospital were already signed and paid. She couldn't bring herself to get angry at him when he had done so much for her already. "Although, it is better if we don't confuse things in the future…" 

Looking around her, Avery found her jacket and purse sitting on top of the soft couch against the wall. She made a move to stand, but a hand held her wrist, making her turn around to face him. 

"A patient should stay in bed," he said, pausing for a brief moment. "I'll get it, what do you want?" 

"My purse," she replied to him. 

The man, who still hasn't introduced himself to her, stood from the stool. His legs were extremely long, thanks to his tall height, and he sauntered towards the couch. He retrieved her purse and phone, but left the jacket behind. 

He held her phone, which lit up to show an unrecognized number was calling, and said, "Your phone was buzzing since earlier. I didn't touch it because it feels too private." 

Avery nodded in understanding at him. She was glad he didn't. She was even grateful that he hadn't contacted someone she knew to check on her. 

Looking down at her phone that had been buzzing, she wondered who was calling. As an idol, her contact list varied between the people she personally knew and people whom she worked with. And each of them were named as soon as they were added. So, who could this be? 

Moreover, Su Tang warned her to never take any calls from an unregistered number. She feared it might be some crazed fans or anti-fans who got her number through nefarious means, such as bribing a staff member in the agency. 

There was no shortage of fans and anti-fans who managed to obtain their favorite celebrity's personal contacts and addresses. Each year, a number of people working in the entertainment industry faced the harassment of such persistent intrusions, from being relentlessly pursued to having their apartments unexpectedly visited.

But, still, this didn't lessen the fear that many celebrities would feel when encountering something like this. 

Hence, Avery hesitated for quite some time before deciding whether to answer the call, to the point that it had Aidan furrowing his eyebrows in a quizzical manner.

"Are you not planning to answer?" he asked her. 

Avery bit her lips and shook her head as she was about to place the still buzzing phone on the bed. 

Just then, the call ended and turned into a missed call, followed by a message that flashed on the lock screen. 

[No Name: It's me. Why did you block my number?]

It didn't take rocket science for her to understand what these words meant. It didn't even take her a second to figure out who messaged her. 

It was Mikael. 

Even when she had already blocked his number, he didn't give up trying to contact her. 

Avery felt an impending headache just at the thought of Mikael pestering her to talk to him. 

Seeing her become silent, Aidan's eyes couldn't help but fall to the phone on the bed. He asked her, "Do you want me to answer it?" 

The tired look on her face vanished, replaced by astonishment.

Avery said, "…no. It's alright."

If she let him answer, Mikael would only think the worst. It didn't matter that she didn't care about what he thought; she just didn't want more trouble. Moreover, she didn't want Mikael to trouble this beautiful stranger and get him involved in their problem.

"That's right!" Avery suddenly brightened up and smiled, clutching the purse in her hand and opening it. "Please accept this." 

She took out a few thousand bills and held it out for him to take, then said, "I know you already paid the hospital bills, but I can't just take a stranger's help without repaying them." 

"Aidan." 

However, his response didn't align with her previous words. 

"I'm Aidan. Not a stranger anymore, right?" Aidan added, smiling at her. 

When a handsome man smile at you, it's inevitable for your heart to skip a beat, right? Especially if the same man claimed to be your husband just several minutes ago. 

Blushing slightly, Avery turned away from his gaze that was directed at her. 

"You don't have to return the money to me," his words made her turn her head back to stare at him again. Avery wondered if he was going to say that he didn't need it because he had plenty of money. She had already observed his clothes; each piece was of high quality and exuding luxury. However, she heard him say, "Treat me to dinner when you've recovered instead." 

The genuine smile that followed those words made her feel giddy all over her body, a sensation that seemed to encase her in warmth and something… more.

But she didn't want to assume anything just from his words. 

"I… I don't think I'll have the time to invite you for dinner," said Avery, politely refusing him. "If this isn't enough, I'll send you the rest through AirPay?"

Avery felt bad for refusing him. He had done a lot for her in just a few hours, wasting his time to look after her, a complete stranger to him, and even paid her bills. Thinking about it, he had done more for her than her ex-fiance had in the past month.

But Avery knew that this was the only way to limit her involvement with him. 

Aidan noticed Avery holding a forced smile on her lips. He could have let her know he was disappointed and hurt at her refusal, forcing her to agree to his request. But Aidan didn't want to use force or manipulation to get what he wanted from her. He didn't even feel like exploiting the guilt that she felt after refusing him to agree to have dinner with him. 

It was too bad, but the only thing he could do was wait for her to take the first step. 

And waiting patiently was what he did best.