Trapped with a Doctor
Chapter 81 Birthday Party in the House of Family Gu

Once Arvin's Porsche had receded completely from view, Stanley patted Gage on the shoulder and said, "I'm afraid you get used to it. It's just the way he is. Let's go!"

They locked their arms around each other's shoulders, and divided up. Only Derrick lingered, looking on at Nita who stood motionless. "Nita, you should have... noticed his indifference a long time ago."

Nita simply shook her head. She touched her forehead with one hand and said, "Derrick, I thought...I don't know...if Rosa was gone for good, Arvin would choose me..." But a thought flashed through her mind. 'Even if Rosa doesn't return, he still doesn't love me! He's in love with someone else!'

Looking at her sad face, Derrick felt a little pain. "Nita, he only loves Rosa. Even if there are a lot of women around him, they are just passersby."

"Maybe I'm also a passers-by for him... but I don't want to be a passer-by! Derrick, what should I do?" Nita looked at Derrick with a deep and unrelenting sadness.

Derrick was almost thirty years old. He looked more mature than others. He was the president of a transnational group and therefore, shouldered more responsibilities and pressures.

He hesitated and told her, "Love him... and don't give up."

It may have been well-concealed, and he had taken pains to guard it so, but actually, Derrick loved Nita. He wanted to help her seize her dreams. So, could he do but demand she not give up, as he hadn't. He had loved her for about ten years. He still thought about her, never giving in to defeat...

"Nita! Derrick!" A sweet voice came to their ears.

Nita took a deep breath, turned over and smiled when she heard the voice. "Lulu, what are you doing here?"

Lulu took Nita's arms intimately, and announced, "I just went to the washroom! And when I came out, nobody was there? Why was the birthday party over when I came back?"

Nita and Derrick glanced at each other and they didn't know how to answer the question. Lulu's innocence was too great to handle. Finally, Derrick explained to her, "You know your brother doesn't like party." Lulu's head made an ineffably comical movement that conveyed how intangible such a statement was to her. But when she found Nita's pale face, she asked her aloud, "Nita, what's wrong with you?" "Nothing..." Nita didn't want to give herself away to Lulu.

"The reason your brother left the party," said Derrick seriously, "was because of another woman! "

"A woman?" Lulu was surprised. Since Rosa disappeared, she haven't heard any rumors about Arvin!

Suddenly, she thought of one girl! Last time, when she went to the hospital, she met a girl who called Arvin a pervert...

Nita stared at Derrick, who finally found that he had crossed a line he shouldn't have. Derrick made an impromptu excuse to leave, and slinked away as fast as he could.

"Okay, see you, Derrick!" said Lulu. Lulu waved at Derrick.

Derrick nodded to them, and left the house.

Nita closed her hand around Lulu's, and said, "Lulu, the woman who is after your brother is..."

Oh, good Lulu, innocent Lulu! There wasn't a cockroach on the planet that feared her kitten-soft hands! Nita knew this about her. So, to Nita, it only made sense to try to take advantage of their good relationship. She wished to keep her close so she could gain Arvin's affection. It would work, she convinced herself. It had to...

Shengfeng Mansion

The table was expertly set. Angela put a bowl of well-cooked noodles on the place mat, basking in the hot steam. She was afraid that the noodles might get cold so she covered it with the plastic wrap. Looking at the delicious noodles, Angela swallowed unconsciously. However, she only cooked one bowl of noodles. No noodles were left at all.

'Forget it! When Arvin eats them up, I'll go outside for some food!'

Looking at the watch, it was already seven ten but Arvin didn't show up. She looked at the box in her hand. She would have to wait to give it to him.

At seven thirty, Angela got a call. "Nancy," she answered.

Nancy sounded very excited, "Angela, how about the birthday party for Doctor Gu? I asked my brother, but he didn't tell me!"

Angela listened to the words coming over the receiver in fixated bewilderment. Arvin's birthday party? She looked at the quiet apartment. "There's no party here! Where is your brother?" "My brother took a photo of the birthday party! But I didn't replace you there. So, I said I'd call you to replace out myself!"

Angela's heart broke. It was like a loss of something vitally important and nourishing.

He said there was no party! So, he had lied to her after all...

"Angela...why are you so quiet? Is something wrong?"

Angela smiled bitterly, "Nancy, send me the photo."

"Sure thing. Have you given your gift to Doctor Gu yet, by the way?" She wished she had, because at least if she had handed it over before this, it would have been meaningful. Angela shook her head. Arvin haven't come back. There would be no gift. "No, I..." croaked Angela, "later...later..."

"Later? Okay...then I'm not going to bother you! But just so you hear this from a friend, Nita was there too. She looked beautiful. I would have helped you select one beautiful dress if I knew you were in the birthday party!" Nancy thought for a bit. Angela was wearing sportswear today. Maybe she was unaware of the birthday party?

Angela's stare glazed over and she held the phone lazily. "Don't forget to send me the photo!" she said distantly.

"Okay, have fun! I can tell you're a bit spaced, so I'll leave you be!"

After the call, Angela leaned against the ottoman with disappointment. She was thinking of everything and the disorder of it pained her a great deal.

She bit her nails and paced around the living room apprehensively. Should she stay or leave? Either way she was resigned to a knotted stomach. It was ceaseless. Later, she tried to call Lily, but failed to get through the phone...

It was hopeless. All her avenues were closing. She felt cast adrift from the world and its excitement. A minute later, amidst a swarm of humiliating thoughts, Angela's phone buzzed. It was Nancy again, who sent the photo to her WeChat.

The photo was a little blurry, but the main features could be made out. Angela's eyes scanned around and landed on Arvin, his handsome face among the others. Oh, how he wished she could lump his face in with the mashed effect of the blurry ugliness, that it might be a boon to her unfriendly thoughts. Arvin seemed to be passing the cake to what looked like Teresa.

And beside him, there was Nita, looking at Arvin's face with a sweet smile, who looked very graceful.

The surrounding forest of people were made up of the likes of Gash, Stanley, and so on.

It would be impossible for Nancy to replace her at the party. Angela was in Arvin's apartment, with a bowl of noodles creating condensation over a plastic veil, while the festivities went on in the Gu family home... Eventually, Angela could sustain her insufferable thoughts no longer. She moaned. At eight o'clock, she stood up from the ottoman and tried to replace her dolls.

She noticed that two of her dolls were on the sofa in the bedroom, ranked very neatly together, as if he had set them there. She pretended not to feel anything and gathered them up, and searched for the others.

In total, she collected nine dolls and jammed them in her bag, along with her pajamas, toothbrush, and some other sundries, and slung it all over her back. She put a hand on the door handle, then looked back to the kitchen. The bowl of noodles remained, its plastic cover sweating. She left.

Arvin was driving his black Porsche at a racing speed through the downtown thoroughfare. Lines of traffic began to materialize, and he slowed down. Soon enough, it had turned to gridlock. Stopped at a red light, he called Angela.

Odd, he thought, as the call went to voicemail. He couldn't get through.

When he hurried home, he found nobody was in the apartment...

Arvin threw the gift given by Nita on the table casually.

He looked high-and-low for her, including his private research and development room, but there was no trace of Angela. He went into his bedroom and immediately noticed the figures of the two dolls were gone. Angela had disappeared like a sneak. No note. No nothing. Only a bowl of uneaten noodles.

Arvin stood arms akimbo in the living room, raising his face to the ceiling, with his eyes closed. 'Peace, peace, ' he beckoned, 'let it wash over me. Have I hurt Angela in ways I can't grasp?'

What a shame. He had tried. Tried to leave with time to spare so he could indulge in her company.

Arvin didn't dislike Angela. He knew he actually liked Angela. But, he was afraid to think about it in detail. All these thoughts came to him without any struggle on his part, so he knew with confidence that they were true.

He understood that he was escaping from something.

He was escaping from something such as his love for Angela...

At the evening two days before, when he hugged Angela till he fell asleep, he was relying on her making the first move. He wanted to further their relationship. But, he didn't... Because, he was not as simple as her. 0000000