Chapter 723 Love at First Sight

Meryl felt a bit disappointed that she didn’t get to see her son. John, standing beside her, reassured her, “Don’t overthink it. The doctor’s just looking out for my nephew. Don’t worry, before you know it, my cute little nephew will be out of here and back home.”

Meryl nodded, choosing to trust the doctor. She decided to come back in a few days to visit again. Since she was about to perform medical acupuncture on Felix, it wasn’t convenient to have John tagging along, so she said, “I’ve got something to do. You can wander around for a bit.”

John didn’t think much of it. After saying goodbye to her, he turned to leave, but he had barely taken a few steps when he unexpectedly bumped into a girl.

The girl rubbed her forehead, looking up at him with annoyance. “I just got my bangs done! You totally messed up my hair–”

Cate stopped mid-sentence when she got a good look at the handsome guy standing in front of her. She froze instantly. He looked familiar, like she had seen him somewhere before. Her mind blanked for a second as she stared at him, dazed.

John had been walking while scrolling through his phone, not paying attention to where he was going. Realizing what had happened, he apologized casually, “Sorry about that. You want me to take you to a salon to fix it, or should I just pay you for the damage?”

Cate’s brain short-circuited. For a moment, she completely forgot how to think. There was some kind of pull—an invisible force drawing her in. Until now, she had never believed in love at first sight. She thought it was just a dumb cliché. But after today, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Her face grew warm, and she suddenly felt awkward and fidgety.

Cate actually had come to the hospital because Lydia had called her to complain, saying that no one from the Aniston family cared that she had given birth. Not a single person checked in on her. She felt that Lydia had brought this upon herself.

Still, as infuriating as Lydia was, the baby was innocent. So, as his aunt, Cate figured she should at least come to see her little nephew.

What Cate didn’t expect was to literally crash into this guy before she even reached the hospital room. And even more unexpected? She realized that this man was her first-ever real crush.

In an instant, she completely forgot why she had come here in the first place. John was saying something, but she couldn’t hear a word of it. She just stared at him, eyes locked on his face, unable to look away.

John studied her and scratched the back of his head, looking puzzled. “Why’s your face so red? I bumped into your forehead, not your face. Does your face hurt or something?”

Reaching out, he pinched Cate’s soft and delicate cheek, thinking, “Well, it is smooth and kinda bouncy… She seems fine to me.”

“Uh…” Cate bit her lip, her heart racing like it was about to burst out of her chest. Getting her face randomly touched like that completely threw her off. “It was just a small bump, no big deal. No need to pay me or anything…”

John had no clue what was going through her head. Completely oblivious, he simply said, “Oh. Cool then. Later.” And with that, he turned and walked away.

Cate froze for a moment, watching as he walked away without looking back. A sudden wave of urgency gripped her. The world was too big, and the odds of seeing a stranger again after a fleeting encounter were impossibly small. She had no intention of letting this slip away. Her mind raced for a solution, and then, in an instant, she called out sharply, “Wait!”

Hearing her voice, John stopped in his tracks, looking back at her with a hint of confusion. “What’s up?”

Cate hesitated. “I mean, I’m fine now, but what if… I don’t know… something happens to me later?” She had no idea what she was even saying–her mouth seemed to be working on its own, and the words were tumbling out in a complete mess.

As soon as she said it, she nearly laughed at herself, thinking, “Seriously? What am I even talking about? The guy barely tapped my forehead with his chest–like that could actually hurt. But whatever. Opportunities like this didn’t come every day. Who cares if my excuse is a little ridiculous? The important thing is getting my point across.”

As they locked eyes, John clearly caught the flicker of nervousness in hers. Her thoughts were written all over her face, plain as day.

Even though he wasn’t the most perceptive guy, he finally clued into what was happening. But instead of calling her out, he played along, deliberately asking, “Oh? So what do you want to do about it?”

Cate blurted out without thinking, “Give me your WhatsApp number! You know, just in case I need to reach you.”

Her heart pounded like a drum, and her smooth, delicate cheeks flushed a deep red. This was the first time she had ever asked a guy for his number, and her excuse was absolute garbage.

Cate had no idea if John believed her or not. She didn’t dare look at him and instead kept her head down, pretending to fumble for her phone. Her heart raced, but embarrassment flooded her at the same time, a mix of emotions so intense it made her want to curl up and disappear. The awkwardness was almost unbearable–like the kind that made her toes curl in secondhand embarrassment as if she could dig a hole and vanish.

She pondered, “Ugh, this is so conflicting. I’m the heiress of the Aniston family, and here I am, asking a guy for his number. If my friends found out, they’d never let me live it down… But whatever! If I don’t do it now, I’ll regret it later for sure.”

John let out a low chuckle, his voice deep and teasing, “You want my WhatsApp number? Don’t tell me… you fell for me at first sight?”

Cate froze and then immediately denied it. “What? No way! I… I didn’t.”

“Oh?” John raised a brow. “Well, I just got back to the country and don’t have WhatsApp yet. How about this–I’ll give you my sister’s number. If you need anything, you can message her, and she’ll pass it on to me.”

Cate was stunned, wondering, “Was there really anyone who didn’t use WhatsApp these days?” She found it almost impossible to believe.

But before she could think too much about it, John rattled off a string of numbers. She quickly typed them into her phone. As soon as she added the contact and refreshed her WhatsApp list, a profile popped up–a buff guy’s avatar. The background was pitch black, and the guy was shirtless, showing off a set of ripped abs. The classic gym bro look.

Cate blinked and thought, “Wait… His sister is really out here using a shirtless dude as her profile pic?” She skimmed the about section. “John? What kind of girl would use that name?”

Curious, she casually opened Instagram, and sure enough, under the “Discover People” section, she spotted an account linked to the same number. The most recent post was from yesterday afternoon–a young man’s muscular hand resting on a table, next to a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

The caption read: [Not bad.] There was even a location tag. Cate recognized it instantly–it was the cafe she and her friends visited all the time.

The place was low-key and never did much marketing, but the coffee was great. Compared to all those hyped-up trendy cafés, this one was a hidden gem.

Cate put her phone down, and that was when it hit her–she had been played. She pondered, “Wait a second…. This isn’t his sister’s WhatsApp. This is his own account! So why did he say he didn’t have WhatsApp? Was he messing with me?”

She turned around, only to realize that John had already slipped away. Looking back down at the WhatsApp profile picture, she frowned.

Cate pondered, “Hold up… don’t tell me this guy with the abs and V-line waist is actually him?” The more she stared at the picture, the less it looked like some random internet pic. “But come on, with his small frame… does he really have abs like this?” Somehow, her mind wandered elsewhere, and before she knew it, her face flushed red.

Chandler showed up at Galaxy Holdings Group early in the morning. There was work that needed his attention–after all, it was the end of the year, and meetings, big and small, were nonstop.

With everything that had happened recently, he had been neglecting work, and now a mountain of documents had piled up in the president’s office, all waiting for his signature. After going through dozens of them all morning, he rubbed his temples.

Chandler hadn’t slept well last night–his mind had been too preoccupied. Now, he just wanted to take a quick nap during lunch break. But right as he was about to close his eyes, his phone started ringing.

Seeing that it was the hospital calling, he answered and asked, “Is something wrong with the baby?”

It was the baby’s attending doctor, and he replied, “It’s your wife. She just showed up at the hospital, saying she wanted to see the baby. I refused her entry.”

Chandler let out a quiet hum and asked, “How’s the baby doing?”

The doctor responded, “He’s recovering well. Stronger than expected, actually–better than we initially thought. If everything goes smoothly, the baby should be discharged in about a month or so.”

Only then did Chandler finally breathe a sigh of relief. Even though Meryl had betrayed him and he still couldn’t fully come to terms with it, deep down, he didn’t want anything to happen to the child.