I suspected Jessie was making fun of me, but I had no proof.

I had been officially humiliated right in front of a hot guy. I wanted to cry.

Thankfully, the universe was huge. I would never see him again. Thinking that way made me feel a lot better.

…

That weekend, I slept in as usual. Half-awake, I heard Morgan chatting happily with someone—definitely not our parents.

I walked into the living room in my pajamas, hair a total mess, and probably with sleep still crusted in my eyes. "Morgan, who are you talking to?"

Two men turned around at the same time.

My eyes widened in shock.

The guy in the white T-shirt was that insanely handsome doctor from the clinic!

How was that even possible?

I immediately turned my face away to avoid embarrassment.

Morgan's voice floated down from above my head. "Why are you leaving? Come say hi. This is my friend, Jessie. We were roommates when we studied abroad."

Wow! When did my dear little brother get so polite?

I had no choice but to stop.

My mind was racing. Doctors were busy. There was no way Jessie could recognize me. I refused to believe he had superb memory.

I forced a smile, turned back, and sat beside Morgan. Acting calm like nothing was wrong, I said, "Why didn't you tell me your friend's here? Hi, I'm—"

"Hi, Molly."

Jessie smiled openly, his eyes bright and charming. He looked nothing like the cold, distant doctor in the white coat I'd seen the other day.

Molly…

I was pretty sure I had not said my name yet. My heart dropped.

Morgan looked even more confused than I was. Smiling, he asked, "Jessie, how do you know Molly?"

"She was my patient before," he answered Morgan, but his eyes were on me. My scalp went numb.

I was doomed.

Jessie actually remembered me!

My idiot brother clearly thought I was not embarrassed enough yet and kept twisting the knife. "Oh, I see. My sister's pretty, right? She's super popular. A total dating pro."

The words "dating pro" sent me straight to the grave.

For the record, that was the image I had always maintained in front of my family.

I mean, I was pretty. If they found out I had never dated in 30 years, Mom would probably lose her mind.

I just never expected Morgan to be this chatty.

At this point, I couldn't even control my facial expression.

Jessie gave me a long, meaningful look, his tone rising with a hint of intrigue. "Oh? Is that so?"

My whole body went numb.

I watched his lips move and felt like he was about to expose me. My mind went blank, and I rushed over and covered his mouth with my hand.

"What are you doing, Molly?"

With a grin, he reached out and gently nudged my hand aside. That was one beautiful smile.

I was way too bold.

Just then, Mom came out and reminded me not to forget my blind date today.

I had almost forgotten.

"A blind date?"

That was Jessie. I looked at him and saw his expression darken instantly.

What was that look about? I felt annoyed. So what if I was a lifelong single? Couldn't I go on a blind date?

I shot him a glare, said nothing, and turned back to my room. I could still hear Mom talking to him in fragments.

I closed the door, changed my clothes, and put on a full face of makeup. When I came out, Jessie was still sitting on the couch.

He watched me with narrowed eyes, but I ignored him. Irritated, I said goodbye to Mom and walked straight out. For some reason, my back felt cold.

Sitting in the cab, I grew increasingly uneasy. What if Jessie exposed me?

I decided I needed Morgan to give me his number so we could get our stories straight.

"Morgan, give me your friend's number."

Morgan replied pretty quickly. "What, are you trying to hit on my friend?"

I was too lazy to argue with him. I just said I needed to consult Jessie about a medical issue, and Morgan immediately sent me his contact.

I hesitated for a moment, then sent him a message. "Hi, Dr. Lloyd. This is Molly Austin. I asked Morgan for your number because I wanted to confirm something. You wouldn't mention my situation to him, right?"

But even after I got out of the cab, there was still no reply.

Oh, shit. Had he already told Morgan?

I felt very uneasy.

Forget it. I would deal with it after the blind date.

I changed his contact name to "Gynecology Dr. Lloyd".

When I arrived at the restaurant, I called my blind date.

I had no idea what he looked like. We never exchanged photos. Since we were in the same city, our parents said we could just meet and talk.

Then, I saw a short, bald, and chubby man waving while on the phone and walking in my direction.

My heart sank.

Of course.

Mom's standards for me had officially dropped to as long as he was a man.

I waved back without enthusiasm. "I see you."

But the voice on the phone sounded amused. "I'm behind you. How can you see me?"

"Behind me?"

I turned around and saw a tall, handsome man right in front of me.

Wow! Mom finally did something right.

His name was Tyler Graham. He was three years older than me, a Hillbrook College graduate, and currently a department manager in R&D at a Fortune 500 company.

He led me into the restaurant and even pulled out the chair for me like a gentleman.

Nice. Points for details.

Tyler smiled brightly. "Your mom said you really like this place, so I booked it here. What do you usually like to eat? I want to try their signature dishes, too."

He had done his homework, even going as far as researching my personal tastes beforehand.

Plus, with a face like that, as someone who appreciated good looks, I felt a surge of genuine interest.

After confirming that he could handle spicy food, I happily ordered several signature dishes.

I realized Tyler had a nice personality too. He was easygoing and good at keeping the conversation flowing.

I could not say I liked him yet, but I definitely did not mind getting to know him better.

The dishes were halfway served, and we were chatting happily. Then, Tyler, mid-sentence, went rigid. He looked right past me and fell into a stunned silence.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused, and turned around.

At some point, Jessie had appeared behind me. His handsome face was clouded with a dark, brooding look.

Why was he here?

Tyler frowned. "Do you two know each other?"

"Oh, he—"

I felt awkward and was about to explain, but Jessie grabbed my hand intimately and answered before I could, "Yes. I'm her ex-boyfriend."

Just like that, he ruined my blind date.

I didn't even get to eat. I stormed out, furious, with Jessie following behind me.

"What's wrong? Didn't you text Morgan and ask him to come help you sabotage the blind date? I did you a huge favor. Shouldn't you thank me?"

Thank you, my ass! I was about to explode.

After countless blind dates, I finally met someone decent.

I suddenly stopped and turned around. Jessie was tall, and I almost crashed straight into his chest.

Annoyed, I snapped at him, "I asked Morgan to come! I didn't ask you."

Mom was terrified I would never get married, so she introduced me to every strange man imaginable. I had no choice but to use this trick.

Who knew I'd end up falling flat on my face like this?

"You can get out of there quicker with me here," he said, looking quite pleased with himself.

I was fuming. "Well, then you…"

I barely managed to swallow the string of curses at the tip of my tongue. In the end, I chose to just shut my mouth.

Tyler's darkened face flashed through my mind.

At this rate, I was going to be single forever.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. "I'm going home."

I threw out that line and turned to leave.

"You're not eating?" Jessie asked.

He instinctively tugged at the hem of my clothes, then paused for two seconds. Maybe realizing it was inappropriate, he let go.

My heart jumped, and I lied, saying, "I'm not hungry."

"But I am."

"Great. Then, go eat by yourself. Bye." I was still mad and didn't want to see him.

"Oh, so you're this heartless? You were the one who messaged me earlier asking for my help."

Oh. Was that a threat? Did he think I was the type to be threatened?

I instantly flipped the switch and put on my best award-winning smile. "Dr. Lloyd, where would you like to eat? How about that restaurant just now? The food is pretty good."

"Your period is irregular, and you want spicy food? Did you ignore everything I told you at the clinic?" His tone sharpened instantly.

Right. I almost forgot. The guy who ruined my blind date was also a gynecologist.

Okay. I was a little scared. My voice dropped by half. "I was just making a suggestion."

Such a bad temper.

In the end, we went to a healthy food place. Jessie was extremely considerate and personally ordered an entire table of leafy greens.

I wasn't a rabbit, though.

"Eat more. Didn't you say you were hungry?"

I seriously suspected he was messing with me. He could clearly tell that I didn't like vegetables, yet he filled my plate with greens until it was overflowing.

I ate in silence but didn't forget the real purpose of this meal.

"So, um…" I started, feeling a bit too embarrassed to be direct. "Don't tell my family about that thing, okay? Keep it confidential."

"What thing?" Jessie played dumb.

"That I'm a lifelong single." I lowered my voice so much my face turned red.

I knew I had completely lost my dignity in front of Jessie. He probably looked down on me already.

And sure enough, he smiled again.

He was actually pretty cold most of the time. The first time he smiled at me was when he found out I was a lifelong single. The second time was when Morgan called me a dating pro.

Now was the third time.

I was numb already. Whatever.

Then, I heard him speak calmly. "Do you think I'm that bored? Doctors have professional ethics."

I was shocked by his answer.

…

The moment I got home, Mom grabbed me and asked, "So? How did the blind date go?"

"Not great," I said irritably while taking off my shoes.

"Oh, really? But Tyler said you were pretty nice."

Of course he would say that to Mom. I didn't dare tell her the truth. I was afraid she would beat me on the spot.

I did, however, beat up Morgan. The next day, his head was wrapped in bandages.

When Mom asked, he only dared to say it was the latest trend.

It turned out that hurting a hot guy really did bring karma. I got into an accident riding my bicycle to work. I crashed into another commuter who was riding against traffic.

To commemorate that cursed moment, I made a rare post on social media and uploaded a photo of my scraped knees.

The caption read, "Traffic accident. Yes, on a bicycle."

The comments were filled with friends roasting me.

Annoyed, I tossed my phone aside. Then, a message came in.

It was Jessie.

"Where are you hurt?" he asked.

Oh, this guy was actually checking on me? Probably just doctor instincts.

I replied, "My knees."

"Send a clearer photo. Let me see how serious it is."

"Aren't you a gynecologist? Since when did you start covering this too?"