Love Me The Way I Did

Chapter 23

Margaret was about to clarify as the young girl seemed to have misunderstood things, but she didn’t give Margaret a chance to speak and rambled on, “Miss, you shouldn’t be too particular when it comes to money matters with your boyfriend. Let him splurge on you occasionally; otherwise, he’ll think he’s not important to you.” She spoke as if she was experienced,

Margaret carefully regarded the girl, who was dressed in a puffy pink skirt, her medium length hair tied into a crooked braid, Her supple skin gave off youthful energy, making her look around 16 to 17 years old.

‘Am I being lectured by a girl who’s a decade older than me?’ Margaret mused.

While she still couldn’t wrap her head around it, Clifford’s mood had lifted considerably. He was satisfied as long as someone sided with him.

“Let’s go home and prepare dinner, Clifford said gently. However, his statement left even more room for others’ imagination. It would be futile for Margaret to explain herself as everyone was already convinced that they were a pair.

“Miss, remember to be more gentle with your boyfriend!” the young girl even shouted at Margaret as they were leaving.

Margaret was at a loss, and her cheeks couldn’t help reddening. She murmured, “We are not…” Alas, her soft retort had long since been drowned out by the music and noise.

Upon getting into the car, Clifford ventured, “We are quite well-matched in others’ eyes.” He tried his best to keep his eyes elsewhere instead of Margaret’s expression, pretending as if it were but a passing joke.

Only he knew how rapidly his heartbeat was, so much that it was threatening to leap out of his ribcage.

“Oh, stop it! What does a young girl know?” Margaret replied evasively and turned on the music in the car. She had inexplicably felt that the atmosphere between them had turned somewhat strange. Thus, she needed to shift her focus elsewhere and chose to do so by listening to

music. It’d be best for them both to forget what had happened earlier.

Back in Margaret’s home, Clifford seemed more like the host than her as he busied himself in the kitchen. The only thing required of her was to stand at the kitchen doorway, enjoying some snacks while observing him bustling around.

It was like a gender reversal Clifford’s superb cooking skills were presented through his deft movements. He was clearly more capable than her, a woman who only knew how to make omelets and beef stew.

“Don’t tell me your proficiency in handling the knife was trained from using a scalpel during surgeries?” Margaret inquired out of curiosity. It felt somewhat unnerving to picture such a scene in her mind.

“What do you think?” Clifford responded. While he meant to deny it, he enjoyed poking fun at Margaret. A scalpel might be sharp enough to – dissect the human body, but it was far too small to cut vegetables.

Margaret said, “My heart goes out to your patients. To think that the doctor they place their complete trust in regards them as nothing more than vegetables.” She sighed and grabbed another cucumber slice to munch on.

Her irritation in the morning had vanished, proving that food was indeed the most effective cure when one was in a foul mood.

Clifford smiled and said, “You should walt outside. I’ll start cooking. You don’t want the oil fumes to damage your skin.”

Margaret realized then that Clifford’s good memory wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as he was taunting her based on a past incident. ‘That’s foul play!’ she huffed internally.

With a harrumph, she turned away and strode to the living room. ‘What an ingrate! I kept him company by chatting with him in case he’d feel lonely in the kitchen, Alas, he took advantage of the knowledge he had of me to mock me. That man is seriously getting on my nerves these days, she thought.

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Chapter 23

Clifford was rather efficient and managed to whip out a scrumptious spread in half an hour. A wide range of colors were present in his spread.

Margaret felt as if her internal organs had been revived as she inhaled deeply, her entire being screaming of hunger.

“Clifford, being a doctor is such a waste of your talent. You should open a restaurant instead. I’m sure it’s going to be a hit,” Margaret remarked, preparing to dig in. She didn’t forget to compliment the chef beforehand, thereby ensuring she’d be frequently supplied with such delicious food in the future.

“Hurry up and eat. It won’t taste good once it has cooled down,” Clifford urged. It was the first time he’d put so much effort into cooking. Back then, he’d picked up cooking simply because he’d gotten tired of eating outside and didn’t want to starve to death. However, he cooked for Margaret to see the sheer look of bliss in her smile.

Margaret tasted every mouth-watering dish, chewing carefully. Her brows lifted progressively, and the speed at which she ate increased as well. Despite that, she remembered giving Clifford a thumbs up.

On the other hand, Clifford barely ate and mainly focused on feeding her. Just then, after considering it, he voiced out a slightly unreasonable remark, “I can come over to make dinner for you after work if you like.”

Margaret immediately shook her head to refuse. She had sprung to action so quickly that she ended up choking on her food, causing her to

cough violently.

Clifford handed her a glass of water and patted her on the back, joking with a tinge of sadness, “Am I that scary?”

Margaret drank the water, calming herself before saying. “It’s not that. I don’t want to trouble you. Besides, it’ll negatively impact your for a girlfriend. You should settle down now that you’re back, Clifford.”

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Those who had experienced life on the battlefield exceptionally cherished a life of stability. After returning to daily life, several of Margaret’s colleagues had swiftly gotten married and had children. They all savored the simple happiness of living a secure and ordinary life.

Margaret hoped Clifford could live like that so her guilt could be somewhat relieved.

“We’ll discuss it later,” Clifford replied, brushing her off. He had no idea whether to blame Margaret’s denseness in romance or himself for being too subtle in his intentions.

He believed that his hints had been obvious enough. Alas, he felt frustrated at Margaret for merely treating him like a benefactor and friend. Thus, he started to consider changing his pursuit strategy, or he might end up a single old man at this rate.

Clifford took a sip of iced water to compose himself, deliberating whether or not to confess his feelings directly or build up a romantic atmosphere before doing so.

Unfortunately, the heavens didn’t seem to be on his side as he received a call from the hospital then.

“Maggie, I have to go now as something came up at the hospital,” he stated.

A critically ill patient had been admitted to the emergency room. Since the doctors on duty were at their wit’s end, they had to call Clifford,

The caller sounded embarrassed during the call as they’d witnessed how delighted Clifford looked when he clocked out. He was clearly going on a date; they wouldn’t have spoiled his fun if they weren’t desperate.

Clifford understood that as well. Despite his frustration, he responded to his duty by pushing aside matters of romance for another day.

“You’d best be on your way,” Margaret said/She didn’t seem at all reluctant for him to leave and instead hurried him. After all, each second counted in a life-or-death situation.

He was tongue-tied at Margaret’s easy acceptance of his departure and became even more upset.

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13:06 Wed, 26 Jun

Chapter 23

“I’m leaving. Call me if you need anything” Clifford said as he picked up his phone and car keys. If one day the were willing to call me for help when in trouble, would it mean that I’m becoming more important in her heart?’ he wondered.

“Okay.” Margaret replied quickly. Nevertheless, they both knew there would be no such call.

Clifford smiled helplessly and turned around to leave. There was someone waiting for him to save. Even though plenty of unsaid words hung between them, he had no choice but to hold them in for now. Certain things would forever take precedence from the moment he became a

doctor

Margaret sat before the dining table and felt relieved after sending him off.

She was more sensitive than her peers after living for so many years and experiencing things that were seemingly inconceivable in everyday life. Thus, she couldn’t possibly have failed to notice Clifford’s hints.

However, Margaret didn’t think herself capable of falling in love anymore. What she wanted more was to find a suitable companion in the future. Love wasn’t necessary in a relationship as long as they supported one another for as long as they lived. Such a marriage was unfair to Clifford, who deserved a woman who loved him.

“What a pity!” Margaret remarked before resuming to cat while sighing. Clifford’s culinary skills would make a woman gain weight from bliss. She would have loved to be with him on a whim if not for having too many concerns and a desire not to stay in one place.

However, one should be ambitious and not succumb to delicacies. Therefore, it remained a fleeting fantasy she immediately gave up on due

to its unreliability.

Less than three minutes after Clifford left, the doorbell of Margaret’s house rang again. She assumed that Clifford had forgotten something and returned to retrieve it. Fearing delaying his work, she opened the door to ask before checking who it was, “Did you forget something?”

Gideon’s eyes gleamed lethally as he asked, “Was someone here?” While it didn’t matter if a woman had visited Margaret since she should have her social life, he’d have to teach her a lesson if the visitor were the particularly annoying man.

“Is Ms. Lambert busy these days?” Margaret retorted as she didn’t want to answer Gideon’s question. Her personal life was none of his business, and he did not need to know who had visited her home.

If she’d known it was him, she wouldn’t have opened the door. She simply wanted to stay away from him as far as possible.

“Why did you bring her up? As far as I can recall, you two aren’t on good terms,” Gideon said, subconsciously refusing to mention Roxanne in front of Margaret.

He knew in addition to

to how th

the three of them were entangled, Roxanne bothered her also because of the humiliation she suffered during the years she lived in the Lambert residence.

However, Roxanne was still useful to Gideon. As such, he couldn’t get rid of her yet and could only attempt to keep her away from Margaret as much as possible.

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