Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 262

A woman suddenly collided into Dr. Brice, causing his phone to tumble onto the ground. Dr. Brice had used this phone for many years, and he frowned as he looked down at the woman sprawled on the pavement.

“Are you alright?” he asked politely, extending a hand to help her up.

The woman, however, glared at him. “Don’t you look where you’re going?”

If his memory served him right, it was she who had charged into him. But he chose not to argue, instead bending down to pick up his cracked phone.

“I’m sorry,” he said gently.

Seeing that she had no inclination to accept his help, he turned to leave.

“Wait!” The woman called from behind him.

Dr. Brice turned back to look at the woman. She was beautiful, her long hair reaching her waist. There was something familiar about her.

He sifted his memories, then asked, “Have we met somewhere before?”

At this, Annalise Hansen broke into laughter as she replied, “Sir, are you still using pickup lines from the 70s?”

She attempted to stand, but a sharp pain shot through her ankle, causing her to fall back onto the ground. Luckily, Dr. Brice was quick to react, catching her before she could hit the ground again.

Instead of a thank you, however, what greeted him was a shriek, followed by a resounding slap.

The force of the slap nearly knocked him off balance.

It was only when the woman glared at his hand did he realize that he had caught her right at her chest.

He suddenly pushed Annalise away, causing an unprepared Annalise to fall on the ground once again and sat on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Brice apologized, looking at Annalise who was now sitting on the ground.

Rubbing her bottom, she queried, “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“What?”

“Never mind. Help me up! I think I sprained my ankle…” Annalise extended her hand toward Dr. Brice.”

He helped her up, only to hear her ask, “Do you always harass women like this?”

Ignoring Annalise’s sarcasm, Dr. Brice helped her onto a nearby bench. He then crouched down to examine her ankle.

As she was wearing a skirt, Annalise instinctively drew back her leg.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, “I’m calling the police!”

“You broke my phone, otherwise I could have called the police for you,” Dr. Brice replied, lifting her ankle to remove her high heels and check her injury.

Before she could protest, Dr. Brice pressed firmly on her injured ankle. Her words turned into a sharp cry of pain. “What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?”

She raised her hand to hit him.

He caught her hand and told her, “You have a sprained ankle, but thankfully, it’s not dislocated and there are no fractures. You’re lucky.”

“How do you know it’s just a sprain? How can you be sure it’s not dislocated or broken? You pressed too hard, you might have injured it even more! You can’t just run away, I’m taking you to the police!”

“The police?” Dr. Brice turned and laughed, then scooped her up into his arms.

“Where are you taking me?” Annalise asked, gripping his shoulders in surprise.

At this point, she looked around and noticed that there was no one at the parking door. So she immediately changed the subject and said to Dr. Brice, “I see that you dress well, not like a jerk. Where are you taking me?”

To the police station,” Dr. Brice replied. He had never met a woman quite as challenging as Annalise. She had charged into him, destroyed his phone, and now, she was threatening to take him to the police.

He put her in the passenger seat of his car and got into the driver’s seat. As Annalise was unbuckling her seatbelt, preparing to leave, he started the car, preventing her from leaving.

“What, don’t want to go to the police?” He asked her defiantly as he started the car and prevented her from leaving.

Annalise had heard from Dylan that Adeline was coming for a blind date and Dylan accidentally told Elliot about watch the fun, but she hadn’t expected to run into this situation.

She turned to look at Dr. Brice, then began to analyze the him based on the car he was driving, and how might be a con artist?”

“What?” Dr. Brice turned to her. “How do you know I’m a con artist?”

Over the years she had known Dylan, she had learned to analyze people, just like him.

Out of curiosity, she had decided to

was dressed, and finally said uncertainly, “You

She said, “Firstly, based on your clothing. You’re wearing a high-end striped wool suit worth $20,000 and your matte calfskin shoes aren’t cheap either. However, you don’t have any jewelry, no status- showing watch, no ring, no necklace, no tattoos. Yet, you’re driving a car that’s only worth $30,000. I guess you’ve just come from an important event, dressed neatly, maybe out of vanity or to deceive others. You’re not wearing a watch, perhaps because you don’t have a good-looking one and don’t want people to find out you’re wearing a fake. But this suit, it’s of decent taste.”

Listening to her analysis, Dr. Brice gave her a look. “You really think too much.”

In the end, Dr. Brice didn’t take Annalise to the police station. He took her straight to Tranquil Care Hospital instead.

Even though Dr. Brice was a newcomer to Tranquil Care Hospital, his reputation was already legendary, and virtually everyone in the hospital was familiar with his name. Considering his recruitment was personally overseen by the hospital director, it was no surprise that Brice was a well- known figure in the medical community.

When staff saw Dr. Brice, dressed immaculately and accompanied by an attractive woman, they were taken aback.

Dr. Brice introduced Annalise to the surgical department. Upon meeting Dr. Brice, the head of surgery, Dr. Anstice, asked with a smile, “Is this your girlfriend, Brice?”

Before Dr. Brice could deny it, Annalise turned to him, astonished, and asked, “You’re a doctor?”

“No, I’m a professional con artist.” Dr. Brice gave a playful tap on Dr. Anstice’s shoulder, “Could you lend a hand, Anstice? I found this patient on the street.” She turned to Dr. Brice and said, “I’m perfectly fine, I don’t need to see a doctor!”

“Your name.”

“Annalise.”

“Your age.” Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“Eighteen.”

Dr. Brice repeated, “Your age.”

Annalise licked her lips slightly and answered somewhat guiltily, “Eighteen.”

Dr. Anstice couldn’t help but laugh at this, while Dr. Brice added, “Ms. Annalise, you look incredibly young.”

“Your…”

“Age.”

Π

“Dr. Anstice, could you handle this for me while I arrange a psychiatric appointment for her?” Dr. Brice said, preparing to leave.

Annalise quickly jumped up and caught Dr. Brice by his arm, “Twenty-nine!”

“Oh, so you’re a year older than Dr. Brice! Ms. Annalise, you’ve aged very well, it’s virtually unnoticeable.” Dr. Anstice commented with a chuckle. Annalise turned her head and glared at Dr. Anstice, and before she could say anything, the phone rang. Answering the call, she greeted, “Julie.” “I just heard you were at the hotel. Why didn’t I see you? Adeline and Elliot have already left.” Julie’s voice came through the phone.

“I’ve had quite the unlucky day, I’ve ended up at Tranquil Care Hospital…”

“The hospital? What happened?” Julie asked with concern.

“Nothing serious, just twisted my ankle.”

“Are you alone there?” Julie probed.

“Yes.” Annalise confirmed.

“Wait for me at the hospital, I’ll come to pick you up.” With that, Julie grabbed her purse and her bodyguard, Bolt, and headed out the door.,

She could leave the house, but she must have Bolt with her at all times, so Julie had a beefy bodyguard on her side

Dr. Brice on the other end of the line frowned when he heard Julie’s name,

“Julie, the wife of Simpo Co’s CEO?”

“You’re a con artist who knows about current events! You remember the names of the wealthy people to cheat them, right?” Annalise was somewhat dissatisfied with Dr. Brice.

Dr. Brice didn’t argue with Annalise, just asked again, “What did you say your name is?” “Annalise! Got it?”

“Annalise…” Dr. Brice mumbled the name again, then took out his phone and searching her name. He saw the profile on the web page, then looked at Annalise again, it is so, she was a well-known ceramist, young artist, Annalise. He seemed to have accidentally read in the newspaper, but he didn’t think that she and Julie knew each other, and that she had some love affairs before. The media had once sensationalized a love triangle involving Julie, Annalise, and Kieran. They even dug up their past from their university days. Some even claimed that Bertha Stewart had meddled in the relationship between Julie and Kieran, or that Julie had come between Annalise and Kieran.

Upon seeing the news article that Dr. Brice was reading, Annalise scoffed, “Only fools would believe this!!”

He replied to the news article, “Kieran made the right choice. He loves Julie, and that’s the correct decision.”

Annalise pointed to Dr. Brice and said, “You…”

Dr. Brice turned and went out to help her make a doctor’s appointment, leaving an indifferent back. Meanwhile, Bolt drove Julie to the Tranquil Care Hospital. As he waited for the traffic light to turn green, he was about to drive off…

“Wait!” Julie suddenly grabbed Bolt’s arm.