When She Walks Away (Teresa) novel Chapter 239

Chapter 239

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Teresa knew she had every reason to be mad at Troy for swapping out her clothes, but she simply chose not to let it bother her.

She kept her tone calm as she said, “If you’ve got things to take care of, go ahead. Hector’s here with me–I’ll be fine.”

Troy, however, clearly wasn’t convinced, and he didn’t seem about to leave.

He said firmly, “My job is to keep you safe.”

Teresa hesitated, caught off guard by his words–she genuinely didn’t know what to say to that.

Hector, seeing how awkward Teresa felt, gave her shoulder a reassuring pat and said with an easy smile, “Come on, let’s head inside.”

Teresa didn’t bother saying anything else to Troy–she just walked after Hector and slipped into the lounge with him.

As Teresa opened the door to the lounge, she was taken aback by how many people had already arrived.

Scanning the room, she actually recognized quite a few faces- -even if none of them knew who she was.

Really, it was all one–way; Teresa knew them, but they had no clue about her.

Most of the guests were well–known names in the medical world–the kind of people everyone talked about.

Besides those famous figures, Charles and Naomi were also here.

As soon as the door swung open, most of the guests stood up and warmly greeted Hector.

Some called out his name, while others greeted him as “Director Reed.”

Not long ago, Hector had been promoted.

He was on track for a stellar career anyway, promotion or not.

Not only had Hector studied abroad with an impressive academic background, he also held patents related to primary brain tumors.

He was the kind of guy who commanded respect wherever he went.

In the medical world, he was as close to the ceiling as you could get a true top dog.

Unlike the dead silence that met Charles and Naomi just now, the whole room lit up the second Hector showed his face.

that

In this circle, Hector was basically a living legend–everyone knew his name

Finally, Naomi got to her feet and greeted him warmly, calling out, “Senior Hector

Hector barely spared her a glance, his smile faint and distant.

After exchanging greetings with everyone, Hector guided Teresa to take a seat beside him.

There was a big round table in the lounge–one of those huge ones that could seat about twenty people.

When Hector picked where to sit, he deliberately chose a spot well away from Charles and Naomi.

Once they were settled, Teresa glanced around the room and noticed that no one seemed particularly curious about who she was.

That was fine by her—she didn’t have much of a resume to speak of, and in the medical world, she was basically a nobody.

Among these people, her background wasn’t even worth mentioning

Finally. Teresa let her gaze drift across the table to Charles. He seemed utterly absorbed in Naomi, murmuring something to her with his head bowed. Whatever he said must’ve been funny, because the two of them broke into quiet laughter

As the laughter faded, Charles glanced up–alinust without thinking and his eyes met Teresa’s for a split second across the room, neither of them quite expecting the brief connection.

Bu Teresa quickly dropped her gaze, pretending not to notice.

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Chapter 239

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Charles, though, didn’t move his eyes away. Instead, he watched her closely, almost scrutinizing, as if he could spot any traces of injury on her face or the skin she’d left uncovered.

But thanks to Teresa’s careful makeup, there wasn’t a bruise or mark in sight for him to find–no matter how hard he looked.

In that instant, Charles felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Whew… good, he thought to himself. ‘She’s not nearly as messed up as I feared.’

Before long. Cedric Judd showed up.

The moment he stepped in, the energy in the room shot up, and people got to their feet.

Calls of “Professor Judd!” echoed warmly around the table.

Except for Charles and Teresa, everyone here was actually one of Cedric’s students.

Cedric said a couple of words to kick things off, checked in on everyone like he always did, and then waved for them to sit down and start eating.

The round table was huge, and with all the dishes spread far apart, Hector–worried Teresa might have trouble reaching them- carefully picked out several dishes for her and placed them on her plate.

Teresa glanced at her glass, surprised to see it filled with hard liquor.

Still, she kept quiet and didn’t say a word about it.

Being a doctor herself, Teresa knew better than anyone how risky it was to drink–especially after going through a second D&C.

After everyone clinked glasses, Cedric grinned and said, “I’m really honored you all came tonight–let me knock this back first to show my respect!”

With that, he tipped back the tiny glass of liquor and downed it in one go.

Everybody here was a veteran in the medical world–social drinking was nothing new to them, so knocking back a shot wasn’t even a challenge.

Plus, with Cedric taking the lead, who would dare pass on their own drink?

Watching everyone else tilt their heads back and finish their drinks without hesitation, Teresa’s nerves started to get the better of her- she felt more and more anxious by the second.

Charles downed his own glass, but when he glanced over and saw Teresa still holding hers untouched, realization flashed across his eyes -So she’s got the hard stuff too, he thought, concern flickering on his face.

But now, with only this tiny shot in front of her, she hadn’t even taken a sip.

Everyone else had already finished their drinks and sat back down, but Teresa was still standing there, glass in hand, unsure what to do

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She was no stranger to all those unspoken rules of drinking at these gatherings.

With Cedric and everyone else already throwing back their shots, if she didn’t do the same, it’d come off as disrespectful.

So tonight, like it or not, she didn’t really have a choice but to drink.

Teresa squeezed her eyes shut, figuring screw it—she’d just toss the shot back and worry about the consequences later.

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But just then, Charles, who was sitting across from her, suddenly spoke up. “Professor Judd, she’s a woman–if she can’t handle the liquor, let’s just let her off this time.”

Cedric glanced over at Teresa, but before he could respond, Charles chimed in, “If she really can’t, I’ll drink it for her.”

As Charles started to pour himself a drink, clearly intent on stepping in, Teresa opened her mouth, about to insist she could handle it herself. But before she could say a word, Hector reached over, smoothly took the glass right from her hand, and turned to Professor Judd with a relaxed smile. “Professor Judd, Teresa’s not feeling well tonight. Let me drink this on her behalf.”

Saying that, Hector drained Teresa’s glass in one go.

Cedric just laughed it off, waving a hand. “Ah, it’s nothing what matters most is everyone enjoying themselves tonight.”

Still, if no one had come to bail Teresa out, Cedric might’ve marked her down in his mind–these kinds of gatherings were all about reading the room.

Once that little incident passed, everyone started raising their glasses to toast Professor Judd, one after another.

With Cedric toasted, people immediately moved on to clinking glasses with each other–one round after another, the room buzzing with friendly cheers.

Since Charles wasn’t really part of this crowd, he didn’t go around making any toasts himself. The only time he’d even lift his glass was when Naomi asked him to join her for one.

After Naomi finished her toast to Professor Judd, she started making her way around the table, offering a toast to each person in turn.

After toasting a few others, Naomi came over to Hector.

The chatter in the lounge faded as Naomi raised her glass to Hector.

Anyone who was familiar with Hector knew that, back in the day, he and Naomi were practically inseparable.

But then, they suddenly dropped off the radar–no more news about the two of them together.

Now that they were face–to–face again tonight, everyone in the room couldn’t help but get a little nosy, secretly hoping for some drama.

At this very moment, as Naomi toasted Hector, nobody said a word, but it was obvious–the whole room was quietly glued to the same unfolding scene, waiting to see what would happen next.

When they crossed paths again tonight, both Hector and Naomi had someone new by their side–a totally different scene from the old days.

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