A Love Trap

After considering what Ashley had been going through recently, Ellie decided to take a few days off to keep her company.

The next morning, she got up early and without waking Ashley up, cooked rice porridge and went out.

To awaken her senses, she did a quick jog around the vicinity. The smell and feel of a new day refreshed her and her spirits. Before going home, she took a detour to her favorite shop and bought two bottles of soy milk and several steamed stuffed buns and deep-fried dough sticks. 'Ashley's favorite food, ' she thought to herself, highly amused at her best friend's taste in food. With several plastic bags in hand, she started towards their house.

Upon reaching the house, Ellie took a deep breath. She had hoped that by the time she got back, Ashley would already be awake. That wasn't the case though. With a resigned expression, she shook her head and walked into her best friend's bedroom.

"Get up, Ash," Ellie whispered excitedly while perching on the edge of the bed. "I made your favorite porridge," she continued, nudging the sleeping girl. The wonderful smell of the food filled the air.

"Ah," Ashley replied in a nasal voice. A quilt was tightly wrapped around her and it was clear that she still wasn't fully awake.

Seeing that, Ellie couldn't help but be amused. 'Why did she suddenly act so childish after last night?' she wondered.

As amused as she was, though, Ellie wanted Ashley to get up already. The porridge was getting cold. She nudged Ashley several more times but she wasn't responding. It seemed like she didn't want to move at all. Feeling that something was wrong with her friend, she lifted the quilt off of her.

"Ashley, your face is so red!" Ellie exclaimed, quickly feeling her friend's forehead. "And you're on fire! What's happening!"

Panic immediately set in. 'How am I gonna take her to the hospital alone?' Ellie anxiously thought.

For as long as she could remember, she and Ashley- and only she and Ashley - had stuck together. As a result, they didn't have any other friends. Ellie was now at a loss and she had no idea what to do.

Biting her lip, she pulled out her phone and dialed Raymond's number.

The other end of the line picked up the phone quickly. "Raymond, I need you to come over quickly. Ash is very sick!" she said in one breath, having worry all over her face.

Several moments had passed but the guy on the other end of the line still hadn't responded. Ellie was starting to think that she might have called the wrong person. With a skeptical look, she checked the screen and saw that she was indeed calling Raymond's number.

'What the hell, ' Ellie thought. 'What's wrong with this guy?' The panic that she was feeling quickly turned into rage. As she was about to hang up the phone, she heard a woman's sneer from the other end of the line. In a gloating tone, the woman quipped, "What? Ashley is sick?" The woman let out a sinister laugh. "Then you should take her to the doctor. Why did you call Raymond? He isn't a doctor!"

Ellie never expected that Lena would answer the phone. After immediately detecting the offensive, sarcastic tone in her voice, Ellie regretted her decision and became embarrassed. After a long pause, she found her voice back. In a weak and shaky voice, she apologized, "I'm so sorry. Bye!"

"Oh, hold on," Lena said.

yeah?" Ellie responded, holding on to her phone.

Raymond again. Also, please stay away from him. He just got engaged. If you continue doing

good to come out of Lena's mouth, Ellie was still rendered speechless. 'Does she think I wanted to

Ellie couldn't do anything else but ball her hand into a fist. The annoyance that she was

was a knock

a stunned look, she surveyed

Miss Mu is home?" the man, Johnny Cheng, inquired with a

and asked, "What's your business

boss wanted to

sideways to make way for the man

tall. The authority he was exuding was breath-taking. 'Maybe it's because of his three-piece black tailored

could fascinate women of all ages. People who made eye contact with him would definitely get

studied him up and down quickly and concluded that he wasn't a simple person. There was a certain air of class and nobility in him.

did Ash make acquaintance with

Ashley is ill in bed, she is in no mood to deal with these two strangers.' In her mind, Ellie had already planned how

an alert look. She ran towards the man in an attempt to stop him, but Johnny Cheng stood in front of her and blocked

Ellie. "My boss will not hurt Miss Mu!" Reassuring as his words might be, the

girl asked us to leave but he broke in against her will, ' he

leave his work behind and investigate a woman. After learning the woman's address, he reported it to his boss. Andrew then

ill!" Ellie shouted anxiously. With all her might, she pushed Johnny Cheng aside and ran quickly to Ashley's bedroom.

'What?

got sick?' Johnny

Oh, that's not good.'

let the girl

red face, Andrew quickly realized that something was wrong with her. He bit

you help me take her to the hospital?" Ellie replied

his chest. "Get the car and

curiosity, he stole a glance at the girl in Andrew's arms. 'She's beautiful, ' he thought, somehow understanding why Andrew was acting the way he was. As his boss strode out of the room, he hurried out of the house

and purse

as she got into the car, they sped towards the