Chapter 1 - The Witch Doctor

"That Xander Yang! How dare he build his hospital in that area! How did he even manage to get that land from the old lady, anyway?" Yera barked at her secretary.

She had been dying to get that piece of land. But the old lady who owned it had been refusing to sell, even though she had approached her with multiple lucrative offers.

The Yangs were the owners of the Yang Global Hospitals. They were also her family's longtime rival. She had just found out that Old Master Yang, the Chairman of the Yang Global Hospitals, had recently appointed his firstborn son to be the new Chief Executive Officer of their group.

She had never met Xander Yang in person, but she had already heard so much about him. He was quite a well-known figure to most; not for his achievements in the healthcare industry, but more for his stellar reputation of being a womanizer.

As the rumors said, he was known to swap his girlfriends as often as he changed his socks.

"Don't tell me he has already added that old lady to his list of conquest!?" Yera sneered with a tightness in her voice.

Shan gulped. She was hesitant to say something or anything at all because her boss really had a bad temper. She might have looked youthful and innocent on the outside because of her pretty baby-faced look, but behind that facade, she was actually a scary monster.

Yes, she was Yera Han, who was widely known as the 'Witch Doctor' who had saved hundreds of lives. They called her by that nickname because it was said that she could conjure magic to heal any patients whom she was in charge of.

But those who had interacted with her directly had drawn their own conclusion. They firmly believed that the nickname was created because of her being a total witch to everyone around her.

Yera looked at Shan impatiently. She was obviously waiting for an answer from her secretary.

Shan cleared her throat and said, "Ma'am, from what I heard, Mr. Xander Yang is someone with a silver-tongue. He can be quite the sweet-talker. The old lady was moved by his way of words, and hence was easily persuaded."

Yera scowled at Shan as her face reddened. She fumed, "So, are you saying that I don't know how to talk nicely? Or that I'm difficult to talk to? Not even good with words? That's why I have failed to convince the old lady?"

"No, no, Ma'am, that's not what I meant at all. What I meant was that Xander Yang is someone with a lot of charm. He's smooth-spoken and glib... uses a lot of flowery words, and…" Shan quickly replied, trying to placate her boss, but she decided to pause because the more she listened to her own words, the more Shan thought that she was digging her own grave.

"So, I lack the charm? Is that so, Shan? And do I use harsh-sounding words because I don't know how to use flowery words?" Yera scoffed as she squinted an eye accusingly.

She wanted that piece of land so desperately and found it hard to accept that she had lost the opportunity to obtain it, not from just anyone, but from their very own rival.

Shan sighed silently. She didn't dare tell her boss that she was just too rigid. The way she talked had always been without emotion and matter-of-factly, like a robot. Miss Yera rarely smiled and had never bothered to put on the pretense of being subtle at all. She always preferred to be frank and to the point. It was no wonder that she had failed to get the old lady's approval.

From what she had gathered, Shan knew that Xander Yang did not start his negotiation with the old lady by talking about business straight away. He had waited patiently until he had succeeded in building a good rapport with her before he even dared raise the real subject of interest. In the end, he had won the old lady's partiality, and she was more than willing to sell him the land.

"Get out, Shan, before I reduce your bonus for this year," said Yera in a menacing voice.

Yera didn't need any more explanations from Shan to know why she had failed the negotiation. She could already tell, by merely looking at Shan's reaction.

Her mobile phone rang; it was Lyndon, her fiance.

She drew out a long breath. Lyndon was the fiance whom her family had selected for her. Their families had been close friends for many years, and they had arranged for their children to marry each other.

He wanted to meet her to celebrate her birthday together. He knew that she hated parties and would prefer to celebrate it alone with him.

......

Yera and Lyndon enjoyed their exclusive dinner in his yacht together. They had been engaged for almost one year but had not shared any intimate moments yet.

It was because she had never wanted to do it. Whenever Lyndon would take the initiative, she would always refuse him. She was grateful that he had still been understanding and respectful of her wish.

It was already late, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. Yera was standing by the railing of the yacht when she felt Lyndon hug her from behind.

"Aren't you cold?" Lyndon asked as he kissed her bare shoulder before covering it with his blazer.

"A little bit… By the way, did you get a new cook?" She whispered.

"Yeah, the usual one is currently on leave… Why? Didn't you like the food?" Lyndon asked.

"I liked it. I just noticed that it was not your usual cook." Yera answered, and she heard Lyndon chuckle.

"What?" She asked, slightly confused.

"Nothing, I just find it amusing that you've managed to take notice of how different the food tasted, but you failed to see the romantic ambiance of the room," Lyndon replied.

Yera detected a hint of sullen moodiness in his voice, so she turned around to face him and smiled.

But she felt dizzy all of a sudden and the last thing she knew was that she and Lyndon had both fallen onto the ground. Everything went pitch-black in an instant, but she was still in her senses.

"They blacked out already. Hurry and take the woman!" a man's voice said.

"What should we do about the man?" asked another voice.

"Leave him here. We will only take the woman as instructed, so hurry," the man answered.

Yera felt her body being lifted off the ground. She wanted to scream and struggle, but she couldn't move at all.

'Is this my end? No, it can't be! I'm still young, and I don't want to die like this!'

That was the last thing that she had thought to herself before the drug in her body had completely taken over and made her slump into unconsciousness.

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