Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

"Dr. Cross!"

Mr. Jordan couldn't contain his excitement at the sight of the elderly man. Dr. Cross was the head honcho of the jury, wielding immense influence in the global medical scene. Calling him the top dog in medicine wouldn't be an overstatement.

Even the prestigious White family had to bend over backward to get him on board with the jury. Not only was he an honorary professor at the Medical Institute, but he was also a towering figure in the medical world.

"Dr. Cross, I apologize for interrupting. We were just about to leave."

Abbey's face tightened a bit when she spotted the elder, silently cursing Mr. Jordan. If he had just gone along with her without making a scene, they wouldn't have caught Dr. Cross's attention.

She quickly tried to steer Mr. Jordan away, but he had no intention of leaving. He sidestepped her touch and eagerly addressed Dr. Cross, "Dr. Cross, sorry to trouble you, but we've hit a snag with a paper from the semifinals. We're struggling to grade it accurately and could really use your expertise."

"Oh?"

Dr. Cross's curiosity was piqued. He'd crossed paths with Mr. Jordan a few times and knew of his impressive medical knowledge. If even he couldn't make heads or tails of this paper, it had to be something special.

"Let me have a look."

"Here you go!"

inwardly fretting but couldn't do much

Cross unfolded the paper and started with the questions. As he read, he was perplexed. When did the medical competition become this tough? Such tricky and offbeat questions? Judging by past participants, it seemed unlikely anyone could nail these answers. As he pondered,

on a sec, I'm taking this inside for everyone

hurrying back into the room with the paper

...

at the competition venue,

been ages. The jury should've decided by

Is she doing this on purpose? Does she

worked up? For all we know, our scores

were clearly miffed at Flora; excellence often stirs up

emotions, a commotion at the entrance grabbed their attention. A group was making a grand entrance, led by a man with gray hair and a lean frame. His suit jacket seemed

"It's Dr. Cross!"

floored at

of the blue? And the group trailing him, each one a heavyweight in the medical world-folks you'd be fucky to even see. Why were they all

be... because

"Who is Flora?"

they were wondering, Dr. Cross approached the Austenberg team with a