Love's Redemption



"Hey, pretty lady, want to move this party somewhere else?"

In the center of the dance floor, a man leaned closer to Lena with an inviting smile. Lena tossed her rarely unbound long hair over her shoulder, swaying slightly as she replied, "To your bed, perhaps?"

"If that's what you want," the man said with a grin, moving even closer.

Lena pressed a single finger to his forehead, stopping him in his tracks. "I think my bed would be more suitable."

"Your bed works too," the man smirked.

Leaning in closer, Lena gave a sly smile. "My bed happens to be a surgical table.

The man laughed, assuming she was teasing him. "So, what's on the menu? Heart or liver?"

"Heart and liver," Lena replied smoothly, her finger pressing precisely on the corresponding points on his body.

The man hesitated, clearly startled by her precision, but before he could react, Lena pushed him away with a flick of her finger. She had danced enough and left the floor, catching her breath.

From the crowd below, onlookers whistled and cheered, and a few men even reached out to help her down, eager for a chance to interact. Lena scoffed lightly and ignored them, instead extending her arms toward Aaron, who sat calmly watching her from his seat.

“Uncle, carry me!" she hollered loudly, drawing more whistles from the audience.

Aaron unfolded his crossed legs, stood up, and strode to the stage with confident steps.

He extended his hand, and Lena jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Uncle, I'm so tired," she murmured.

With his hands supporting her, Aaron carried her effortlessly out of the bar amidst the crowd's cheers and wolf whistles. “Had a little too much to drink?"

Lena rarely let herself go like this. The last time she had asked him to carry her like this was when she was a child. Her mother had put a stop to it with a sharp reminder: "Lena, you're a grown girl now. Stop clinging to your uncle like that."

From that day forward, Lena stopped asking for piggyback rides or for him to carry her in

his arms.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Uncle, I'm so happy today," Lena murmured, resting her head against his neck. “I feel

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like today, for once, I finally got to be myself."

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Aaron carried her back to their table, grabbed her jacket, and wrapped her up in his own coat before taking her outside to the car. He gently set her down on the hood of his luxury SUV, the cool night wind blowing through her hair.

He reached up to smooth her messy strands out of her face. "Why do you feel like you haven't been yourself?”

"I haven't," Lena said, shaking her head. "I don't even know who I am anymore. To my colleagues, I'm the ace gynecologist. To my patients, I'm a guardian angel. To strangers, I'm an aloof beauty. To my parents, I'm an immature child. And to Nate..." She paused, her smile tinged with bitterness. "To Nate, I'm just the unreasonable ex-girlfriend who couldn't understand him."

She laughed softly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "But I'm not any of those things. I hate being the Lena they see. I'm just me. I can't even remember the last time I sang or danced. I've been so shaped by everyone else's expectations that I've forgotten who I really am." Léna tried to stand, but her legs were wobbly, and after several failed attempts, she slapped the hood of the car in frustration. "Even the car is bullying me!" Aaron helped her up, and with renewed energy, she climbed back onto the hood, treating the expensive car as her personal stage.

The luxury SUV, worth hundreds of thousands, probably never expected to be used this way, but Lena began dancing on it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She was unsteady, nearly falling several times, but Aaron stood close with his arms raised, ready to catch her at any moment.

As she danced, she started singing, though the tune was wildly off-key and incomprehensible. It didn't matter. Lena was lost in her own world, her joy spilling over into the quiet night.

Passersby stopped to watch. Some admired her uninhibited energy; others seemed more concerned for the car she was dancing on.

But Aaron's attention never wavered from the girl dancing atop the vehicle.

When Lena finally tired out, she plopped down on the car's roof and patted the space next to her. “Uncle, come up here! The view is amazing from here!"

Aaron chuckled. Compared to the view from her hospital's rooftop or the balcony of her apartment, this was nothing. But if Lena said it was beautiful, then it was.

"You enjoy it. I'll stay down here and watch," he replied. He wasn't about to risk her falling, staying nearby to catch her if she slipped.

For Aaron, her happiness was the only view that mattered.

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