Dear Soldier, Put Your Gun Down
Chapter 1 It Has Been a Long Time

Bombs were going off non-stop in the warzone that even people at the field hospital could feel the earth shuddering. Winona Winston was stitching a wound on an injured soldier. Her hair was clung to her scalp as she was drenched in a mixture of blood and sweat. Hardly anyone could recognize her to be the eldest daughter of Christopher Winston, the city mayor, as her exquisite beauty was obscured by her disheveled appearance.

The scruffy surroundings and the scorching hot weather did not bother her. As a doctor, she was obligated to take care of her patients no matter how horrid the environment was. Moreover, she needed to step up and show her dedication given that she was the leader of the clinical team of Country C.

Clank! Someone kicked the door to the derelict room open all of the sudden. An injured soldier whose blood was flowing profusely from his head was carried inside on a stretcher by five other soldiers. The leader of the group was a good-looking, long-legged man who exuded an icy aura. "Who's the boss here?"

Winona answered him in a level voice, "It's me."

The man marched over at strides and aimed his gun at her head. "Rescue him now or I'll shoot you and the nurses to death immediately!" he threatened.

Unfazed by his threat, Winona looked straight into his eyes. "How am I going to perform a surgery when you're pointing a gun at my head?"

Matt Snider froze when he saw the familiar features on Winona's face. In a crisp movement, he withdrew the gun.

"Scram!" Winona snapped frostily.

The other soldiers looked deeply rattled when they heard her harsh tone. Considering that no one had ever spoken to Matt that way, they were very sure Winona was doomed. Surprisingly, Matt softened his attitude and responded with a faint smile, "Fine."

Then, he left the hospital together with his subordinates.

After they were gone, Winona immediately instructed her assistant to move the injured soldier to the operating table. "Get me the forceps and a few bags of blood right now!" "Dr. Winona, the pulse of the patient is very weak! I can't feel his breathing!"

Without hesitation, Winona performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the injured soldier.

Some distance away from the field hospital, Matt narrowed his eyes to observe the woman who just yelled at him minutes ago. She was tirelessly doing chest compressions on the injured soldier at the moment. To his amazement, she did not even flinch when her hands, her face, and her white coat were stained by the soldier's blood, and her movements were deft and quick. The surgery room was her stage and she owned it.

The surgery was finally completed at midnight that day, and the injured soldier was sent back to Country C. Seeing that, Winona heaved out a long sigh of relief. Wearily, she slouched out of the surgery room and went to wash her hands.

Suddenly, someone handed her a clean towel. She stopped herself from blurting out "thanks" just in time when she saw the man who offered her the kind gesture. Honestly speaking, the man did not leave a favorable impression on her. Winona deemed him to be a rude, domineering, and imposing man...

He lit up a cigar and released a mouthful of smoke at her. "My name is Matt Snider. I'd be glad if you could keep my name in mind," he introduced himself.

He was Matt Snider, a man who was famous for his legendary military achievements.

Matt had made his luck ever since he joined the army at the age of twelve. His talents caught the eye of his superiors when he was sixteen, and he was appointed as the captain of his platoon when he hit twenty. Now, he was twenty-seven and had made it as the general of the army. Winona heard from the grapevine that he had never lost a single battle he was involved in. He was ruthless to everyone, including himself and even his father. In Winona's opinion, it was unwise to associate herself with a man like him.

The smoke of the cigar irritated her airway and consequently, she started coughing. Matt found her even more adorable when her face flushed. Feeling annoyed, Winona tossed the used towel back at Matt and strode off. When he clasped her wrist as she walked past him, she reached for the scalpel in the pocket of her coat out of instinct. She was ready to fight him to the death if he decided to molest her. "Thanks for rescuing my man," he said.

"Mr. Snider, you don't have to thank me at all. Saving his life is part of my job."

Matt singlehandedly pinned both of her hands to her back to keep her still. Then, he edged closer to her and whispered to her, "It's been a long while."

Winona went stupefied when she heard that. For some reason, Matt's face looked familiar to her, but she could not remember anything about him.

Just then, the rest of the clinical team made their way over.

Matt quickly loosened his grip on her hands. When Winona, who was caught off guard, stumbled backward, he twined an arm around her waist to help her stay on a stable footing. She tried to knee him in between his legs to force him to move away, but her leg was trapped in between his. In the stalemate, Matt reached for her lips and touched them flirtatiously. The soft and smooth texture of her lips gave him a pressing urge to kiss her.

In response to her baleful glance, he flashed her a roguish smile. "I'll see you again soon," he muttered before letting her go.

By the time Winona came to her senses, he was long gone.

The smell of tobacco still lingered on her lips. Disgusted by it, she returned to the washbasin where she started splashing icy water on her face. She was so desperate to clean her mouth that she scrubbed her lips hard until they were bleeding.

Soon, the nurses of the clinical team surrounded her. Coming from different regions of Country C, they did not know Winona well. Therefore, they took the liberty of making wild guesses about the situation. "Winona, is Mr. Snider the man you've been looking for?"

"No way. Do you think Mr. Snider looks like her fiancé?"

One of the nurses who was smitten by Matt commented, "Does it mean I still stand a chance of dating that hottie? Thank god! Mr. Snider is a good catch. Not only is he a looker, but he is also a very talented guy. Guess what? He started his career as a second lieutenant and worked his way up to being an general. That's quite impressive."

The other nurse quickly dampened her enthusiasm by saying, "I hate to burst your bubble, but everyone's been telling me that guy doesn't spend time on women. A man like him is way out of our league." Winona plastered a fake smile at them before leaving. She slumped on a bench in the corridor where she opened her purse. A photo of a beautiful couple smiling brightly at the camera was kept inside. The man in the photo was her fiancé, Benjamin Larson. He was her childhood sweetheart.

Ever since she was a teenager, she had always known that she would become Benjamin's wife one day. According to the family rule, every one of the Winston family must marry someone from the Larson family. As the eldest daughter of her parents, Winona was no exception to the rule.

To be frank, she did have feelings for Benjamin. After all, she had known him for a long time and she deemed him good husband material.

Benjamin was a decent-looking man who was down-to-earth and gentle. He was not full of himself because his father was a big fish in the government. Most importantly, he was very nice to her. Because of her relationship with Benjamin, her half-sister, Sharon, had always been jealous of her.

Winona did not have much of a say in her marriage. If she did not marry Benjamin, her father would just marry her to a stranger. If that was the case, she would rather marry someone she knew. Benjamin had gone missing when their wedding ceremony was scheduled to be held in two months.

The only information Winona had was that he was involved in the war between Country C and Country D. No one, even his family, had heard from him for six months.

As Benjamin's father was running for the presidency of Country C, he had no choice but to keep the matter a secret to the public. Winona only applied to offer her service at the field hospital so that she could look for Benjamin herself.

It was at Matt's office.

The layout and decoration of his office were simple. Everything, including the curtains, was black.

There was a stack of photos scattered on his desk. They captured Winona at different stages of her life-her childhood, her teenage years, and when she was an adult.

Matt's eyes were tinged with amusement when he was caressing Winona's beautiful eyes on the photos. "You mustn't blame me for what I'm going to do to you. You've asked for it."

With a crooked smile, he phoned Felix Carter, his subordinate guarding the dungeon in City X. Violent criminals and people who had offended the government officials were imprisoned there. "Release Benjamin Larson and bring him home as soon as possible," Matt instructed.

"Mr. Snider, keeping Benjamin Larson in the dungeon is part of your deal with the Johnson family. What will happen if Vice President Johnson holds us accountable for releasing him? Mr. Snider, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Shut up! Just do as I said."

After a pause, Matt added, "Also, tell Samuel and the rest of the gang to meet me tomorrow."

Felix sounded excited from the other end. "Mr. Snider, are you giving us some new tasks? We've been longing for a chance to test out skills!"

"I'm planning to do a marriage proposal."

Felix gasped when he heard that.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

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