Chapter4
The next morning, a pinned notification lit up on the work phones of every medical staff member in the hospital.
The top bulletin was a death sentence to my career: Due to Aria's chronic harassment, fabrication of malicious rumors, and hostile actions that nearly led to Chloe's miscarriage, the hospital has terminated her employment effective immediately. We are seizing full control of her pharmaceutical research projects and officially enforcing a five-year non-compete agreement. The hospital will sue any institution that dares to hire her.
Right on its heels came Arthur’s latest Instagram post.
In the photo, Chloe wore the custom-made diamond ring on her ring finger—the exact ring that was supposed to be mine. Arthur’s hand rested protectively over hers.
The caption read: [With me here from now on, I won’t let you or our baby suffer even the slightest grievance.]
The comments section exploded instantly.
[Oh my God! Congratulations to the Director and Chloe! Finally making it official!]
[LMAO, I knew it! Aria is such an ice-queen try-hard. What man could possibly stand her?]
[Congrats to the Director on escaping that misery! Getting tangled up with a psycho ex is terrifying. Just because she’s good with a scalpel, she looks down on everyone. If you ask me, she shouldn't just be blacklisted—she belongs in jail!]
[Exactly! Our new boss lady Chloe is so gentle. That's the kind of top-tier wife the Director actually deserves.]
A few core members of my surgical team tried to defend me in the department group chat. Less than ten seconds later—
[System Notification: This member has been removed from the group chat by the admin.]
With a loud bang, my office door was shoved open with brutal force.
Several security guards marched in, hauling empty cardboard boxes. My desktop had already been formatted—four years of painstaking experimental data completely wiped. On the shift schedule, my name was slashed out by a thick red marker. Every veteran staff member who had spoken up for me was fired on the spot for "failing performance reviews," while the ones who cursed my name the loudest received an immediate pay bump.
I walked over to my desk, preparing to grab my personal notebook.
Before my hand even touched the drawer, I froze.
Sitting on my chair was a dead rat.
The head of security urged me, "Aria, Director's orders. You have ten minutes to clear out your things and leave."
My knuckles turned a stark white as I stepped out into the hallway and dialed Arthur’s number.
"The non-compete clause. When exactly did you slip that into the contract and trick me into signing it?"
"Aria, I’m simply protecting the hospital's legal interests," he replied, his tone infuriatingly light. "You want to break the contract? Fine. Pay the penalty fee. But seeing as almost all the money you’ve made these past few years went into filling the massive financial holes of Chloe's family, I know you can't afford it. Five years away from the operating table, and nobody in this industry will even remember your name."
He paused, dropping his voice to a low murmur. "So, as long as you're willing to stand on stage, bow to Chloe in apology, and admit you smeared her out of jealousy... I might be merciful enough to let you stay and operate. Same salary as before."
"Just by your word?" I sneered.
"Not just me," his voice darkened. "I'm also betting on that bedridden mother of yours. The one relying on a ventilator every month to stay alive."
My heart plummeted.
"If you don't apologize, the ventilator in her ward will be unplugged and removed for 'unpaid bills' immediately. Want to take a guess if she can survive two hours on her own?"
I stood pressed against the wall, completely unable to say a single word.
I wanted to argue back, to curse him for the absolute monster he was, but all that churned in my mind was the image of my mother lying frail in that hospital bed over the years, accompanied by the rhythmic ticking of her life-support machine.
I could do nothing.
I could only tell myself over and over to hold back, to endure it for now, because I could not let anything happen to her.
He hung up the phone abruptly. The dial tone buzzed in my ear for a long time before I finally realized I was still frozen in place, holding the exact posture of taking his call.
I slid down against the cold wall and sat on the floor. After calming myself for a moment, my trembling fingers scrolled down to a number I had not dialed in a long time.
It rang twice.
"Aria." The man's voice was deep and resonant. "You finally decided to look for me."
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back the acidic burn in my throat. "Julian. I need your help."
"Okay."
Exactly one week later, Chloe’s parents called.
"Aria, sweetheart! Let me tell you some great news. Chloe is getting engaged tomorrow, and you simply must come and give her your blessing."
"We heard he's a doctor. Do you know him? We haven't even met him yet."
I gripped the phone and paused. It seemed Arthur was terrified I would crash the party, so he had kept his identity tightly under wraps from them.
"I know him. He's quite famous at our hospital."
He was a scumbag I was intimately familiar with.
"By the way," her father chimed in, "when are you going to bring that fiancé of yours home for us to meet? We're getting older, and we just hope to see both of our girls happy."
"Of course, Uncle," I said. "I'll be there tomorrow."
Hanging up, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and stared at the woman staring back—eyes that had been swollen from crying, a forehead that had been stitched up from recent trauma. And now, she still had to put on a smile and attend a banquet celebrating her own betrayal.
But I had no other choice.
For the sake of my mother’s ventilator, for whatever was left of my future, I had to go.
I dialed Julian's number once more.
"Tomorrow's engagement party," I said. "I'm going. And I am going to give my dear little sister and our esteemed hospital Director a very special gift."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
Then, he spoke. "I'll go with you."
