Chapter 4

The emergency department corridor was bustling with people, but no one would stop to help me.

The nurses who used to greet me with smiles now all stayed far away.

I dragged my bleeding arm and walked alone into the empty treatment room.

I picked up the forceps and suture thread from the tray.

Without anesthesia, I gritted my teeth and pushed the bloody needle through my own flesh.

Fine cold sweat soaked through my back.

I didn't make a sound of pain.

Just as I was tying the last stitch, my phone in my pocket vibrated frantically.

The screen was shattered like a spider web, but I could barely make out it was my PhD advisor from overseas calling.

As soon as I answered, my advisor's angry voice came through.

"Nadal! You've disappointed me so much!"

"The medical association just received a transatlantic complaint letter from your fiancé Fernandez."

"He's accusing you of plagiarizing all his original clinical data in every paper you published in core journals over these eight years!"

My head buzzed.

That data was clearly earned through my countless sleepless nights in the lab.

I'd even voluntarily given up first authorship for his sake.

My advisor's voice trembled with anger.

"Your hospital's internal network has already submitted evidence from your work computer."

"There's even a forged academic misconduct confession written by you!"

"I've already applied to the medical association on behalf of the academy to revoke your medical license. Do what you will!"

The call was mercilessly hung up. The dial tone stabbed at my nerves.

Good. Really good.

Destroy my career, ruin my reputation. Fernandez, you're truly ruthless.

I grabbed the medical gauze nearby and roughly wrapped it around my arm.

I stood up and kicked open the door to the emergency VIP ward.

The scene inside stung my eyes.

Fernandez sat at the bedside, holding a bowl of bird's nest soup.

He blew on it gently with a tender expression and fed it to Ivanka, who was leaning against the headboard.

As soon as Ivanka looked up and saw me covered in blood, she immediately screamed.

She dramatically clutched her stomach and burrowed into Fernandez's arms.

"Oh no! Fernandez, my stomach hurts so much. Am I going to have a miscarriage?"

Fernandez's expression changed drastically. He put down the bowl and charged over furiously.

He swung his arm and slapped me hard across the face.

Already suffering from blood loss, this slap knocked me to the ground. My ears rang.

Before I could get up, a plastic bottle hit me squarely in the face.

It was the expired folic acid I'd been about to throw in the trash this morning.

Fernandez pointed at my nose condescendingly, his voice loud enough for the entire corridor to hear.

"Nadal, what's wrong with you!"

"Ivanka is carrying my child. If you hurt her, I'll make you pay with your life!"

"Look at yourself. What good did taking folic acid for eight years do? You're a useless waste who can't even lay an egg!"

The doorway was already crowded with medical staff and patients watching the spectacle.

Mocking voices came from all around.

"So she can't have children. No wonder Director Fernandez is replacing her."

"Academic fraud, bad character, and she's infertile too."

"Poor Dr. Fernandez, entangled with this poisonous woman for eight years."

These words humiliated me deeply.

I gritted my teeth and forcibly swallowed the bloody taste in my throat, then turned and left the hospital.

But I didn't expect that even worse things were still ahead.