Chapter 1

The hospital director's daughter fell from the fourth floor.

I was fully scrubbed in, waiting to enter the OR.

The ambulance screeched into the bay, and the patient was rushed straight onto the operating table.

But at that critical moment, my husband, the Chief of Surgery, abruptly called a halt.

All because he was waiting for his first love—the returning prodigy with a foreign doctorate in surgery—so she could take the spotlight as the lead surgeon.

It was the exact same story in my past life.

That "overseas genius" couldn't operate to save her life; she had zero practical skills, only textbook theory.

She nearly blew past the golden hour of surgery.

It was only because of my stubborn insistence that we stuck to the original procedure and saved the girl.

Yet Lily felt humiliated. She jumped off the hospital roof in shame and ended up completely paralyzed from the waist down.

And my husband? He banished me to an isolated clinic in the middle of nowhere, even orchestrating a brutal gang assault against me.

When I hid, desperately calling him for help, his voice on the other end was icy.

"Claire, it was just a surgery. Did you really have to steal Lily's spotlight?"

"Now you can get a taste of what real suffering feels like."

My location was tracked through that very phone call, and I was beaten and violated to death.

When I opened my eyes again, the gurney was being wheeled right in front of me.

This time, I didn't panic. I shoved my hands into my pockets and stood back, eager to see how his precious overseas PhD planned to raise someone from the dead.

"Why is she taking so long? We're literally racing against the clock here!"

"The patient is spiking a fever, and her extremities are severely swollen."

"If she starts having convulsions, we might lose her completely."

The OR staff clustered behind me, frantic.

Yet no matter how anxious they were, no matter how hard they pushed, Ethan Vance only snapped back at them.

"What's the rush? Do any of you honestly think you're qualified to save her?"

"Lily graduated from one of the top surgical programs in the world. As long as she's holding the scalpel, there won't be a problem."

Ethan's barking left the room reeling.

Still, he had full authority over major surgeries, so nobody dared to challenge him outright.

Chloe, a neurosurgeon and my former medical school roommate standing behind me, couldn't hold back.

"If we wait any longer, she won't even make it. At least get her into the OR and intubate her—it'll buy us time!"

Consultants from every department had rushed over for this emergency, desperate to hammer out an immediate surgical plan.

Chloe's warning didn't sway Ethan. It only made him more irritable.

"General Surgery is running point on this case. You neuro folks will wait until you're told to move."

Chloe's temper flared.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Every specialty here has equal footing!"

"Besides, I'm giving you a professional recommendation!"

Ethan's face hardened, turning toward the head of Neurosurgery.

"Get her out of here. Send her back to her floor. We don't need her here!"

Fuming, Chloe spun on her heel and stormed off, glaring daggers at Ethan on her way out.

Then, Ethan's gaze shifted to me.

"Claire, what about you?"

Chloe was my closest friend. He had humiliated her and chased her out, only turning to ask me once she was gone.

His intentions were obvious.

I looked at him and smiled faintly.

"You're the Chief, and you're the lead on this operation. Naturally, I follow your lead."

Surprised by my sudden compliance, Ethan gave a smug chuckle, then glanced around at the gathered doctors.

"See that? That's the kind of discipline an actual doctor should have."

I stood calmly behind him, taking it all in.

In my past life, I had fought him tooth and nail, only for him to send me to my death for Lily Parker's sake.

I wasn't about to make the same stupid mistake twice.