“Sophia Reed, are you insane?”
Ethan’s eyes bulged in rage. He stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.
“You crazy woman!” he snarled, pointing at me.
“Lily went out of her way to bring you the ashes, and you hit her? You’re completely unreasonable!”
Then he scooped Lily up and turned to leave.
“Ethan, we’re getting a divorce.”
I held my stinging cheek, my strength drained.
I no longer even had the energy to argue.
I pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared.
“You want to divorce me?”
Ethan froze, whipping his head around to glare at me.
His face twisted between shock and fury.
“Sophia, how long are you going to keep making trouble? If every family of a patient who dies at St. Mary’s Medical Center acted like you, how could we even keep the hospital running?
Put away the divorce papers. Out of respect for your mother’s passing, I’ll let this go.”
I stared at him coldly, expressionless.
“If you refuse to divorce me, I will press charges and take this to court.
Don’t think that just because you disposed of the body, I can’t file a lawsuit.”
Ethan’s face went pale.
Lily panicked too, clutching his sleeve.
“So that’s what this is about—you just want to force me to divorce you?”
Ethan gave a chilling laugh and signed his name with a flourish.
He slammed the papers onto the table.
“Tomorrow at nine a.m. See you at the County Courthouse.”
I gathered up the papers and said flatly,
“Fine.”
He took Lily’s hand, and as they left, he turned back with a sneer.
“Don’t come crawling back to me like a dog tomorrow.”
I went back to my parents’ house and told Mr. and Mrs. Reed about the divorce.
At first, they tried to talk me out of it.
But once I told them everything that had happened, they were furious.
Ethan had acted the way he did only because he thought it was my family member who was sick.
This proved that if something really did happen to my family, he would be just as heartless.
The next morning, I took the divorce papers and was about to head to the County Courthouse.
But then Chloe Walker appeared, wearing a bright red dress, reeking of alcohol, and carrying a funeral wreath.
When she saw me, she rolled her eyes dramatically.
“So, you’re divorcing my brother?
What, did your mom’s death scramble your brains?”
“My brother’s a board-certified physician. If you divorce him, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
A board-certified physician?
I laughed mockingly. That title wouldn’t last long.
“I spent all night talking him out of divorcing you.
Now pick up the phone and apologize to him.
Men having a little fling outside—that’s normal. Stop being so petty.”
I ignored her entirely.
Had she forgotten how her brother even got his position at the hospital?
It was me who pulled every string, paid every favor, and begged every connection to get him the job.
My parents had even swallowed their pride to call in favors and get him into a top hospital for advanced training.
That’s how Ethan gained his early fame as a star neurologist.
