Malcolm nodded, his gaze frozen over as he looked at me：“No need to check. I believe Vivian.”
He seized my right arm without warning, and twisted. “Crack”. The sound of bone snapping filled the air.
Blinding pain tore through me, wave after wave, and with it came his voice, cold and merciless.
“You're a doctor. You should know that if the bone is set within three minutes, your hand can still be saved.”
“Get on your knees right now and apologize to Vivian sincerely. Do that, and we move on. Refuse, and you'll live with the consequences.”
My heart clenched with a hatred so fierce it nearly bled.
“Malcolm!”
The scream ripped out of me, raw and ragged.
“I will not apologize for something I didn't do! I have spent years saving lives. Even if I despise the other woman, I would never sabotage my own reputation for a personal vendetta!”
The crowd stirred, moved by my words.
“She's right. Dr. Thomas has always put her patients first. We've all seen it.”
“My wife had the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby's neck three times. Dr. Thomas performed the C-section and pulled both of them back from the brink.”
“Same here! My wife couldn't conceive. Dr. Thomas spent a whole year working with her, and she finally got pregnant.”
……
Malcolm faltered for a moment, but then his gaze drifted to Vivian, who was still doubled over clutching her stomach in the distance. His eyes hardened.
“And why couldn't you have done it out of spite?”
“You lost the ability to have children. It twisted you. You can't stand seeing Vivian pregnant, so you smeared her and tried to hurt her. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be called the Miracle Surgeon.”
His words hit the crowd like a match dropped in gasoline. The murmuring exploded.
“Wait, I heard the fertility problem was on Mr. Farley's side. So it was actually Dr. Thomas all along? Did she start those rumors herself?”
The very same people who had just thanked me now turned on me, jabbing fingers in my face.
“No wonder my wife was perfectly fine, then after one ultrasound you suddenly insisted on a C-section! You were jealous. You wanted her to go under the knife on purpose! Disgusting!”
Spit landed on my face. Before I could wipe it away, a hand cracked across my other cheek.
“You can't even have kids yourself, and you had the nerve to treat my wife for infertility? No wonder you charged so much. You were scamming us the whole time! Trash!”
The mob shoved me to my knees and forced my head down, slamming my forehead against the floor.
My ears rang from the blows. Blood streamed down my face from my split forehead.
Inside, there was nothing left but despair.
Too late. The three minutes had long passed. My hand would never be the same.
After what felt like an eternity, Malcolm stopped them. He pulled me to my feet, battered and broken, and leaned close to whisper in my ear.
“Sweetheart, I never actually wanted to leave you. But that temper of yours really does need fixing. Now that your hand is ruined, you'll never practice medicine again.
“Once my blood work comes back, you won't have a cent to your name either. From now on, I'm all you've got.”
“But as long as you behave, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. After all, you've always been the one I love most.”
My right hand hung limp at my side. My eyes burned crimson.
He had broken my wings and built a cage around me, and he still dared speak of love?
Disgusting. Vile.
I stared at them, word by word, my gaze bleeding：“You will pay for this.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Director Morrison walked over, his face grave.
“Mrs. Farley, your test results are in. I'm sorry to say your condition has relapsed. But don't worry. Your daughter-in-law is the Miracle Surgeon. With her performing the operation, the odds of success are very good.”
At the same time, Malcolm's assistant rushed over holding a lab report：“Mr. Farley, the results are back——”
