But now, my child was just a small, formless mass of flesh on a metal tray. My coworker on duty stood next to me, her expression a mix of pity and helplessness.
"Dr. Williams… Mr. Floyd put pressure on the hospital. He demanded that the hospital punish you. The hospital has decided…" She paused and swallowed hard. "They have decided to revoke your medical license. And they are going to pursue compensation. I heard it is more than a million."
I closed my eyes.
The bitterness rising in my chest nearly choked me.
Sensing my pain, her voice softened even further.
"How did Mr. Floyd change so suddenly? He once invested tens of millions of dollars in the hospital for your sake. He even nearly died saving you once." Her voice trembled slightly. "He loved you so much. How could he now break your hand and ruin your career as a doctor, all for another woman?"
'Yes, why indeed?' I shook my head, but no words came.
When I first met Michael, I did not know he had a foster sister.
He had been street racing that night and was brought into the ER with shattered bones, barely hanging on to life. I spent ten straight hours in the operating room fighting to pull him back from the brink.
He woke three days later.
The moment Michael opened his eyes, he ordered his closest friends to bring me to him.
Through layers of gauze and bandages, he forced a smile.
"Dr. Williams, you saved my life. Would you consider letting me repay you with my own?"
I had not taken it seriously.
I assumed it was just another rich young master's joke.
But he pursued me relentlessly for an entire year.
He invested money in rebuilding my hospital until it became the best in Harbor City.
He knew I was always too busy with surgeries to eat, so he cooked for me himself and waited in my break room every day.
It was hard not to be moved, although I tried to resist at first.
Three years ago, a patient falsely accused me of botching his surgery and causing severe headaches while attempting to extort money. He then stormed into my office armed with a knife.
Michael, eyes blazing red, threw himself in front of me and took three stabs meant for me.
When he survived, I accepted his confession.
Our three years together went smoothly after that.
Until the engagement party, when he never showed up.
He returned three days later, holding the hand of a young girl.
Speaking gently, Michael told me, "Jenna just came back to the country and is not feeling well. I have been taking care of her these past few days. I forgot about the engagement."
It was only then that I learned he had a foster sister who had been abroad for years. Her name was Jenna.
Michael asked me to take good care of her.
Naturally, I dedicated myself fully.
Three days ago, Jenna told me she felt discomfort 'down there.' She begged me again and again not to tell her brother.
Assuming she was simply shy, I brought her in for tests and prescribed medication for inflammation.
But when the results arrived, I froze in shock.
Before I could figure out how to tell her or Michael, he burst into my break room with bodyguards, one arm protectively around a tearful Jenna.
With a single command, the iron baton came down.
My right hand twisted under the blow.
Curled on the floor, writhing in agony, I could only whimper and ask him why.
He stared down at me, his expression carved from ice.
"I really thought you were different from other women," he said, each word clipped and cold. "Kind. Gentle. Someone above all those disgusting tricks."
His voice hardened as he continued, anger simmering beneath every syllable.
"But you're vicious. All because I took care of Jenna and missed the engagement, you gave her low-quality ointment and let her contract a dirty disease? She's only twenty. And you ruined her."
He crouched slightly, bringing his face closer to mine, his eyes burning with contempt.
"A person like you has no right to be a doctor," he said quietly. "Breaking the hands you use to write prescriptions… consider that your lesson."
Behind him, Jenna suddenly burst into tears and pointed at the test results on my desk.
"Zoey… so you planned this all along. You used that ointment to give me a dirty disease, and then you forged the test results."
