The records room.
I was placing the previous years’ sorted surgical archive files in order according to their numbers when suddenly a deliberately raised, coquettish voice came from outside the door, breaking the dead silence of the records room.
“This is the place. You all need to study carefully. Don’t end up like some people, ruining a perfectly good hand of cards and finally being stuck in a place like this dealing with waste paper.”
My fingers tightened slightly around the medical files, and I lifted my eyes.
Vanessa was wearing a perfectly tailored white coat, a badge reading “Associate Chief Surgeon” pinned to her collar, her long hair coiled into an elegant bun. Behind her stood two interns holding folders, their faces full of flattery. She stepped on thin high heels, walking through the record-packed room as if it belonged to her alone. The sharp tapping of her heels on the floor was piercing and utterly out of place in the heavy quiet of the room.
“Sister Clara,” Vanessa walked to the desk and looked down at me, her eyes filled with undisguised ridicule. “It hasn’t even been that long since I last saw you, and how have you fallen to this point already? You used to be so impressive in the City Hospital’s surgical department, and now you’re buried in this pile of junk every day. What a waste of talent.”
I lowered my eyes and continued sorting the files, unwilling to respond. I knew perfectly well why Vanessa came— merely to flaunt her current status and sprinkle salt on my wounds.
“Hey, Sister Clara, why aren’t you talking?” Vanessa reached out and deliberately brushed the ink bottle on the corner of the desk. With a loud clang, the deep blue ink instantly toppled, spreading across the desk and soaking most of the stack of files I had just finished organizing.
The black stain quickly bled across the paper, blurring the text like layers of ugly scars.
I jerked my head up, a sharp glint flashing through my eyes, my hand gripping the edge of the table so hard my nails nearly embedded themselves into the wood. I had spent the entire morning sorting that stack, checking each page’s numbering carefully— and now it was all ruined.
“Ah, I’m so sorry,” Vanessa covered her mouth, wearing an expression of “innocence,” though her eyes brimmed with triumph. “My hand slipped. But it’s fine. These useless records probably weren’t worth your effort anyway. Ruined is ruined.”
As she spoke, she lifted her silver high heel and viciously ground it onto several pages scattered on the floor. The ink mixed with dust from the sole of her shoe, pressing the papers into unrecognizable messes, the words completely unreadable.
The two interns behind her immediately echoed:
“Dr. Vanessa is right. These old records weren’t very useful anyway. Dr. Clara… you shouldn’t take it so seriously.”
“Exactly, staying in the City Hospital at all should already make you grateful. Who are you to pick and choose.”
Looking at the destroyed records, I took a deep breath and pushed down the wave of anger in my chest. I knew this wasn’t the time to explode. I needed to wait for the right moment— the moment I would make that pair pay the price.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Liam pushed the door open. The faint smell of disinfectant from the operating room still clung to him, clearly showing he had just come down from surgery. As soon as he entered, he went straight to Vanessa’s side, his gaze landing on her “wronged” frown, completely ignoring the mess on the floor.
“Vanessa, what happened?” His tone was urgent, and following Vanessa’s line of sight to me, his expression instantly clouded. “Did she bully you?”
Vanessa immediately clung to Liam’s arm, her voice tinged with tears. “No, Liam, don’t misunderstand. I accidentally spilled the ink. Sister Clara seemed unhappy, I… I didn’t mean to.”
“Unhappy?” Liam let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with disgust and impatience as he looked at me. “Clara, are you still not giving up? You were transferred here after losing your license, and you still refuse to behave? You’re deliberately making trouble for Vanessa?”
His gaze swept briefly over the ruined files and overturned ink bottle, without even pausing— as if they were worthless garbage.
“What is Vanessa’s status? What is your current situation? Don’t embarrass yourself acting out here!”
I looked at this pair who twisted black and white at will, and the last shred of lingering emotion I had for Liam finally died. I once thought our years together meant something— but I never imagined that in his eyes, I wasn’t even worth those trampled records on the ground.
Suppressing the bitterness and fury in my chest, I suddenly showed a faint, almost numb smile. I didn’t defend myself. Instead, I slowly opened a drawer and took out a divorce agreement I had long prepared, handing it to Liam.
“I’m not unhappy, nor do I have the energy to make trouble for anyone.” My voice was soft, carrying a hint of subtle exhaustion. “Since you think I’m an eyesore here, then I’ll leave. But after all, we are still married. My license is gone, my job is gone, and I may never work in surgery again. You should at least give me some compensation.”
Liam frowned, impatiently taking the papers. “What do you want?”
“The apartment downtown. Put it under my name as compensation.” I lifted my eyes, meeting his gaze calmly. “I don’t want anything else. Sign it, and we’re even.”
Vanessa immediately whined from the side: “Liam, don’t waste time with her. It’s just an apartment. Sign it and let her leave, so she doesn’t ruin the mood here.” As she spoke, she pushed Liam’s arm, urging him to sign.
Already filled with disgust toward me and annoyed by Vanessa’s pestering, Liam didn’t bother reading the document carefully. He skimmed the first line—“Compensation Agreement”—and then picked up the pen, signing his name in bold strokes at the bottom.
He didn’t notice the divorce agreement hidden among the pages. And the name he signed not only transferred the apartment to me, but also ended the five-year marriage between us.
Watching him finish signing, I took the documents back. As my fingers brushed the thin sheet of paper, a complex satisfaction rose within me. I folded the papers neatly and placed them into my bag. Then I bent down, ignoring the destroyed records and spilled ink, and picked up my coat.
“Thank you.” I nodded slightly toward Liam and Vanessa, my tone as flat as discussing the weather.
As I turned, my gaze swept over the black notebook on the corner of the desk, and a glint of icy sharpness flashed in my eyes.
This was only the beginning.
Liam, Vanessa— what you owe me, I will reclaim piece by piece, with interest.
The sound of my heels faded down the corridor, leaving only Vanessa and the interns staring at each other in confusion, and Liam watching my back with a strange, creeping unease rising in his chest.
