Oliver specially arranged a banquet in my honor.
I didn't want to attend, but I was forced to stay.
Midway through the meal, Oliver looked at me and spoke.
"The Ramirez family's medical arts are indeed extraordinary," he said courteously. "Next, I'd like to go over the entire treatment process you used on me. If there are any shortcomings, I hope you'll enlighten me."
His tone was polite.
Then he began—from pulse diagnosis to acupuncture, from prescription theory to the final medication—meticulously analyzing every step.
My expression grew darker by the second.
They were stealing my craft.
With modern technology, cameras could record my entire treatment process, including every acupuncture technique.
And the Holland family itself was a lineage of traditional physicians.
My worst fear had come true.
Just as always, the Holland family crossed the river and destroyed the bridge behind them.
Right in front of me, Hugo dialed the police.
The Holland family's illness was genetic—only my family had ever been able to treat it. Now that they had mastered the method, fulfilled the dream they had once failed to steal... Why would they let me live?
I had been too naïve.
...
"Before the police arrive," Hugo said calmly, "let me tell you one more secret."
Holland family servants brought in two children—a boy and a girl.
"Mommy!"
"Mommy!"
They ran straight toward Jenna.
Jenna embraced them, smiling radiantly.
She looked at me.
"Thank you," she said softly. "Hugo promised that as long as I cooperated and got you to treat him, he'd give me status."
Memories surged violently in my mind.
"So that's why," I said hoarsely, "you deliberately had your relatives call me back then and made me leave overnight."
"And after I left, you told me the baby didn't survive... but the truth was, you gave birth."
"Because you were certain the child wasn't mine."
Jenna stayed silent. Her expression was answer enough.
"Then our son..." My voice trembled. "Is he mine?"
"Who do you think he looks more like?" Hugo asked with a victor's smile. "You—or me?"
That smile became an invisible blade, plunging straight into my heart.
I turned to Jenna again.
"So from the very beginning, you approached me with an agenda?"
She answered with silence once more.
Only then did I realize—this marriage that lasted ten years had been a lie from start to finish.
For ten years, she acted gentle. For ten years, she played the role of the virtuous wife.
All for this single day.
Hugo poured me a glass of wine.
"Anything else you want to ask?" he said lightly. "Anything you want to say?"
This time, I was the one who fell silent. There was nothing left to ask. Nothing left to say.
"A feud spanning centuries must eventually come to an end," Hugo said, clinking his glass against mine. "You should understand—so long as a Ramirez descendant exists, the Holland family can never stand at the pinnacle of medicine."
"So the Ramirez family can't be allowed to remain as a hidden threat."
"This is nothing more than your loss. If you're a man, you should accept defeat."
My ancestor left a rule forbidding future generations from practicing medicine.
Yet no descendant ever forgot the blood-soaked lesson of the past—or abandoned the hope of someday turning the tables.
Over centuries, the Ramirez family spread and branched out.
In every generation, one representative would be chosen.
Only that person would know the deeper truths. Only that person would understand the Holland family and continue the struggle.
I was not the chosen representative of my generation.
So the one who truly lost—wasn't just me. It was the entire Ramirez family.
The Holland family was powerful. Now that they had fully mastered the cure to their hereditary disease, they would surely unleash merciless force against the Ramirez clan.
I looked at Jenna.
For this woman—I had doomed my entire family.
Even ten thousand deaths would not atone for my sin.
"Every generation has its heroes and its cowards," Hugo continued, twisting the knife. "Of course, to different people, the same person plays different roles."
"To the Ramirez family, you're nothing but a traitor and a coward."
"But to Jenna..."
"You're a hero."
"For this small family, you gave everything—shouldered all the blame—and bore the infamy alone."
