Late at night, Chloe Miller barged into my clinic with a dog in her arms.
She arrogantly tossed a hundred-dollar bill onto the counter and said, “Coco’s paw got cut by broken glass. Hurry up and bandage it.”
Without even lifting my head, I replied, “This isn’t a veterinary clinic. I’m busy. You’d better take it to a vet nearby.”
Chloe snapped, “Busy? It’s the middle of the night—your clinic doesn’t even have a single patient. What are you so busy with?”
“This is my boyfriend’s dog. If you don’t bandage Coco right now, he’ll make sure you pay for it.”
I ignored her.
Furious, Chloe called her rich second-generation boyfriend. Soon enough, he was threatening to smash up my clinic and break my hands and legs so I’d be crippled.
What they didn’t know was that although the clinic looked empty, it was actually packed—every seat taken by unseen patients glaring at them.
When Chloe placed the injured Maltese on the counter, I immediately knew she had come looking for trouble. Narrowing her eyes, she sneered at me, “Rachel Evans, my patience is running thin. You’d better hurry up and bandage Coco’s wound.”
“Don’t give me that excuse about being busy. Your clinic’s empty—what the hell are you even busy with?”
“And don’t say you don’t treat animals. Not long ago you treated a stray black cat. I know all about it.”
“Sure, we’ve had our differences, but saving lives is a doctor’s duty. If you refuse me again, I’ll make sure this clinic of yours won’t survive.”
I still couldn’t be bothered to answer her.
On the surface, my little clinic looked empty, but in truth, it was overflowing with patients—patients Chloe simply couldn’t see.
The Maltese, however, could sense the hostile stares of these unusual patients. Trembling violently, it whimpered and even urinated in fear.
A few grim-faced spirits drifted behind Chloe. Their eyes glowed an eerie green, mouths wide open, razor-sharp teeth ready to rip into the back of her neck.
I shot them a furious glare and barked, “Behave yourselves! Get out if you dare act up here!”
The spirits shuddered, fear flashing in their eyes. Reluctantly, they pulled back their fangs and floated back to their seats to wait quietly.
But Chloe misunderstood.
She thought I had just yelled at her.
Fuming, she shouted, “You want me to get out? Fine! You’ve got guts. Just you wait.”
With that, she stormed out of the clinic, clutching the trembling Maltese.
She didn’t leave entirely, though. Instead, she stood at the entrance, calling her rich boyfriend again. From the look of it, she wasn’t going to be satisfied until she taught me a brutal lesson tonight.
I let out a weary sigh. Since I had taken over this clinic half a year ago, Chloe had been making trouble for me again and again.
Her family had already bought out the neighboring shops, planning to merge them into a large restaurant. My refusal to sell my clinic had severely hindered their money-making scheme.
So Chloe showed up every so often to cause chaos—enough times that even the police had been called in more than once.
