The Doctor

The hospital buzzed with hurried footsteps and tense voices.

Vessara stepped out onto the sixth floor and headed straight for the VIP wing.

Just as she turned the corner, a group of doctors rushed past her.

“What’s going on? Why is Chairman Valdis’s condition getting worse again?!”

“Be thankful Razen Valdis still isn’t here,” someone muttered nervously.

The lead doctor’s face was flushed red.

But behind his glasses, excitement still flickered in his eyes.

Vessara rubbed her fingertips together thoughtfully.

Interesting.

Looks like the Valdis family had more internal problems than people realized.

“Hurry and prep the operating room!” the doctor barked. “Chairman Valdis can’t hold on much longer!”

At that exact moment—

A woman wearing a silver fox mask stepped out slowly.

The crimson beauty mark beneath her eye peeked faintly from beneath the edge of the mask.

Her dark eyes swept calmly across the crowd.

Three years ago, when she secretly operated on Chairman Valdis for the first time, she had still technically been a prisoner.

To hide her identity, she wore the mask.

And now—

To keep that identity hidden—

she wore it again.

“I can treat Chairman Valdis.”

Several doctors frowned immediately.

“Who let this lunatic in here?” one snapped. “This isn’t the time for games.”

But beside him, a younger assistant suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

“Director Young…” he whispered shakily. “The fox mask… Could she be the surgeon from three years ago?”

The hallway instantly fell silent.

Three years ago, Chairman Valdis had already been declared clinically dead.

The hospital had nearly gone into full panic mode.

Everyone knew what Razen Valdis would do if anything happened to his father.

But the next morning—

Chairman Valdis woke up completely fine.

Perfect vitals.

No complications.

Only later did security footage reveal that someone wearing a fox mask had entered the hospital overnight and performed the surgery alone.

One person.

One operation.

A case that shocked the entire medical field.

Director Young obviously knew the story. His expression shifted slightly before he forced out a skeptical laugh.

“That surgeon disappeared three years ago,” he said. “Who knows if this woman’s just pretending?”

The assistant lowered his voice further.

“But isn’t this perfect?”

His eyes darkened slightly.

“We need someone to take the blame anyway. Don’t forget what kind of person Razen Valdis is.”

Director Young’s eyes immediately turned calculating.

When he spoke again, his tone became much friendlier.

“Fine,” he said slowly. “But if the surgery fails…”

A cold smile appeared on his face.

“You’ll pay for it with your life.”

Vessara understood immediately.

They wanted a scapegoat.

A faint smile curved beneath the fox mask.

“And if I succeed?”

The doctors exchanged glances.

None of them had seriously considered that possibility.

Chairman Valdis was already on the verge of death.

Even if she truly was the masked surgeon from three years ago, nobody believed she could save him twice.

Director Young let out a dry laugh.

“If you can actually pull this off, you’re a genius.”

He folded his arms mockingly.

“Hell, we’d probably call you a legend and beg you to mentor us.”

Vessara looked at him indifferently. Her eyes swept across the group.

“None of you are good enough for that.”

Then she turned and walked straight toward the operating room.

Director Young stared at her back, grinding his teeth furiously.

Then he lowered his voice.

“Hurry and notify our boss,” he muttered darkly. “If the old man dies tonight, he inherits everything.”

Greed flashed across his eyes.

“And when that happens… he better remember what he promised us.”

The assistant beside him slipped away quietly, disappearing down the hallway as if he had never been there at all.

...

Meanwhile, inside a private medical suite filled with equipment—

A man suddenly sat upright on the bed, his eyes cold and sharp.

“You’ve got insane luck,” the younger man beside him muttered. “With injuries like yours, you should’ve died before I even got there.”

“Someone helped me.”

Razen Valdis’s voice remained calm.

But his mind replayed the image of the woman from the road once again.

After escaping the ambush, he hadn’t left immediately.

He stayed hidden nearby and watched everything.

That level of driving skill was terrifying.

Even professional racers would struggle to pull that off.

What surprised him most—

The driver had been a young woman.

“That’s impossible,” the younger man blurted out. “Do you even know what that road looked like when I found you?”

Razen didn’t answer. He simply narrowed his eyes slightly, replaying every detail in his head.

Then suddenly—

The door burst open.

“Mr. Valdis, something happened,” a subordinate said urgently. “Chairman Valdis’s condition suddenly worsened.”

Razen stood immediately, his expression darkening.

“To the hospital.”

...

At the hospital—

The pressure surrounding Razen Valdis alone was enough to suffocate everyone nearby.

The doctors stood together beneath his gaze like frightened animals.

A dangerous smile slowly spread across his face.

“Mr. Valdis…” Director Young forced himself forward. “Chairman Valdis is currently in surgery.”

Razen’s eyes turned icy.

“Who’s operating on him?”

The pressure in his voice nearly made the doctors collapse.

Director Young swallowed hard. “A woman suddenly appeared wearing a fox mask. She insisted she could perform the surgery despite our objections…”

Razen’s gaze turned glacial.

“So you handed my father over…”

His smile deepened slightly.

“To a lunatic?”

Director Young’s legs nearly gave out.

Then Razen spoke.

“If anything happens to my father…”

His voice was terrifyingly calm.

“This hospital won’t need to exist anymore.”

At that exact moment—

The operating room light switched off.

Everyone turned instinctively.

The doors slowly opened.

A woman wearing a silver fox mask stepped out.

And beneath the edge of the mask—

the red beauty mark beneath her eye flickered faintly into view.

Razen’s gaze paused.

He had seen it before.

For one brief second, his mind went blank.

By the time he snapped out of it, the masked woman was already standing in front of him.

Vessara was just as surprised.

Twice in one day.

Razen Valdis really was hard to kill.

Without even glancing at Director Young collapsed on the floor, she said calmly,

“The surgery went well. He’s stable.”

“What?!” Director Young shot to his feet in shock.

Relief and panic battled across his face. If Chairman Valdis survived, then he wouldn’t be blamed… But what about the promises he made to the younger branch of the family?

At that moment, another man stepped out of the operating room.

Nathan Reed.

Razen’s closest friend—and one of the top surgeons in the country.

“Razen,” Nathan said, still sounding stunned, “your father’s really okay.”

Even now, disbelief lingered in his eyes.

After telling the nurses to move Chairman Valdis back to his room, Nathan walked straight toward the masked woman.

“Can I ask who you are?”

Vessara shook her head slightly.

“You don’t need to know.”

Too much time had passed.

There was no way Nathan would recognize her voice anymore.

After all—

her vocal cords had once been completely destroyed.

Razen suddenly stepped closer.

“Interesting,” he said quietly.

His eyes stayed fixed on her.

“Why do I feel like I’ve met you before?”

As he spoke, he reached toward her mask.

But before his fingers could touch the mask—

Vessara caught his wrist and twisted sharply.

Pain shot straight through Razen’s arm.

His muscles locked instantly, his entire arm going numb.

“Razen!” Nathan shouted.

But Vessara had already turned away.

“I just hit a nerve,” she said casually. “You’ll recover in a few minutes.”

Razen grabbed his wrist, seemingly unfazed by the pain pulsing through it.

Then he spoke again.

“Leave me your contact information.”

His eyes stayed fixed on her back.

“Not for me.”

A brief pause followed.

“For my father.”