Chapter 1

After I scheduled the divorce, my wife, Alma Ashford, called me again.

I walked to the stairwell outside the ward to answer.

“Clyde, why are you making such a big deal out of nothing?

“All I did was ask you to write an apology. How dare you hang up on me?”

I interrupted her barrage of questions and said calmly, “Let’s get a divorce. I already made an appointment for Monday morning.”

Alma exploded with rage on the other end of the line.

“Are you seriously doing this over a—”

Before she could finish, I blocked her everywhere.

I had always been the one to comply with Alma’s every wish. This was the first time I had ever hung up on her.

When I returned to the ward, a colleague was making rounds.

He comforted me softly, “Dr. Northman, don’t be upset. Ms. Ashford probably didn’t mean anything by it. She was probably just trying to help.”

I smiled and said politely, “It’s fine. We’re not together anymore.”

Right after the colleague left, a message popped up on my phone.

It was Tobias Zidel, the male nurse from her department, who had tagged me in the group chat.

[Dr. Northman, don’t get the wrong idea. Ms. Ashford was just trying a new job for fun.

[All jobs are equal. No job is greater or lesser than the other. An assembly line isn’t any less than a surgery, don’t you think?

[If I upset you, I’ll apologize, okay?]

I could not help but let out a cold laugh.

Tobias was putting me on the spot. He was making me look like I look down on certain jobs.

If I did not accept his apology, I would be the petty one.

[Tobias, you did nothing wrong! Clyde is just looking for a fight.

[Don’t worry. I’ll make him write a public apology and apologize to you in person on Monday.]

Alma was the head of the department.

Several doctors and nurses who were always trying to get on her good side chimed in one by one.

[Exactly! Dr. Ashford went to experience life at the grassroots level. That’s so thoughtful of her!]

[Mr. Zidel’s family runs a small factory. Times are tough for everyone. It was just colleagues helping each other out.]

[Some people are just petty. They can’t stand their wife being friends with other men.]

The group twisted the truth completely.

They praised Alma and Tobias to the skies.

I did not want to be a coward who got criticized for no reason.

So, I tagged Tobias in the chat.

[Mr. Zidel, I suggest you focus more on your actual job. Don’t get your priorities twisted.

[If you get another patient complaint, not even Dr. Ashford will be able to save your year-end evaluation.]

When I mentioned the year-end evaluation, everyone fell silent.

Tobias’ performance had indeed been lackluster. They had no way to argue against that.

I lay down on the fold-out bed and fell asleep.

I had only been asleep for a short while when Alma shook me awake angrily.

She looked disheveled from travel. She had clearly come straight to the hospital after her flight landed.

She had made an excuse to go abroad to attend a summit. The fact that she had returned so quickly meant she had obviously lied to me.

I looked at her mockingly.

Alma, however, showed no guilt whatsoever. She ignored my father, who was still asleep, and began shouting.

“Why are you looking at me like that?! If you hadn’t run your mouth, I wouldn’t have had to fly back in the middle of the night to clean up your mess, would I?

“Tobias is just a young nurse! He doesn’t have any connections or influence in the department. He works hard every day. Are you really going to threaten him over his performance review?

“Everyone else seems to get it. They understand I was just trying something else for experience. You’re the only one who’s so blind that you get jealous over nothing!”

Her voice grew louder and louder. She refused to keep it down.

I immediately pulled her out of the ward.

I reprimanded her in the stairwell.

“Keep it down! My dad just got out of surgery. Do you want to wake him up?”

After years of marriage, this was the first time I had shouted at her like this.

Alma was stunned. She seemed to finally realize that she was in a hospital ward.

Her attitude softened, and surprisingly, she apologized to me, which was rare.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize this was a patient’s ward. Once I’m back to work, I’ll take a proper look at Dad’s scans and make sure he makes a full recovery.

“But that doesn’t change what you did. You’re still doing the public apology at Monday’s meeting.”

She was still demanding that I apologize publicly to Tobias.

My gaze turned cold.

Seeing my unpleasant expression and my refusal to apologize, Alma grew angry again.

“Enough! I already said I was sorry. What more do you want from me?

“I went to a conference and brought you back a gift! What do you actually have to complain about?”

She pulled a few pieces of chocolate toffee from her pocket and tried to press them into my palm.

I looked at the candies. They had melted into a wrinkly mess from her body heat. I was so angered by her shamelessness that I let out a bitter laugh.

“Keep these pathetic little things for yourself!”

I was lactose intolerant. Milk chocolates usually gave me diarrhea.

After years of marriage, Alma still could not even remember that.

Humiliated by my rejection, Alma was very displeased. She then unwrapped the candy and tried to shove it into my mouth.

“You have no taste! You just don’t know when to appreciate what you have! This is Tobias’ favorite flavor.”

The cheap chocolate toffee melted in my mouth. My stomach instinctively began to cramp.

I could no longer tolerate it. I pushed Alma away and spat the toffee out at her feet.

Alma was stunned by the fact that I had pushed her. Before she could react, I spoke up coldly.

“That’s it! Looks like you’re not willing to go through with the paperwork. I’ll have my lawyer draw up the divorce agreement. You’ll be hearing from him.”