Chapter 2

“Clyde, I dare you to say that again!”

She confronted me loudly. Alma could not believe her ears.

“You want to divorce me over something this small? You gave up Royal Medical School to marry me! Have you forgotten that?

“Don’t you forget that I run this department, not you. If we divorce, do you really think you’ll get to stay here?”

She used my position to threaten me.

I fired back with a sharp retort.

“We’ll see who leaves first. Me, or that worthless Tobias!”

When she heard me call Tobias worthless, she flew into a rage. She shoved me hard.

I was caught off guard. She pushed me with force. My head hit the wall with a thud.

Startled by the sound, Alma immediately tried to help me. She tried to check my wound.

“Where did you hit your head? Let me see. We’re going to the emergency room to get that wrapped up.”

She tried to pull me away in a panic. Right then, Tobias appeared at the stairwell.

He looked haggard. He gazed at Alma resentfully.

“Alma, I just finished my night shift. I’m so dizzy.”

Alma swiftly turned to support Tobias. She fussed over him with concern.

“What’s wrong? Was the night shift too hectic? Did you crash from low blood sugar?”

She pulled a box of delicately packaged candies from her bag. She unwrapped one and fed it to Tobias.

After feeding him the candy, Alma finally remembered that I was injured. She did not even spare me a glance.

“Clyde, just take care of it yourself. It’s just a tiny scratch! Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Tobias did not even have dark circles under his eyes. He looked triumphant as he sucked on the candy.

I covered my wound and shoved Alma aside with my shoulder.

“Get out of my sight! Take your precious Mr. Zidel and leave!”

Alma was provoked. She gave me another hard push. Then, she haughtily left with Tobias.

“Hmph! You just can’t tell when someone’s trying to do something nice for you! I never should have bothered with you.”

I went to my office and took out the first aid kit. I bandaged my wound myself. Then, I prepared a resignation report to hand to Alma.

She was the head of the department. If I wanted to resign, I had to inform her and get her approval first.

I expected Alma to rush back and confront me. I expected her to reject my resignation.

Unexpectedly, she tagged the HR department in the group chat.

Her message sounded sarcastic.

[Would HR please process Dr. Northman’s resignation first thing tomorrow morning?]

The group chat instantly erupted. I could not be bothered to trade barbs with them. I left the group chat.

After entrusting my father’s care to a hired caretaker, I went home to pack my things.

My father had helped financially to purchase our home before our wedding. At that time, we had just graduated from medical school and were very strapped for money.

My father specifically added Alma’s name to the property deed. Yet, she had little attachment to this home.

Alma often made excuses that she had too many surgeries and slept in the hospital’s breakroom. She rarely came home.

Since we were getting a divorce, selling this house felt like the cleanest break.

I authorized a real estate agent friend to handle the sale. I asked him to list it for a quick sale.

I waited until HR was on duty. Then, I returned to the hospital to complete the resignation process.

On my way back to the office, I heard the doctors and nurses whispering.

“Looks like Dr. Northman and Dr. Ashford really had a falling out. He actually quit!”

“Does that mean Mr. Zidel is moving up? Dr. Ashford sure has a lot of guys lining up for her!”

I acted as if I did not hear them. I simply focused on clearing out my workstation.

My desk was covered in surgical records. The research on my computer was still unfinished.

I had taken on this work voluntarily because I felt sorry for Alma since she was so busy. I helped her write these materials.

In fact, I wrote most of the paper that got her promoted to attending physician. I gave her the first authorship.

There were times I did not sleep a wink. I would get off the operating table, and instead of resting, I would work effortlessly on writing papers for her.

I had supported Alma all the way to becoming department head. Yet her heart no longer belonged with me.

I smiled bitterly. Looking back, I could not believe how little I had valued myself.

As I passed by a consultation room, I heard Tobias call me.

“Dr. Northman, you’re leaving, and you didn’t even bother to say goodbye to anyone?”