Chapter 1

When I brought my mom's ashes back home for the memorial service, my relatives were gossiping about me behind my back.

"Her son and his girlfriend are both such talented doctors, and Connie still didn't even make it to 60. What a miserable life she had."

Another said, "Who knows what really happened? Gregory's girlfriend didn't even bother coming back with him. Maybe she saw Connie as nothing but a burden, so she didn't bother saving her."

Every single word felt like another knife twisting in my chest.

Right then, my aunt, Annie Webber, stormed over. She slapped me and yelled, "Gregory Harrington! Your mother gave you everything she had!

"She raised you alone, worked herself to the bone to put you through university, and even drained her savings to buy you an apartment in the city! How could you do this to her?"

Tears streamed down my face as everyone pointed fingers at me, yet I couldn't defend myself at all.

If I'd listened to my professor back in school and gone into the same specialty as my girlfriend, Bethany Olsen, then Mom might still be alive.

Back then, Bethany had told me, "I want to devote myself to one specialty and become the best at it. You should focus on post-op complications and be the one backing me up."

I never imagined those words would come back to haunt me.

At that moment, my phone started ringing nonstop. It was Bethany calling.

I wasn't in the mood to talk, so I declined the call. However, she didn't give up and kept calling.

I was about to block her when I accidentally answered the call instead. Almost immediately, she started yelling, "Where the hell have you been?

"You took time off from the hospital without even telling me! Do you even think of me as your girlfriend?"

"My hometown," I replied coldly.

Bethany let out a scoff. "Oh, right. Seth told me you transferred your mom to another hospital. Turns out, you moved her back home.

"And you still claim you didn't ask me to operate on your mom just to learn from me. If she were healthy enough to be sent back to some small town hospital, her condition obviously wasn't that serious.

"You swore you'd never go into the same specialty as me, Gregory. And now, you're lying about your mom's condition just to compete with me for the chief position. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

My hand, still gripping the phone, trembled slightly. "Shut up, Bethany! My mom's dead, okay? Are you happy now?"