Chapter 3

After leaving Vera's office, Cassian felt so indignant that he was on the verge of tears. Shawn not only stole Lydia away, but also teamed up with her to frame him. Most importantly, Vera believed their claims and demoted him to a nursing assistant!

A nursing assistant was just a glorified caregiver. Their job was to help the patient with menial chores, such as cleaning up after the patient, washing their feet, feeding them, wiping them down, and even assisting them with their bodily functions…

Cassian had graduated from medical school! What was the point of studying all those years if he was now relegated to doing such tasks?

He knew full well that he only ended up in this situation because he was powerless.

"If I were the son of a rich man, Lydia would never have betrayed me. Shawn wouldn't have dared to hit me, and Dr. Frost wouldn't have made me become a nursing assistant either. It all comes down to the fact that I have no money and no power. That's why things turned out like this for me.

"I'm going to make something of myself. I'm going to succeed in life and stomp on all who ever looked down on me!" Cassian clenched his fists and swore to himself.

When the elevator doors opened, Cassian walked in, only to be hit with the smell of a familiar perfume. Looking up, he saw Shawn and Lydia standing inside the elevator. Shawn was sporting an obvious wound on his nose, the injury Cassian had given him back at Lydia's place.

What rotten luck it was for Cassian to run into them. His instinctive reaction was to back out. He didn't want to be in the same elevator with these two shameless people, but Shawn began gloating with a laugh, "Oh! If it isn't our newest nursing assistant! What a coincidence."

Lydia eyed Cassian in scorn. "Why do we keep running into you everywhere? How annoying!"

Cassian chose to ignore everything. He had nothing to say to these two. Alas, he didn't know that his reaction only served to infuriate Shawn even further.

"I won't drop this matter so easily, Cassian," Shawn declared. "Count yourself lucky that Vera, that bitch, chose to protect you. Otherwise, you would've been kicked out of the hospital. You wouldn't even get to be a nursing assistant."

"What does this have to do with Dr. Frost?" Cassian asked.

"Hah! If Vera hadn't defended you by promising the medical affairs department that she'd take full responsibility if you messed up again, do you think they would've dropped the matter so easily? I still can't figure it out. What's going on between you and Vera anyway? Why is she so protective of you?" Shawn wondered. "Are you two sleeping together?"

"That's none of your business!"

"You!"

Shawn raised his fist and got ready to swing a punch at Cassian.

"Don't do anything hasty!" Lydia quickly stopped Shawn. Lowering her voice, she reminded him, "There's a security camera here in the elevator. You'll get in trouble if there's a record of you hitting him."

Only then did Shawn lower his fist and snort. "As long as you're still in the hospital, Cassian, I can fuck you up."

Cassian paid Shawn no mind. His thoughts were preoccupied. He now realized he'd been mistaken about Vera. He would've been chased out of the hospital if she hadn't come to his defense. His heart warmed at the thought.

Shawn's eyes flickered after he saw no reaction from Cassian. He asked Lydia, "What made you choose this sucker anyway?"

"I must've been blind."

"You're right. Only a blind fool would take a liking to this loser. By the way, Lydia, that love motel we went to the last time was pretty fun. Let's go there again."

"Oh, you perv! You're always thinking about those things even in broad daylight."

"Don't act as though you don't like it. I still remember the way you kept moaning for over half an hour the last time…"

Their conversation became more and more perverse, igniting Cassian's rage. It was obvious they were bringing this up in front of him to provoke him. He nearly couldn't hold back the urge to hit Shawn, but he managed to in the end.

Cassian knew that if he attacked Shawn, the whole thing would be caught on camera. Shawn would then take the footage and report him to the medical affairs department. Once that happened, not even Vera could save him anymore.

He would be kicked out of the hospital and be a disgrace to his family.

Thus, Cassian told himself that he had plenty of time to get his revenge. There was no harm in holding himself back for the time being.

The elevator arrived on the first floor, opening up to the hospital lobby. It was filled with people, including countless patients who were waiting for their appointments, collecting their medication, and paying their bills.

Glancing at Cassian, Shawn thought to himself, "Let's see how much longer you can hold yourself back."

Noticing the look in Shawn's eyes, Cassian got a bad feeling. He sped up to try and get away as soon as possible.

"Hold it, Cassian. Don't rush off just yet," Shawn said with a grin as he blocked Cassian's path.

"What are you trying to do?" Cassian asked warily.

"You'll find out soon enough," Shawn retorted with a malicious smirk. Then, he raised his voice. "Look over here, everyone! Let me introduce you to someone!"

Drawn by his voice, many people looked over.

Pointing at Cassian, Shawn addressed the crowd, "This man is Cassian York. He was an intern doctor here at the hospital, but he proved to be an unscrupulous man. He plagiarized a medical record that I wrote, and once I caught him red-handed, he beat me up. See this wound on my nose? He's the one who hit me.

"Well, he's now been demoted to the role of nursing assistant. Remember his face, everyone. If you need a nursing assistant, make sure you don't get him, or you might get attacked! Don't say I didn't warn you."

Unaware of the truth, the patients and their families gathered in the lobby began launching into a tirade.

"Rivershire Hospital is a well-established hospital! How can they hire someone like that?"

"He's obviously nothing but trouble!"

"I think he should be kicked out of the hospital at once!"

Cassian knew that under these circumstances, it didn't matter what he did or said. No one would believe him. After shooting an icy glare Shawn's way, he started to leave.

"What's the matter? Trying to run because you're guilty?" Shawn called out. He stood in Cassian's way, blocking his path, before saying to the crowd, "Hey, everyone. Let me fill you in on a shocking secret!"

As soon as Cassian heard the word "secret", he knew what Shawn was about to say. "Don't push it, Shawn!"

Sneering, Shawn hollered, "Listen up, everyone. This nursing assistant here is actually a bastard who grew up without a father!"

A commotion broke out at once.

"I never knew Cassian was born out of wedlock!"

"No wonder he'd plagiarize Dr. Goff Jr.'s work and even attack Dr. Goff Jr.! He wasn't raised properly!"

"A fatherless bastard like him should be run out of the hospital!"

Everyone began eyeing Cassian with suspicious, hostile expressions. Pale with anger, Cassian glared murderously at Shawn. Sparks were almost coming out of his eyes.

Meanwhile, Shawn wasn't done with humiliating Cassian. He came forward and smacked Cassian on the face, jeering arrogantly, "So what if I'm pushing all your buttons to fuck with you? What can you do about it?"

Cassian was infuriated. He couldn't ball his fists any tighter. Shawn was a bastard through and through for stomping on his dignity in public like that. It wasn't something that should be taken lying down, but at the same time, Cassian knew that if he got physical with Shawn, he'd be fired from the hospital.

Rivershire Hospital was the best hospital in Rivershire. If he got fired, his professional reputation would be sullied for good. No hospital would dare to give him a job.

"It's my fault for being powerless. Why else would Shawn dare to be this arrogant and domineering? If I…"

All of a sudden, Cassian remembered something.

It wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, right?

With that in mind, Cassian called out, "Hey, Shawn! You sure love twisting the truth around. Aren't you worried about divine retribution?"

"Divine retribution, my ass! I'm not scared of anyone, not even God!"

Thud!

Before Shawn could react, a sharp pain struck him. Blood began to run down his head.