Chapter 1

From head to toe, Elaine Foster was draped in designer brands. Her arm linked through Karl Claflin’s as they waited for their test results.

They had both been suffering from frequent headaches lately, so they had come to the hospital together for a check-up.

As they passed the ward, Elaine immediately spotted me.

I had just come out of a six-hour surgery and changed out of my scrubs, ready to go home, when I noticed something off about a patient.

Ignoring my exhaustion, I stepped in and handled it myself. I induced vomiting and stayed with him until his condition stabilized.

The nurses were completely overwhelmed, so I ended up crouching down and cleaning up the mess myself.

In Elaine’s eyes, she only saw me in a sorry state, working as a janitor.

She strode straight toward me. Her expression was a mix of disgust and ridicule as she said, “Michael Messner, look at where you’ve ended up. You’ve sunk so low that you are working as a janitor in a hospital. Without me, you’re nothing. If you’d passed my test back then, you’d be the one standing beside me now.”

She tightened her grip on Karl’s hand and continued, “But I suppose I should thank you. Because of you, I found someone who really loves me.”

Karl gave her a gentle smile before turning to me. “He must regret it now. But he has no one to blame but himself. He was selfish and refused to give you what you needed. He brought this upon himself. Besides, he never even finished college. It’s no surprise he ended up like this.”

Karl turned to the hospital staff passing by and said, “This is a VIP ward. The people who come here are distinguished. You need to throw this janitor out right now. The stench of poverty on him makes us sick.”

At this hospital, I spent most of my time in scrubs and a mask, moving between operating rooms and restricted floors. I only took the most complex cases.

Therefore, the newer nurses did not recognize me. Taking Karl at his word, they said politely, “Sorry, sir. Cleaning is not needed during patient care hours. Please step outside.”

I did not stop working. Not wanting to make things difficult for them, I replied calmly, “I’m a doctor here. I’ll leave after I finish cleaning this up.”

Their priority was the patients. They were already stretched thin. When I did not move, they chose not to argue and hurried off to call security.

Elaine, however, acted as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

“Michael, you? A doctor? You could not even finish college. That is honestly pathetic. Just look at you. Cleaning up other people’s vomit suits you perfectly.”

She turned to the small crowd that had begun to gather.

“Let me tell you all a story about him. Back then, he refused to donate blood for me. He failed my test because he was too selfish. Now, I am worth millions, and he missed his chance to marry me. I bet he regrets it every single day. Poor people stay poor for a reason. They’re selfish. They have no vision. The smallest tests reveal their true nature.”

I looked at Elaine and asked, “Do you remember why I didn’t finish college?”

Elaine’s expression froze for a moment, as if something had crossed her mind.

Back then, she had faked her illness and convinced me to donate blood for her 99 times. The constant blood loss had taken a serious toll on my body. I was severely anemic.

Even walking a short distance would leave me dizzy and weak.

When it came time for the 100th session, I accidentally discovered that Elaine was not only well, but her family was also extremely wealthy.

She had hired people to play along with her sick game. It was all to manipulate me into giving her my blood again and again.

On top of that, she turned around and used my precious blood to make blood sausages for Karl’s dog. Karl was the most popular guy on campus.

I was disappointed and hurt. After refusing her final test, I took a leave of absence from school and went home to recuperate.

She never knew that I came from a family of doctors. Medicine always came naturally to me. After restoring my health, I went abroad to restart my medical studies. Later, I became a top neurosurgeon, recognized both at home and around the world.

Karl did not notice the subtle shift in Elaine’s expression. He continued to insult me. “It was because your fake act fell apart. You dropped out because you were too ashamed to show your face at school.”

Elaine suddenly spoke in a cold voice. “Enough. Throw him out. I don’t want to see him.”