Chapter 3

The man's pleading drew everyone in the hospital to gather around.

I stood frozen in place, finding it all utterly absurd.

Just as I was about to shake him off, I heard Tasha roar with fury, "Keegan, don't you know that Owen has a clotting disorder?"

Her shout made me flinch. I looked up in disbelief. "You don't believe me? You actually think I would do something like this?"

"Ms. Snyder, Mr. Diaz has a rare blood type, and the hospital blood bank doesn't have enough of it. If we don't give him a transfusion now, he won't make it!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Hey, I remember Dr. Miller has the same blood type, too. A life for a life—we have to draw his blood!"

The voices of agreement rose louder and louder.

"Take him in!" Tasha's face was dark with anger as she ordered them to drag me into the transfusion room.

I suffered from severe hereditary anemia and needed voluntary blood transfusions every month.

With the amount of blood Owen was losing, they'd probably drain me dry.

The moment the needle pierced my vein, I began to panic and struggle.

"Tasha, are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten that I—"

"A life for a life, Keegan. You brought this on yourself."

Tasha then turned and walked away without a shred of mercy.

By the time the blood draw was over, I couldn't even stand anymore.

"Mr. Miller, Ms. Snyder said that as long as you apologize to Mr. Diaz on your knees, she'll authorize a blood transfusion for you."

Only after Leah finished speaking did it dawn on me that Tasha hadn't forgotten about my condition after all.

I let out a weak, scornful laugh. "Even if it kills me, this divorce is happening."

After that, I could no longer hold on and collapsed hard on the ground.

When I woke up again, the first thing I saw was Tasha's mocking face.

"Keegan, have you still not faced the facts? Without me, it will be difficult for you to even stay alive."

My eyes fell on the needle marks on her arm, and I smiled, my resolve unwavering.

"Just let me die, then."

Tasha's expression stiffened for a moment. After a long pause, she gave a contemptuous laugh.

"Fine. Have it your way. Let's see how long you can keep up that tough act."

That very night, the news that I, a medical prodigy, had hired someone to commit murder spread like wildfire across the internet.

The public outcry grew stronger and stronger. Even when the hospital director, Roger Doyle, personally held a press conference, he couldn't suppress the escalating scandal.

My phone was bombarded with calls overnight.

In this city, there was no one else but Tasha who could pull off something like this in such a short time.

My plea for mercy never came, so Tasha doubled down.

Just as the public outcry was beginning to subside, another trending topic gained traction out of nowhere.

A tipster had posted my medical diagnosis from years ago, showing that I suffered from PTSD, severe depression, and an emotional disorder.

This completely detonated public opinion. I, the rising star of the medical field, became utterly disgraced overnight.

The next morning, I went to the hospital.

Roger was bowing and scraping before Tasha.

Tasha took one look at me, her face dripping with contempt and a look that practically screamed, "I knew it."

"Keegan, I told you so—you're nothing without me. I was wondering how long you could keep up that tough act, but you couldn't even last two days before you came running to beg for mercy."

I calmly took out my resignation letter. As I looked at my medical credentials, I still found it hard to suppress the pang of bitterness.

Tasha knew better than anyone how grueling and difficult the path to becoming a doctor had been for me. She had always known that my lifelong dream was to be a doctor who saved lives and helped the wounded.

Yet, now, she had proven to me with cold, hard facts that my years of perseverance meant less than a single, offhand remark from Owen.

When she saw the resignation letter, Tasha froze for a moment, then laughed out of sheer exasperation.

She stood and ordered someone to hold me down and drag me to Owen's hospital room.

"You think resigning is enough? Someone shameless enough to do such filthy things should pay it all back in full!"

Owen's hand had been crushed under the wheel of the car, leaving him with a permanent disability.

Tasha signaled for the bodyguard to press my right hand down onto the table.

The moment I realized what she was about to do, I felt a massive wave of terror surge through me.

"Tasha, you can't do—" I let out a scream.

The bodyguard drove the knife clean through my palm. The pain was so excruciating that I almost blacked out.

I stared at my mutilated, blood-soaked hand and screamed in horror and despair.

Tasha looked away, completely unmoved.

"It just so happens this ward needs an orderly. Since you're the reason Owen ended up like this, it's only proper that you're the one taking care of him during his hospital stay."

I collapsed on the ground, in too much pain to utter a single word.

Owen looked down at me, a victor's smile spreading across his face.