Chapter 3

Three days later, Sandy and Quinton's wedding was held as scheduled.

Quinton was chatting with the guests in an expensive custom suit, making himself the center of attention.

Magnolia let go of my hand and stepped forward, saying, "Today, at Sandy’s request, I’ll stand in for her and complete the ceremony with the groom."

Countless eyes turned toward me either openly or otherwise. Not one person objected.

So, that was why she had postponed our wedding. She wanted to fulfill her dream with Quinton.

The whole thing was so absurd, I wanted to leave.

While Magnolia was preparing for the ceremony, Quinton walked over and stopped in front of me.

He looked me up and down, then gave me a smug smile. "Who would have thought the former golden boy of the medical world would end up like this? Crippled and disgraced."

I glanced at him coldly. "Still better than the loser who had to use a woman to get to where he is today."

His expression tightened as he grabbed my hand, smiling coldly. "Kayden, want to know something? Maggy was the one who paid those thugs a fortune to clear the way for me. While you were being tortured and your sister defiled for those ten hours, Maggy was right there with me, guiding my hands as I performed surgery. You're worth nothing in her eyes compared to me."

His eyes turned vicious. "A life like yours isn't worth living, you know? You should just resign from the hospital and make room for me..."

He tightened his grip, and pain shot through my hand. I knew he was trying to provoke me, trying to make me lose control.

But… I had stopped expecting anything from Magnolia a long time ago.

Instead, I forced myself to endure the pain and yanked my hand free. "If you want it, take it. I don't care."

Quinton suddenly threw himself backward and crashed into the dining table. His yell echoed through the banquet hall.

Magnolia ran over and knocked me into a ten-foot champagne tower before hurrying to help Quinton up. "What happened?!"

She immediately called the doctors over and had equipment brought in to examine Quinton, but she did not spare me a single glance as I sat in the broken glass, covered in blood.

Quinton pressed at the faint red mark on the back of his hand and spoke in a pitiful tone, "Dr. Foster, I know you're upset about your hands. I only wanted to share the good news that I’d just published three papers in top journals, but you tried to hurt my hands instead?!"

He had stolen my work in plain sight and won everyone's praise. As for me, I was already notorious. Voices of contempt and abuse rose all around me.

Before I could say a word, Magnolia slapped me across the face.

Then, she ground the heel of her shoe into the back of my hand. The pain nearly made me black out. "Quin never did anything to you! He's still thinking about you on his wedding day, and this is how you repay him? How can you be this ungrateful and try to ruin him?! This is exactly what you deserve for being so vicious! Quinton's hands are priceless! If anything happens to them, I won't show you any mercy!"

She wrapped an arm around Quinton and walked away without giving another glance at me.

Good.

There was no need for goodbyes.

I treated the wounds myself, then replied to my professor's message and told him he could come get me.

As I got into the van, Quinton sent me a photo of him and Magnolia kissing during their vows.

I glanced at it once and deleted it.

It was deep into the night before Magnolia remembered me, long after the wedding was over. The memory of my hand split open and covered in blood made her chest tighten. She pushed Quinton away as he held on to her, smelling of alcohol. "We have no more regrets now. Sandy is your wife. We should see each other less from now on."

After that, she was about to book a table at the usual restaurant I always went to and comfort me the way she always had. But just then, Robin called in a panic.

"Dr. Walker! We have a problem! Kayden's gone, and his room is covered in blood! And just now, our overseas licensors revoked the hospital's rights to use all of our core technologies!"