Chapter 3

The crowd's anger erupted completely.

Helen Reid, who regularly got free physical therapy at my clinic, shuffled forward with trembling hands and pointed at my nose.

She accused me, saying, "My back hurt last time, and you treated me for half a month before it got better. Were you deliberately using slow treatments so you could charge me more?"

I stood there dumbfounded. I had used the gentlest therapeutic approach specifically to avoid damaging her system long-term. She had grabbed my hands back then and thanked me over and over again.

Connor Barnes pushed through with his son, Isaac Barnes.

His face twisted in rage as he bellowed, "Isaac broke his leg last time, and he came here for treatment. You definitely overcharged him, too! Give us our money back right now, or I'll smash this dump of a clinic to pieces!"

I remembered clearly how Isaac's accident happened in the middle of the night. I had dragged myself out of bed to treat him as an emergency, worked until sunrise, and only charged 300 dollars for materials.

Then, there was the guy I had literally saved from death's door. He was now grinning like an idiot in front of Faye's livestream camera, pointing at me like I was some kind of joke.

He said, "Guys, this is the shady doctor who performed an illegal surgery on me! My wound still hurts, so it's definitely because his skills are terrible and left me with complications!"

To save him, I had rushed to clean and stitch the wound outside in an emergency situation. Unfortunately, the life-saving act had somehow become my 'crime' in his words.

My mom rushed out. Her frail body stood in front of me, trembling with rage. "Y…You can't be this heartless! You know exactly what kind of person Evan is! For you people, he gave up jobs at major hospitals and came back to this small town. How can you treat him like this?"

Yet, no one listened to her.

All they had in their eyes was anger and greed, whipped up by the mob.

Just then, a vehicle marked 'Health Inspection' pulled up at the corner. Several uniformed officials stepped out, their expressions stern.

"We received reports from the public accusing you of practicing medicine illegally and raising drug prices unfairly. You need to shut down this clinic immediately and cooperate with our investigation."

In the livestream, the comments exploded instantly.

[The authorities are here! That proves it!]

[Justice served! He needs to be punished severely!]

Looking at the chaos in front of me, I felt the world spinning around me. After taking several deep breaths, I yanked open my drawer and pulled out all my procurement receipts and billing records from the past few years.

"You want evidence? Here's your evidence! These are all my purchasing invoices and billing records! See for yourselves! Not only did I not overcharge you a single penny, but I've also sunk over 30,000 dollars of my mother's retirement savings into this clinic!"

Everyone froze at the sight of the mountain of receipts and ledgers piled on the desk.

However, Faye immediately jumped in again, screeching her rebuttal. "How do we know you didn't just make up these ledgers yourself? Receipts can be forged, too! You're the only one who knows the actual amounts, aren't you?"

I glared at her with bloodshot eyes. "Why don't you go ask around outside or check with the county hospital? All of these receipts have the pharmaceutical companies' official stamps. How could they be fake? Go and verify them yourself!"

I thought that presenting hard evidence would finally shut them up. Instead, Faye let out a cold laugh and dropped another bombshell.

"So what if your fees are a little lower than elsewhere? Does that give you the right to use it as a cover to sexually harass female patients in this town?"