Chapter 2

I didn't say a thing. Instead, I took off my doctor's coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the back of my chair. Then, I picked up the car keys on my desk and turned to leave.

Adrian was waiting in the middle of the hospital lobby, standing by a pillar there with a pair of sunglasses on his head and a hand in his pocket.

It was clear that he was waiting for me.

When he saw me walking out with a cardboard box of my things, he took off his sunglasses and gave me a smug grin.

"Say, aren't you getting off work a little too early today, Dr. Knight? Weren't you pretty stubborn when you rejected me yesterday? Oh, no, how did you end up getting fired over it?"

He then leaned in closer to me and said in a low voice, "Not a single hospital in the entire country will ever dare to employ you again, Stella Knight."

He then looked at me, waiting for me to express my shock or disbelief and fall to my knees to beg him for mercy.

However, I did none of that.

I just stared back at him quietly.

He frowned, as if he weren't satisfied with my response.

"I can give you a way out of this, however. You will come to the Duran household and be Adeline's private doctor. You will be on call 24 hours a day. And if you manage to treat her illness, then I can promise you that you won't have to worry about another day in your life again.

"So, what do you say?"

I suddenly chuckled. "Adrian Duran."

He was stunned.

"Did you really think the Durans were the only wealthy and influential family in the whole world?"

I didn't waste another breath on him and strode right out of the hospital, leaving him behind.

He didn't know that I wasn't just the deputy dean of this hospital, Gemmington Central Hospital, or just a well-known cardiologist in the city.

I was also a nationally appointed cardiologist and the only adoptive daughter of Sylvester Knight, the most esteemed and highly respected cardiologist behind Gemmington's biggest medical company, Knight Medical Group.

I was only working here as a cardiologist to hone my skills and complete the training assessment that Dad set for me.

The true national authority in medicine was the Knight family, and nobody else.

And yet, Adrian still thought that he could blacklist me from this industry?

What a joke!

That night, while scrolling on my phone, I suddenly realized that my name was trending on social media.

I was also included in a couple of trending hashtags on X, like "#LeadingCardiologistRefusedCriticalPatients", "#StellaKnightAcceptsBribes", "#EthicallyChallengedColdBloodedDoctor", and more.

A video was also wildly circulating online. It showed Adeline in a wheelchair, her face pale and haggard, clutching at her chest, while Adrian pleaded with me by her side to treat her.

"Dr. Knight, please save my sister… We've brought the money…"

The camera then cut to me, showing my cold expression as I said, "I will not treat your sister's illness. Kindly take your black card and get out of my office."

Immediately after that, an account claiming to be an "insider" revealed in a pinned comment, saying, "I'm working at Gemmington Central Hospital, and I can confirm that this is true! Dr. Knight is a horrible doctor, and she also accepts bribes by the side!

"She claimed that the bribe amount from the Durans was insufficient, and that was the reason why she refused to treat their daughter! But the dean already found out about it and has already fired her this afternoon!"

The rest of the comments under that were all insults and curses directed at me.

"That bitch! How could a vicious woman like her even be a doctor at this point?"

"Even capitalists have more conscience than she does! This doctor is so heartless. She needs to be thoroughly investigated!"

"I heard that she'd been banned across the Internet. Serves her right! Scum of the earth like her deserves to die!"

Adeline then posted on her social media accounts, showing a photo of her wrist receiving an IV drip, her skin pale and bluish. The caption read, "My life might be counting down now, but I still believe that there's light in this world. It's not Dr. Knight's fault. It's just my bad luck."

Hundreds of people rushed into my direct messages, insulted me with filthy words, edited photos of my tombstone, cursed my entire family, and more.

I just scoffed internally. Dr. Gallagher was the one who accepted the bribe from them to fire me this afternoon, and yet, he turned the arrows toward me instead and accused me of his own crime.

I'd already experienced the exact same treatment in my past life.

Adeline had another one of her "episodes", and Adrian then publicly accused me of worsening her condition, posting a maliciously edited video of me online and spreading lies about me online, slandering me and destroying my reputation altogether.

I called Adrian.

It took a couple of rings for him to finally answer the phone.

His smug, contemptuous voice came from the other end.

"Aw, what is it? Has Dr. Knight finally decided to come to her senses after all?"

I ignored his opening line. Instead, I said, "I will agree to treat your sister, Adrian Duran."