From White Coats to Bloodied Aprons のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

I didn't respond to my wife, Ellie Harper. For the first time, I hung up on her.Sure enough, she was furious, and my phone rang again. I just blocked her, like she always did to me after one of her tantrums.Mom and Dad looked at me with concern. "Vance, what's going on with you and Ellie?" Mom asked.Meeting their curious gazes, I gave them a quick smile and lowered my head to shovel a few bites of food before replying indifferently, "Things are not working out. We'll be getting a divorce soon."Mom sighed, but she just gave Dad—who was still dazed—a quick pat. Then she forced a cheerful tone as she urged us to focus on our meal.My phone buzzed with a new message. It was an apology from Ellie's assistant, Jaiden Roth, in the workgroup chat."I was just messing around. Big thanks to Dr. Harper for not taking it to heart. My apologies if my post bothered anyone."But the bragging was pretty clear.Soon, Ellie replied, "It was just a joke. There's nothing to apologize for. If

Jaiden was the one pulling all the strings behind the scenes, so why was he acting in front of me now?I sneered and shot back, "Sorry, I just realized working with someone like you is beneath me. So, I'm out."Jaiden's smirk grew wider. He became even more smug, raising his voice as he pointed at me."Vance, as a doctor, you've caused a major medical accident. You can just resign and run away, but the patient's family is making a scene. It's the hospital's reputation that's taking the hit."I suggest you apologize to everyone in the hospital. Why should we all suffer because of the mess you caused?"After saying that, Jaiden looked around, expecting someone to back him up.The sheer absurdity of it was almost funny. I turned and prepared to walk away.But Jaiden wasn't done. He rushed up and blocked my path. I tried to sidestep him, but at that moment, he suddenly plopped down on the floor.Ellie's voice rang out instantly. "Jaiden! Are you okay?"She quickly ran over to him,

Ellie and Jaiden both froze. Jaiden was actually the first to snap out of it. He snatched the divorce certificate from my hand. After confirming it was real, he fought to suppress the delight dancing in his eyes.Turning to Ellie, he angled the document toward her and scoffed. "Vance, this fake divorce certificate is surprisingly well-made! A leech like you could never survive a day without Ellie. There's no way you actually went behind her back and got a real divorce."But Ellie didn't pick up on his sarcasm. She didn't even glance at the certificate he was waving in her face. Instead, she shoved his hand aside and stepped in front of me, her eyes boring into mine."Stop playing games, Vance! I haven't even seen a divorce agreement. How could you possibly have a divorce certificate?"Looking at her stubborn disbelief, I felt a sudden urge to laugh. "Oh, you've seen the agreement. In fact, you're the one who threw it in my face."Ellie choked back whatever she was going to say,

I had no idea how long Ellie spent pounding on my door. Eventually, it seemed a neighbor grew tired of the noise and called the police. It was only then that the officers arrived to escort her away.I didn't bother checking the peephole. I didn't know if it was the same two officers from before.I stripped the sheet and comforter from the bed and replaced them with fresh ones. The old bedding went straight into the trash bin.That night, I slept better than I had in years.As I left home the next morning, I sent the new door code to the real estate agent. I told him he had full authority to show the place and to prioritize a quick sale over a high price.Then, I drove back to my hometown and spent two weeks living the quiet life with Mom and Dad.The house sold faster than I expected. The agent was surprisingly capable. Not only did I avoid the price cut I was prepared for, but I actually walked away with a little profit.In the meantime, I sent out a few resumes. Several top-

This time, Ellie didn't make a scene. She simply kneeled before Mom and Dad, bowed her head to the floor, and whispered her apologies.I wasn't entirely sure how they felt about it. Though Ellie had hurt me, she had also saved me once, and they had truly loved her like a daughter.But none of that mattered to me anymore. I had successfully joined the city's best hospital. With my track record, my career took off almost immediately.During that time, I met Mira Blackwell, a woman who truly had eyes for no one but me.We made a promise to alternate visiting each other's families during the holidays, and she never once broke that promise.Mira treated my parents with such genuine respect that they quickly grew to adore her.After just six months of dating, we walked down the aisle.When we first started seeing each other, I laid out my whole history with Ellie. Mira was furious, ready to track Ellie down and settle the score right then and there. I had to pull her into my arms and