Chapter 2

Watching the two of them put on their little show, I almost laughed out loud.

I was the one who had approved Austin's residency here, intrigued by his overseas medical fellowship.

I had hoped he'd bring fresh surgical insights to our department. Instead, he slacked off constantly—and somehow grew suspiciously close to my wife.

Several times, he had made careless clinical errors that warranted official reprimands, but Chloe had quietly buried the incident reports every single time.

She had even chewed me out for being too rigid.

"Can't you give junior doctors room to make mistakes? Why do you have to be so damn ruthless?"

That was when I started noticing things slipping out of control.

And today, the blinders were completely off.

I nodded calmly. "Since you're so capable, you might as well manage her post-op care. The lead physician title is all yours."

Austin instantly waved his hands in mock panic.

"Oh no, I'm just a resident! Hospital policy doesn't allow me to be the lead attending!"

"Policy can change!" Chloe chimed in without missing a beat, resting a warm hand on Austin's shoulder. "Director Vance saw your success with his own eyes. Your future here is limitless!"

She shot me a dismissive glare, then smiled warmly at Austin. "You are the rising star of this hospital. I have total faith in you."

I unclipped my lead attending badge and shoved it into Austin's chest.

His mouth kept murmuring polite refusals, but his fingers clamped around the badge like a vice, as if terrified I'd snatch it back.

"You just spent hours under intense pressure in the OR. You must be exhausted. Go get some rest," Chloe said softly, nudging him forward and leaving me behind without a second glance.

Watching them walk away shoulder to shoulder, a strange numbness washed over me.

After a few steps, Austin glanced back at me over his shoulder.

His eyes were dripping with pure mockery.

I caught it, but I didn't react.

A momentary success in the OR meant absolutely nothing.

I had studied that patient's scans thoroughly. She had severe, atypical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combined with delicate mitral valve degradation.

While valve issues were common in elderly patients, her specific condition triggered a cascade of rare vascular complications.

It was one of the trickiest heart anomalies known in modern medicine.

In its early stages, it mirrored common cardiovascular distress. An inexperienced doctor would easily misdiagnose it.

Very few specialists nationwide had done extensive research on this exact variant, but my doctoral thesis had focused on it entirely.

I was the only surgeon in this hospital—if not the country—who could successfully reconstruct that valve and prevent immediate relapse.

What Austin achieved in the OR was nothing more than a superficial patch.

The moment the secondary complications kicked in, the patient would crash.

He wanted so desperately to be the hero in front of the director, completely blind to the fact that playing fast and loose with a patient's life came with a deadly price.

After seeing Austin off, Chloe walked back over to me.

Her warm, tender expression instantly vanished, replaced by open disgust.

"I told you from the start that you couldn't handle it, but you insisted on showing off."

"Now that you've embarrassed yourself in front of Director Vance, you can kiss any chance of promotion goodbye."

"Whatever. You're getting old anyway. Just stay in your lane and do your basic rounds."

She was always like this.

Belittling my skills, mocking my ambitions, having no idea that I simply chose not to brag.

Back in the office, Austin was waiting by my desk.

"Dr. Miller, could you hand over all of the patient's prior charts? It'll make it easier for me to manage her targeted post-op regimen."

Several doctors in the lounge peeked over, clearly eavesdropping.

A resident jumping straight to lead attending was unheard of.

And with the director's implicit blessing, no less.

Their looks toward me were filled with pity. To them, I was a finished man who had offended the big boss and ruined his career.

I picked up the thick stack of medical files from my desk.

As Austin reached out with an arrogant smirk, I let go.

The papers scattered violently across the floor.

Austin's smug face instantly froze.