Chapter 1

Alex's mother Rose had only a simple cold, but was killed by a nurse named Lily who administered the wrong IV.

I went to the hospital demanding answers, but was thrown out every single time.

Just as I was about to file a complaint with the state medical board and request a malpractice investigation, Alex—the hospital's chief physician—threw a box of ashes at me:

"I'm the hospital's most authoritative expert. What does it matter that your mother only had a cold? If I say she had a terminal illness, then she had a terminal illness."

"Besides, your mother's body has already been cremated. If you keep making a fuss, everyone will think your mother had a terminal disease and deliberately came to the hospital to cause trouble just to extort money."

"Take these ashes and get lost. Stop harassing Lily."

That's when I realized—Alex thought all along that it was my mother who had died.

I pushed the urn back toward him:

"I'm not qualified to take these ashes."

Alex thought I was refusing. His voice suddenly rose sharply:

"The person's already been cremated—what more do you want?"

"Mata, get this straight. Your mother was just an unemployed vagrant. Is her life worth tarnishing our hospital's reputation with a medical malpractice case? The hospital's already agreed to handle this privately—that's already your lucky break, so don't push your luck!"

I shook my head:

"You've got it wrong. What I mean is, these ashes should be yours to keep."

Alex's brow furrowed deeply, his face full of disgust:

"Are you out of your mind?"

"These are your mother's ashes. What do they have to do with me?"

"You think I'm like you, needing to live the rest of my life holding onto a box of ash?"

Alex came from a single-parent home.

His father died young, and Rose raised him through tremendous hardship.

To help him achieve his dream of becoming a doctor, Rose worked multiple jobs a day, wearing her body down with all kinds of health problems.

Alex saw it all and had always cared deeply for Rose.

At first, I didn't understand why when Rose had her accident, Alex didn't even come home. He devoted all his energy to protecting Lily, the person directly responsible.

I never imagined it was because he thought the person who died was my mother.

I looked at Alex with complete seriousness:

"Alex, I suggest you keep these ashes safe. Otherwise, you're going to regret it."

Alex didn't take me seriously:

"It's just a box of ashes. What's there to regret?"

"Now that your mother's already been cremated, all the evidence is gone. What are you going to use for an investigation? Just take your stuff and stop making trouble!"

Rose wasn't my biological mother.

But a perfectly healthy person was killed by a simple cold treatment, then branded as having a terminal illness and trying to extort money—and her own son even signed off on having her body hastily cremated.

Thinking about what she went through, my heart ached for her.

"Alex, since you know the hospital wants to cover up the accident, how could you bear to sign off on immediate cremation? Don't you think that's cruel?"

Alex's lips curled: "It was your mother, not mine. Why would I feel bad about it?"

"Besides, she's already dead. Cremating her quickly prevents complications and helps the hospital settle things down."

"It's her own fault for having such a weak body. Dying from a simple cold, and getting Lily suspended for investigation!"

Looking at Alex's self-righteous attitude, I found it hard to imagine what his reaction would be if he knew the dead person was his own mother.

Seeing my silence, Alex continued:

"Honestly, I always thought your mother's constitution meant she wouldn't live long anyway. Even if nothing happened this time, she definitely wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"The hospital's willing to give some compensation—you should be grateful!"

"Just take the ashes, and tomorrow buy some things to bring to the department and apologize to Lily. Then we can put this behind us."

With that, Alex left the urn and turned to leave.

Watching Alex's resolute departing figure.

I suddenly realized that the renowned doctor who once vowed to save lives had completely rotted from within.

This marriage needed to end.