When the hospital director called me for the tenth time, I was still stuck in traffic on the winding mountain road leading into the city.

A pink Polo driving inexcusably slow was wedged in the middle of two lanes and obstructing my path.

The "New Driver" sticker on the rear of the car seemed to insult me.

I took a deep breath before slamming on the horn.

That was when the car jerked to a stop. A man in a floral shirt stepped out of the car, marched to my car, and pounded on my window.

"What's with the rush?! Can't you tell by the sticker that I'm a new driver? If you cause an accident, you're going to have to pay up!"

I gripped the steering wheel so tightly that veins bulged on the back of my hand.

The director's desperate cries were still echoing in my ears, "Dr. Leigh, the boy is dying! The only information we have is that his father's name is Ronald Baker!"

Upon noting my silence, the man smiled smugly before smacking the hood of my car. "Go ahead, drive over the barrier to bypass me if you want! Even the police have to slow down for me!"

With that, he slammed his brand-new driver's license against my window. "Look closely, I just got my license yesterday! I'm a legal driver!"

I quickly glossed over the driver's license. What stood out to me was his name printed on the license.

Ronald Baker.

I felt a strange tingling feeling in my scalp. How could such a coincidence be possible?

"Hi, Ronald Baker. I’m Candice Leigh, the head surgeon of the hospital."

Time was of the essence. I rolled down my window and suppressed my anger before speaking. I did not beat around the bush, "Your son, Robin Baker, is in the ICU right now, and I need to operate on him. If you won’t let me pass, he’s going to die."

Ronald paused for a moment before laughing. "What mental hospital did you come from?"

He suddenly reached into my car and seized me by the collar of my shirt. "I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you off easy, but if you ever put such a curse on my son again, I’ll make sure you get what you deserve."

I was gasping for breath and struggling to break away from him. Only then did I realize he was in the middle of a video call with a woman.

Then, he sneered and turned to the woman on the phone with a smarmy smile. "Did you see that, sweetie? That’s how you strongarm someone."

He barely even glanced at me and proceeded to start preaching to the woman, "Remember, if you ever meet someone like this when you’re driving, you must never yield. The more you try to play nice, the more she’s going to try to take advantage of you.

"She’s the type to take advantage of new drivers who are inexperienced and are afraid of getting in trouble. That’s how she gets the best of them!

"If you start caving in, it’s only a matter of time before she starts asking for money."

The woman nodded soberly as if she had been enlightened. Then, she glared through the screen.

Ronald proceeded to sit on the hood of my car, lit a cigarette, and regarded me with a smug expression.

Then, I heard the voice of an online influencer blaring out of the cheap speakers on his phone. The jarring sound seemed to echo across the quiet mountain range.

"Hello, everyone! Today I’m going to teach you how to navigate a sharp corner in the mountains…"

He was learning on the spot while watching a tutorial! It was as if the whole road was his personal driving course!

That was when I finally snapped.

"Candice! Where are you?! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?!" It was the director of the hospital, Dr. Jonathan Gibson, calling. "The boy’s spleen has ruptured, blood is gushing out of him like no tomorrow!

"If you still can’t be here in twenty minutes, then don’t bother! You might as well go straight to the morgue to collect his body!"

Dr. Gibson's sharp rebuke mingled with the rambling of the influencer on the phone. It was so overwhelming that it felt like I had two pairs of hands wrapped around my throat.

I decided I could not take it anymore. With that, I threw the door open and shoved my phone in front of Ronald.

My name and picture were displayed clearly on the hospital's official website.

"Candice Leigh. Head Surgeon of the City Hospital."

Ronald snatched the phone from me and squinted as he scrutinized each word.

"Wow, she came ready!" He showed my phone to the woman on the video call while remarking derisively, "That is some amazing Photoshop she’s got going on over here."

Then, he taunted me, "If you’re going to fake it, you might as well call yourself the director of the hospital instead of just the head surgeon! Just because you drive an Audi and are all dressed up, that doesn’t mean you can pretend to be a doctor!"

I was baffled by how arrogant he was, "Give my phone back before I call the police!"

"Ha! Look at you, you’re losing your cool! I can tell you’re new to this. You’re going to need to work on your temper."

As he said this, he reached into the trunk of his car, where he produced a triangle safety warning, which he set up on top of my car. "Let me show you how you obey traffic rules! Even the police would be amazed by how much of a model citizen I am!"

He then blew a puff of smoke in my face, which made me cough violently.

I was shaking with anger by this point and confronted him head-on, "Quit your false accusations! If you don’t believe me, then go ahead and call the director!"

"Yeah, right!" He laughed hysterically as if I had told him a joke to the point that he was in tears, "As if I’d call your partner-in-crime!"

Then, the woman on the phone finally chimed in, "Honey, if she’s so confident…"

"You don’t understand!" Ronald cut her off impatiently, "This is how they scam you! I’ve seen it online!

"They stop a car on the street and make up stories about how their family member is dying. Then, they trick you into going to the hospital with them and have you buy the medicine so they can rake in an easy eight, ten thousand dollars."

He turned and blew another mouthful of cigarette smoke at me, "Listen up, I’m all caught up to date on the latest scams! An amateur like you has nothing on me!

"Watch this, honey." He turned back to the woman on the phone and proceeded to dial the number of his son’s teacher, "In these kind of situations, all I need to do is make a phone call to expose the scam.

"Listen. Once I prove that my son is alright, it’s going to be the end of her!"

The dial tone kept ringing, but nobody picked up. It was so quiet that the only other sound that could be heard was that of the wind.

Ronald’s smug smile visibly stiffened. At the same time, a nervous look appeared in his eyes.

After what seemed like forever, someone finally picked up.

It was the voice of a woman, "Hello, is this Robin Baker’s father? Sorry, I was in a meeting just now."

"Hello, Miss Emilia. Yes, it’s me. I was just calling to ask if my son is at school right now."

"Of course he’s at school! It’s a weekday after all. He should be in the middle of a P.E. class right now."

Upon hearing this, I quickly approached and leaned in closer to the phone so I could get additional confirmation. "That’s impossible! Please take a look, he should be in the…"

"I see, I see. It’s fine, I won’t be taking any more of your time, hahaha!" Before I could finish, Ronald hung up while laughing sarcastically.

I grew anxious and instinctively reached for his phone, "You have to call her again to check. This is a matter of life and death!"

He dodged before casting me a derisive look. "Why? What are you getting so anxious about?"

Upon realizing that there was no use reasoning with him, I prepared to leave.

Just as I was walking away, I felt a terrible throb of pain in my scalp. He had yanked me so hard by the hair that I teared up from the pain.

"Hold on now, when did I say you could leave? Did you forget what I told you? My son may be fine, but you’re in big trouble!"

My heart dropped. This was bad. It was going to be very difficult to get away from someone as aggressive and unruly as he was.

Just as I was plotting my escape, my phone inside the car rang.

In the tiny window when he was distracted by the phone, I clenched my teeth and stomped as hard as I could on his foot. The moment his grip loosened, I broke free and ran back into the car, where I slammed the doors and locked the windows.

He ran after me and pressed his face against the window.

I was taken aback when I turned to look at him.

He wore a stiff smile while he slowly, rhythmically tapped against the glass. It was as if he were toying with an animal inside an enclosure.

It was impossible to predict the next move of someone who had a tendency for violence like him. It was especially the case when he believed he held the moral high ground over me.

This was something I learned over the years as a medical practitioner.

Meanwhile, my phone was still ringing. There was no time to think. I answered Dr. Gibson’s call.

"Dr. Leigh! Where are you? The child is showing multiple signs of organ failure! You are the only one who can handle something like this! Do you want me to get on my knees and beg for you to come?"

Dr. Gibson's voice, along with the sound of Roland smacking against the window, formed a discordant opera. I felt like my head was going to split open.

Then, I heard the sharp, grating sound of metal against metal. The sharp screech shot into my eardrums.

I looked in the rearview mirror just in time to meet Ronald’s devilish gaze. He brandished his keys at me while taunting me with a smile.

I immediately realized what had happened. He had scratched the word "scammer" onto my new car. The handwriting was crooked. Each letter was carved as deeply as ravines and covered the entire surface of my car.

This was a new car I bought for myself on my 30th birthday. I had to live frugally for a few years just to afford it at all.

There was no time to grieve over it. I immediately dialed the emergency number.

Before the call even connected, I felt an ominous feeling wash over me.

It all happened in an instant. Following a deafening crash, a brick smashed right through the window. The brick grazed across my face and drew a deep gash.

It was immediately followed by Ronald reaching into the car to unlock the door before forcibly pulling me out of it.

He roared with laughter while dragging me to the floor. He even took the car keys out of the ignition so I could not get away from him.

That was when he noticed the amulet I had strapped to the rearview mirror. He proceeded to yank it so hard that the thread broke in an instant.

"Look at this, you have an amulet! Did you get it so you can ward off karmic debt from all the harm you’ve been doing?"

I was appalled. It was an amulet my grandmother had given to me when I was a child, when I nearly died from a fever. She had taken a pilgrimage and climbed thousands of steps to an old church to get it for me.

It was one of the very few memorabilia I had of her.

"Give it back!"

He began to gloat when he noticed how frantic I had become. He fiddled the amulet between his fingers and scowled, "How dare a scammer like you expect to get any kind of divine protection? Keep dreaming!"

With that, he threw the amulet to the ground and stomped on it. "I’ll show you divine retribution."

I felt a terrible throb in my heart. I lunged at him with tears in my eyes.

It was no use. He grabbed me and pinned my hands behind my back, rendering me immobile in an instant. He grabbed me by my chin and forced me to look at him.

"You damned wench. You should be staying at home instead of parading out here! How dare you criticize my driving skills? Who do you think you are?"

I was worn out and dizzy by then. I felt like I was seeing stars.

It looked like a thought suddenly came to him then. He cocked a look at me before reaching for his phone to start a livestream.

"Hello, everyone! I just got my driving license today, and what would you know? I ran into a scammer! She says my son is in the ICU, tried to attack me, and even tried to scam money out of me!

"I’ll suck up my losses, but I’m going to take the chance to get revenge for everyone who has been scammed!

"We’re going to punish her live for every gift you send! A slap is worth $5, a kick is worth $10!

"If you send $50, I’ll have her get on her knees and beg for forgiveness!"

Everyone in the livestream cheered, but nobody sent any gifts. I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that nobody was willing to be the first to step up despite the commotion.

Ironically, it was their posturing that saved me.

As it turned out, I celebrated too soon.

A sinister look appeared in Ronald’s eyes. He proceeded to reach for his other phone, where he sent a gift to himself!

"Wow! Thank you very much for the $10! I’ll put on a good show for you all to see!"

With that, he warmed up his wrist before slapping me hard across the face. My cheeks immediately turned red and swollen. It hurt so much that I gasped from the pain.

The viewers began to react.

"Attaboy! You did not hold back at all!"

"Oh my god! Are you going to get in trouble for this?"

"What are you taking pity on her for? Let’s see if you’ll still feel this way when she scams you!"

After the first demonstration, more viewers began to send gifts out of curiosity.

One, two, three…

It did not take long before gifts came streaming in. It was starting to get out of hand.

Roland grinned from ear to ear. His hands were occupied with slapping me from left to right the entire time.

"Thank you for your support, everyone! I’m not going to hold back and will make sure the scammer gets what’s coming to her!

"Going easy on her would be unfair to the rest of us! I’m not doing this for money, I’m doing this to get revenge for everyone!"

My ears were ringing from the countless barrage of slaps. Blood would not stop trickling out of the corners of my mouth.

Ronald and the audience appeared to have descended into a frenzied, bacchanalian delirium. Driven by a thirst for spectacle, they began brainstorming increasingly cruel methods to inflict suffering upon me.

"She claims she’s a doctor? Let’s see if she can give me medical advice. I had a glass of water this morning, and now my heel hurts. Why is that? I’ll give her fifty cents if she answers correctly."

I was furious and cried out, "That usually means your brain isn't fully developed!"

After a brief pause, the viewer proceeded to send $150. Ronald grinned from ear to ear and proceeded to kick me in the stomach fifteen times.

My stomach churned with pain. I doubled over and felt like I was going to pass out.

"I’m sorry, she has no manners! I’ll make sure she gets on her knees and apologize!"

A chill ran through me. Before I could even react, Ronald kicked me in the shin and forced me to my knees.

Then, he shoved my head down and smiled while he apologized to the viewers. He made it seem as if he was reprimanding a child who had made a mistake.

I was trying to hold on for dear life, but my body was giving way. A wave of despair washed over me. Even breathing took so much effort.

How could I be expected to save someone else when I could barely save myself?

Just as I felt like my pride was going to be squashed entirely, I heard the sound of sirens approaching.