My scalpel slipped during surgery, slicing into my own wrist.

Even then, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'd asked my colleague multiple times if it could be a coincidence—a case of someone with the same name. But she insisted: in this region, he was the only person with the surname Maynard.

After the operation, I forced down my anger and rushed to the site. I needed to confront Scott.

But the moment I arrived, I saw him placing a flower crown on Piper's head. She was wearing the only white dress I owned, her cheeks tinged with a bashful blush under the sunlight.

A crowd gathered around them, singing unfamiliar blessings in a language I couldn't understand.

They danced together beneath the sun, moving in perfect sync, like a couple deeply in love.

For a moment, I felt like I had fallen into an ice pit. It was July, but I couldn't breathe.

When Scott turned and saw me, he instinctively pulled his arm away from around Piper.

Panic filled his face as he jogged over to me. "What are you doing here?"

I glanced at the lipstick stain on his shirt collar and gave a cold, bitter laugh. "Came to give you a wedding gift."

At my words, his brow furrowed, as if trying to suppress his frustration. "Don't make a scene. I'll explain everything when we get back."

I actually laughed—really laughed, because I couldn't believe it.

My boyfriend was holding a wedding ceremony with another woman, and now I wasn't even allowed to ask why?

Looking at the man in front of me, so calm and composed, I felt like I was hallucinating. Wasn't this the same person who had held me not long ago, whispering about marriage?

Grievance surged in my chest, and tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them.

Seeing me cry, Scott panicked. "Mia, I was wrong. But I can explain. Don't overthink it. I'll explain everything later, okay? Please don't make a scene."

He reached out to gently wipe my tears.

I pushed his hand away and turned to leave without another word.

Scott made a move to follow me, but Piper called out behind him, "Dr. Maynard… don't leave me…"

Watching my retreating figure, he hesitated for a long moment, then didn't come after me.

I sat alone in our home until the early hours of the morning. It wasn't until then that Scott finally returned, reeking of alcohol.

He used to never drink a drop.

Seeing my expression, he instinctively reached out to hold my trembling body.

"Piper's condition has been unstable. She's been having memory lapses lately," he said. "I'm just helping her recover. We're doctors. You understand, don't you? We can't just stand by and do nothing when a patient needs us. There's no such thing as male or female in the eyes of a doctor—only patients."

When I didn't respond, he cupped my face in his hands, gazing into my eyes with sincerity.

"Mia, I gave up everything to come with you to this foreign land. How could you doubt me like this?"

There was even disappointment in his eyes.

He sounded so earnest… and yet, I couldn't bring myself to believe him.

Because it was absurd.

Seeing my expression hadn't softened, he gently took my hand and slipped a ring onto my finger—one made from a soda can tab. Then he lowered his head and kissed it.

"Mia, let's get married when we return to our homeland, okay? You're the only woman I'll ever love. I'll give you the grandest wedding, make you the most beautiful bride."

I leaned into his embrace, my fingers tracing the makeshift ring.

The doubts in my heart eased a little.

Maybe… Piper really was just his patient.

What I didn't expect was that after that day, Scott became even bolder in how he doted on Piper.

He began bringing her in and out of the office openly, indulging her every whim without hesitation.

I warned him more than once to keep a professional distance, but he would only brush me off with perfunctory reassurances. He accused me of lacking compassion, of turning my back on someone in need.

Before long, the hospital was abuzz with rumors. They said Scott had fallen for someone new. Some even romanticized it, calling their bond a love born from surviving hardship together.

Before I had the chance to confront him, Piper came to find me.

At the time, I was working a free clinic in a disaster zone. Gone was her usual delicate, soft-spoken demeanor. In its place was smug arrogance.

"Dr. Armstrong," she said, chin held high, "Scott loves me. I suggest you back off before things get ugly. He told me that he only came to this godforsaken place because you pressured him into it. If it were up to him, he never would've become a field doctor.

"Save yourself the humiliation and break up with him. Do you really want to be the pathetic one clinging to a man who's already moved on?"

My hand trembled as I snapped open an ampoule. The jagged edge sliced deep into my skin. Blood poured down my wrist.

She smiled faintly, eyes gleaming with triumph. "Still not giving up, Dr. Armstrong? No matter. You'll know soon enough who Scott chooses."

She leaned in closer. I instinctively stepped back, but she suddenly grabbed my wrist.

The broken glass tore a long gash down my arm, but before I could cry out in pain, she shrieked and flung herself backward.

We both stumbled to the ground, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Moments later, Scott arrived in a panic and scooped Piper into his arms without a second thought.

"Piper, are you okay?"

Then he turned to glare at me, his eyes full of anger. "Is it so hard for you to accept her presence?"

Piper clung to him, her voice trembling with practiced vulnerability. "I just wanted to help Dr. Armstrong… but she called me a homewrecker… Dr. Maynard, maybe it's best if you stop taking care of me…"

Her words immediately ignited Scott's temper. "Just look at yourself! Do you think someone like you deserves to be a doctor? I've told you—again and again—that I'm only worried about her. Why can't you let it go? She's all alone in a foreign country. Can't you show some basic decency and stop nitpicking every little thing?"

I stared at him in stunned silence, unable to believe what I was hearing.

Was this really the man I'd loved for eight years? The one who now stood there defending a woman he'd only known for a few weeks?

The injustice boiled over inside me, and I finally snapped. "She provoked me first! Are you my boyfriend or hers? She even hurt—"

"Enough!"

Before I could finish, he cut me off sharply.

His voice was cold, full of impatience. "How many times do I have to explain? There's nothing between Piper and me! Why can't you stop being so paranoid? I gave up everything to follow you here. What more do you want from me?"

His words hit like ice water.

As I watched him walk away, still carrying Piper in his arms, I felt something inside me crumble.

For the first time, I realized just how little my eight years had meant.

I removed the makeshift ring from my finger and tossed it into the drawer.

From that day on, Scott never sought me out again. Even though we still lived under the same roof, he went out of his way to avoid me.

Our colleagues began to distance themselves as well. Behind my back, they whispered that I was the real third party, because I was the one who wasn't loved.

I didn't get angry. I buried myself in work instead. I believed that someday, the truth would come to light.

Until that day, war broke out in this country, and the rebel forces surrounded the hospital.

Due to a tampered batch of medication, many of the rebels died.

Someone accused me of being a spy and poisoning them on purpose.

I was pinned to the ground, with countless guns aimed at my head.

In that moment, it felt like a nightmare—so surreal, I almost believed I was dreaming.

I had been a doctor for years. I couldn't possibly make such a rookie mistake.

"There has to be some kind of misunderstanding! I was in surgery the entire time. I never even had the chance to touch the medication! Besides, with so many people around, why would I be stupid enough to do something like that?"

The rebels exchanged glances but said nothing. That's when I realized they didn't understand English.

I turned instinctively toward Scott for help. He was the only one here who could communicate with the locals.

But his expression was dazed, his eyes clouded with an emotion I couldn't decipher. After a long hesitation, he finally spoke.

And the moment his words fell, a rebel rushed up and slapped me across the face.

My mind went blank, terror flooding in as my body trembled uncontrollably.

They didn't give me a chance to speak. Rage boiling over, they slammed me back to the ground and began kicking and punching me mercilessly.

"Scott! What the heck did you say to them?!"

I screamed through blood and tears, but Scott only turned away, sorrow written all over his face.

And in that moment, even the dullest person would have understood—he hadn't defended me. He'd admitted guilt on my behalf.

I trembled violently, voice hoarse from shouting. "It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't me! I never even went near the medicine. It was Piper who was stationed with the supplies! She framed me! Scott—"

The rebels paused, frowning in confusion at my frantic denial. They loosened their grip slightly.

I lay crumpled on the ground like a stray dog, bloodied and shaking, trying with everything I had to make them understand.

"Everyone here can vouch for me! I've been in surgery the whole time. I never left the operating table!"

I pointed directly at Piper. "She was the one overseeing the meds! She's the only one who could have tampered with them!"

Panic flashed in Piper's eyes before she burst into tears.

"Dr. Armstrong, I know you don't like me, but you can't falsely accuse me like this! You were the one who told me to do it! You said since I was the 'homewrecker,' I should be the one to help cover for you!"

She pulled out her phone and began showing everyone text messages, allegedly from me.

As I looked at her sobbing, broken-hearted act, I began to wonder if I'd lost my mind.

I didn't even have her number. And there was no signal in this place. How could I have sent her a single text?

"Piper! What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Before she could respond, Scott suddenly barked, "Enough!"

His outburst choked off the last of my defense.

His eyes were filled with guilt and inner conflict. I waited, hoping he'd finally speak up for me.

But after a long silence, all I got was, "Mia, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. You're trying to frame Piper. Do you want her to die in your place? Have you forgotten the oath we took as doctors? Compassion for every patient. What you're doing… it's cruel."

Tears blurred my vision. It felt like a blade was twisting deep inside my chest.

This was the man I had loved with all my heart for eight years.

And now, at the moment when my life hung in the balance, he had chosen to sacrifice me to protect the woman he loved.

He wanted me to die for her.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I screamed at him with everything I had.

"Scott! Is that how little you think of me? That I'd be this careless with people's lives?!"

He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "What else am I supposed to think?"

With that single sentence, he sealed my fate.

The rebels no longer hesitated. They forced me back to the ground and stomped on my hand, shattering the bones.

Then they dragged me away and threw me into a cell, declaring they would execute me after they buried their dead.

As I was dragged off, I heard Scott say, face heavy with sorrow, "Mia, I'm a doctor. My first duty is to protect my patients."

…

Snapping back to the present, I stared at the scar that still marred the back of my hand.

I took a step back, widening the distance between us, and looked Scott in the eye.

"There's no future for us," I said calmly. "Please stop interfering in my life."

But it was as if he hadn't heard me at all.

"Mia," he said, "I admit things got messy back then. But I didn't have a choice. As a doctor, I couldn't abandon my patient. I couldn't betray my conscience."

I laughed, unable to contain it. He looked so self-righteous, so sure of himself.

Then I raised my left hand, letting the diamond ring catch the light.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Maynard. I'm already married."

The crowd fell silent; you could have heard a pin drop.