The mother of Mr. Burr, the hospital director, was critically ill and needed emergency surgery. My wife, wanting to help her beloved crush, Cedric Grey, take the spotlight, deliberately kept the surgery time from me.

By the time I finally arrived—late, Mr. Burr stopped me from entering the operating room and scolded me harshly for being unprofessional and unethical.

Once I realized what my wife was doing, I handed the lead surgeon position over to her beloved crush.

“Well, since you're so eager to shine,” I said coldly, “you’d better not screw it up.”

The nurses tried to talk me out of it. They said I was being impulsive, that this was a rare chance to prove myself. However, none of them knew that I was the only doctor in the entire country capable of performing this rare and complex heart valve surgery.

Even if Cedric managed to buy time with some miracle drug and made it look like the patient was improving, without my diagnosis and surgical skills, the operation was doomed to fail. And when that happens, he’d be held responsible.

As for my wife, her blind favoritism would come back to haunt her.

The mother of the hospital director, Mr. Burr, needed an emergency heart surgery. However, just thirty minutes before the operation, my wife, Sydney, who was supposed to be assisting me in the operating room, called and told me to head to the director’s office.

She claimed there was a mistake in the patient's medical records and said the condition had suddenly worsened. So, I went and waited in that office for nearly an hour, but she never showed up.

Growing suspicious, I made my way to the operating room to see what was going on. That was when I saw Mr. Burr standing outside, absolutely fuming.

The moment he spotted me, he stormed over and grabbed me by the collar.

“I trusted you!” he snapped. “That’s why I chose you as the lead surgeon. But look at what you’ve done! You show up late to your own surgery. Do you even understand what medical ethics are?”

I stood there frozen.

Just then, Sydney walked out of the operating room, and our eyes met. She looked shocked and rushed over, her voice laced with blame.

“Aaron, where the hell have you been? The surgery started on time, and nobody could find you. We were freaking out. How could you forget something so important?”

I stared at her, stunned.

What was she saying? Wasn’t she the one who told me to go to Mr. Burr’s office to discuss the patient’s condition?

I opened my mouth to explain, but she cut me off again.

“It’s one thing to be scatterbrained at home, but now you can’t even keep track of surgery times unless someone reminds you? How can you call yourself a responsible doctor?

“Thank goodness, Cedric was available. He’s already in there doing the surgery in your place. This operation couldn’t afford even a moment of delay. We couldn’t risk another mistake from you.”

I just stood there, speechless. Suddenly, it all made sense. All that roundabout maneuvering was her plan from the start.

Everyone knew who the patient was. Everyone knew it was a golden opportunity to impress Mr. Burr. Every doctor and nurse had been trying to snag the surgery. However, Mr. Burr had specifically chosen me as the lead in the end.

I still remember the day the surgical team was announced. Sydney had questioned it right away.

“That’s selfish of you,” she said. “Why not give the opportunity to someone new for once? You keep saying you’re happy where you are, but the second a chance shows up, you jump at it. How ambitious.”

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t even know who she meant by “someone new,” but now it was obvious. Her plan all along was to send me away so I’d miss the surgery, just so Cedric could take the spotlight.

Right then, the doors to the operating room swung open, and Cedric stepped out.

The director shot me one last furious glare before hurrying over to him.

“How did it go?”

“Very well,” Cedric replied. “The patient is stable. We’ll move her to the general ward for observation. If there are no complications, she can be discharged in about a week.”

After that, he walked up to me, all smiles.

“Dr. Hamilton,” he said, “did something come up earlier? You really dropped the ball on this one. I mean… this was a major surgery.”

I stared at him, my expression cold.

Did he seriously not know why I hadn’t shown up? Or was he just playing dumb?

Cedric then turned to the director with an apologetic grin.

“I know I broke protocol by stepping in for Dr. Hamilton, and I’m only an intern… but I didn’t want to risk delaying the surgery.”

Sydney stood beside him, not even sparing me a glance.

“You did great,” she said. “There’s no such thing as ‘just an intern’ in an emergency. A real doctor is someone who steps up when it counts.”

Watching the two of them standing there without a care in the world, I couldn’t help but laugh.

I was the one who brought Cedric into the hospital as an intern in the first place. I had high hopes for him, impressed by his overseas education. I thought he’d introduce fresh perspectives and cutting-edge techniques from abroad.

Instead, he spent most of his time goofing off. At some point—God knows when—he got closer to my wife.

There were several incidents where his careless mistakes should’ve been formally reported and dealt with, per hospital policy. However, every single time, Sydney covered for him.

She even had the nerve to lecture me about it.

“Can’t you just give him a chance to make mistakes and grow? Do you always have to be so rigid?” she’d say

That was when I started sensing something slipping out of my control, and today, I finally saw the truth for what it was.

I nodded calmly and said, “In that case, why don’t you follow up on the patient’s recovery? You can be the attending physician.”

Cedric immediately waved his hands. “I’m just an intern. I’m not allowed to be the attending.”

“Why not?” I shrugged. “Rules are dead. You pulled off a successful surgery today, and the director saw it with his own eyes. Your future’s looking bright.”

Sydney didn’t even try to hide her support. She patted Cedric’s shoulder with a proud smile.

“You’re the rising star of our hospital. I believe in you.”

I took the attending physician badge off my chest and shoved it into Cedric’s hand.

His mouth said no, but his hand clutched that badge like his life depended on it—like he was afraid I might change my mind.

“You must be exhausted after a high-stakes surgery like that,” Sydney said as she pushed him toward the hallway. “Go home and rest.”

She didn’t spare me a single glance, but watching the two of them walk away side by side left a strange, hollow feeling in my chest.

After a few steps, Cedric looked back at me, challenging me.

I saw it, but I didn’t say a word. Just because a surgery looked successful on the surface didn’t mean anything.

I had thoroughly studied the patient’s medical history. She had a rare form of hypertrophic heart valve disease. While that condition wasn’t unusual in elderly patients, her individual case made it far more dangerous and prone to complex complications.

In fact, it had morphed into a rare and extremely tricky heart condition. Early on, the symptoms resemble those of ordinary heart disease. If the attending physician isn’t experienced in this specific area, it’s incredibly easy to misdiagnose.

In our country, research into that condition was still limited, but it happened to be my specialty. I could say with certainty that I was the only one in the nation who could perform it with confidence.

As for Cedric’s “successful” surgery, it was just smoke and mirrors. The moment her symptoms flare up again, she wouldn’t survive. He was desperate to shine in front of Mr. Burr, but he didn’t realize what it meant to play god with someone’s life.

After sending Cedric off, Sydney finally came back to me. She looked irritated—a completely different person from the one who used the gentle tone with him moments ago.

“I told you this would happen. But no, you just had to play the hero. Now that you’ve embarrassed yourself in front of the director, you can forget any chance of promotion.

“Not that it matters, I guess. You’re getting older. Just stick to your little job and try not to make waves.”

That was always how she talked.

She thought I was useless, that I aimed too high and delivered too little. She had no idea that I simply never cared for showing off.

Later, when I returned to my office, Cedric was already waiting there.

“Dr. Hamilton,” he said casually, “can you hand over all the patient’s files? It’ll help me prepare for the follow-up treatment.”

Across the office, the other doctors couldn’t help but glance our way.

It was not every day that an intern was made attending physician, especially with the hospital director’s silent approval.

The looks they gave me were full of sympathy. I could almost hear them thinking, ‘He crossed the wrong person. What future does he have now?’

I picked up the thick stack of medical files from my desk. However, just as Cedric reached for them, I let go.

The entire pile dropped to the floor, and Cedric’s face darkened instantly.

Just then, Sydney stormed into the room and saw everything. Her voice rang out sharp and angry as she marched up to me.

“Aaron, what the hell do you think you're doing? Is this some kind of workplace bullying now?”

I gave her a cold, sarcastic smile. “Workplace bullying? Please. I wouldn’t dare.”

“You’d think Dr. Grey would’ve reviewed the patient’s file before stepping into surgery,” I said flatly. “But nope, not even a glance. What does he think this is, playing house with scalpels? This is a hospital. Patients come first. You might be able to pull strings for a while, but you can't fake it forever.”

My words sparked an instant buzz around the room. It was as if people were just now realizing that Cedric only became an attending physician because of who he knew.

I didn’t care what kind of looks they gave me. I turned around and walked out without another word.

Sydney was furious. She chased after me, shouting, “You’re completely irresponsible! You don’t deserve to be a doctor!”

I didn’t respond. I just kept walking, expressionless, as I left the hospital behind. However, truth be told, I wasn’t as unaffected as I looked.

The reason I went into medicine in the first place had everything to do with Sydney. Her father was a gambling addict who’d beat her every time he lost, and her mom had a heart condition.

I still remember her, back in high school, saying she wanted to become a doctor so she could treat her mother herself. Hence, I made my choice and went into medicine too. Later, when we had to pick our specialties, I chose cardiology without hesitation.

Back then, helping her mom get better and letting her be with her mother longer was my goal; it was everything.

When she found out why I chose that path, Sydney cried. She hugged me so tightly and whispered that no one else in the world had ever treated her with the same love and kindness, except her mother. She told me she loved me and that she’d marry no one else but me.

Then, Cedric appeared. He publicly questioned my surgical plan, said my method was too risky, and that we should take the conservative route. However, Sydney’s mom was far past the point where conservative treatment could help. That would just mean throwing money at a slow, inevitable decline, and her family couldn't afford to keep up that kind of treatment back then.

What was more, her mom had come to me in private. She was willing to sign off on the operation. She wanted the surgery. None of us expected things to go wrong during the procedure, but it did, and she didn’t make it.

Afterward, Cedric made himself out to be the wise one. He pointed fingers and dropped hints that it was all my fault. Slowly, he turned Sydney’s mind against me, making her believe I was the reason her mother died.

That one failure became the unspoken wall between us, one we never got past. It tore through our marriage like a fault line.

Her mother’s death devastated me. For a whole month, I couldn’t even pick up a scalpel until I found out something that shattered me even more: Cedric had tampered with my IV fluids before the surgery and altered the saline concentration. That meant her mother’s death wasn’t just on me.

I told Sydney immediately, but she didn’t believe a word of it. She said I was making excuses and trying to shift the blame.

Looking back now, maybe she never really trusted me to begin with. In her eyes, Cedric always had a reason for what he did, and I was always wrong.

I smiled bitterly. As I stood by the road, about to call for a cab, I saw a little girl nearby holding a basket of flowers. She looked defeated, her shoulders sagging, eyes darting around the passing crowd.

Curious, I walked over. That was when I found out her grandmother was sick and needed expensive treatment. The girl, barely old enough to be working, was trying to make money selling flowers outside the hospital. Unfortunately, no one had the time or heart to stop for her.

I pulled out my wallet. “How much for all of them? I’ll take the whole basket. Go home and be with your grandma.”

Her eyes lit up like Christmas. “Really? You’re amazing, sir! You’re so kind!”

She handed me the huge bouquet of roses, beaming from ear to ear, before skipping away with the money in hand.

I stared after her, lost in thought. Would being kind do me any good?

As I turned around, I suddenly found myself face to face with Sydney and her group, all ready for dinner.

Cedric glanced at the roses in my hand and gave a chuckle, trying to ease the tension.

“Well, well. Dr. Hamilton, how romantic of you to buy flowers for Sydney.”

He looked at her and said feigningly, “Sydney, don’t stay mad, okay? Maybe Dr. Hamilton just acted out of impulse earlier. It’s fine, really. I wouldn’t want to come between you two.”

I didn’t say a word. I didn’t need to explain myself to him, but Sydney scoffed.

“Please. Like I’d want a cheap bouquet like that. He’s so spoiled it’s disgusting. Just because you’re an intern doesn’t mean you don’t deserve basic respect.”

Then, she turned to me and held out her hand.

“Well? What are you standing there for? Apologize to Cedric right now. Let’s just put this behind us.”

I stared at her hand for a second. Then, I stepped right past her without saying a word.