"Tomorrow I'll go to the hospital one more time, and after that, I'll spend the rest of my time with you," I promised.

Hearing this, Mom happily nodded several times.

"What does an old lady like me need you staying with for? You should spend more time with Megan instead. It hasn't been easy for her alone at home all these years while you've been busy with work."

At the mention of Megan, my smile faded slightly.

Just then, another message from her came through.

"Donovan, why aren't you replying to my messages? Also, Pierre said you didn't make rounds today. What kind of attending physician does that? And how are the preparations going for tomorrow's surgery?"

In my previous life, I was practically living at the hospital. I studied journals and rewatched successful surgical cases over and over just to make sure Pierre's surgery would succeed.

But the moment I gave Pierre a new lease on life, Megan accused me of endangering a patient for my own selfish motives.

My once-bright future shattered into darkness right then.

To seal my conviction, Megan even bribed an operating room nurse, Sheila Bell. Under the glare of countless camera flashes, Sheila pointed at me and declared indignantly, "I saw Dr. Goodwin swap the patient's life-saving medication with my own eyes."

She even played the video of me fighting with Pierre. My own words, "Why aren't you dead yet?" ended up being the final nail in my coffin.

No matter how much I explained or screamed, it was useless against the so-called eyewitness testimony and evidence.

Everyone decided I was a monster in a white coat.

Only Mom stood firm, believing wholeheartedly in my innocence. But the more she spoke up for me, the more vicious the online attacks against her grew.

In the end, overwhelmed and disoriented, she accidentally slipped and drowned in a river. And on the day I was formally arrested, I jumped from the rooftop of the hospital.

After my death, my soul lingered by Megan's side, and I saw Pierre, who had somehow come back to life.

Maybe the universe could sense how much I hated him, and that was why I was given another shot at life.

In this life, Pierre's surgeon was Megan's father, Arnold Reese. I was looking forward to seeing just how she would try to pin the blame on me this time.

The next day, I arrived at the hospital early and shamelessly stuck by Mr. Monroe's side the whole day. When the time was almost right, I finally stood up to leave.

Just as I reached the operating room entrance, Megan surrounded me with a crowd of people. Since I had deliberately hidden my injured right hand inside my loose white coat, Megan didn't notice it was hurt at all.

She strode up to me and, without a word, slapped me across the face.

"Donovan, as a doctor, how could you let jealousy drive you to kill your own patient? You're not even fit to be called human!"

I pressed my tongue against the inside of my stinging cheek, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone from Megan's group already discreetly pulling out a camera.

I chuckled inwardly.

"What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever kill my patient? Pierre's surgery—"

Megan's eyes were bloodshot, her emotions raw as she cut me off. "Did you think a simple 'the surgery failed' would be enough to clear your guilt? The fact of the matter is, you killed Pierre on purpose!"

Pierre's family grew increasingly worked up at her words. Giving me no chance to explain, they launched straight into punches and kicks.

"Scum like you don't deserve to be a doctor."

"I'll make you pay with your life!"

Fortunately, security arrived in time. Thus, all I ended up with was a punch in the face and a few footprints stamped across my white coat.

Hiding behind the security guard, I glared at Megan and shouted, "I didn't kill Pierre! Megan, you'd better have proof for what you're saying!"

Megan showed no trace of panic. Instead, she put on an expression of deep distress.

"Donovan, I may be your wife, but I am also a person with a conscience. I cannot turn a blind eye to your crimes, so don't blame me for doing this.

"Before justice and the law, I must uphold righteousness to bring justice for the deceased, even if it means exposing my own husband!"

Just then, Mr. Monroe, having received word, hurried over.

"I am Jamaal Monroe, the hospital director. What exactly is going on here? If you are deliberately causing trouble outside the operating room, I will have to call the police."

Megan spoke up before I could even get a word in. "Mr. Monroe, you came just in time. Donovan abused his position to intentionally cause a patient's death during surgery, so this hospital owes the family an explanation."

Mr. Monroe gave Megan a strange look. "If I recall correctly, you are Dr. Reese's daughter and Dr. Goodwin's wife, aren't you?"

Megan's expression stiffened for a moment.

"Yes, I am Donovan's wife. But that doesn't mean I can ignore my own conscience. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of my life."

Watching Megan standing there so self-righteously, I felt a sharp ache deep in my heart.

After she became my wife, I treasured her deeply and rarely said no to anything she wanted. Mom treated her as if she were her own daughter, too. Yet, in the end, all we got in return was a tragic fate.

Mr. Monroe looked puzzled by Megan's accusations.

"But Dr. Goodwin hasn't been in the operating room for days, and none of his surgeries have ever failed before."

"Didn't he just operate on Pierre today?" Megan immediately retorted sharply.

It was then that I spoke up calmly. "I didn't perform Pierre's surgery. In fact, I spent the entire day today in Mr. Monroe's office."

Mr. Monroe nodded, confirming that what I said was true.

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

Megan clearly hadn't expected this outcome and stood frozen in place for a long moment.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she shouted at me, "I've got it! You must've finished the surgery early, then rushed straight to Mr. Monroe's office so he could unknowingly provide you with a false alibi."

I had to admit, I was almost impressed by just how wild Megan's imagination really was.

Just then, a young nurse pushed through the crowd and pointed at me.

"I can prove that Dr. Goodwin was the one who killed Pierre," she shouted indignantly.

I would recognize that pretty but venomous face anywhere, even if she were reduced to ashes.

In my previous life, Sheila stood there with that innocent face of hers and twisted the truth in front of the media and police.

But in this life, I didn't even set foot in the operating room, so what made her think she could still come after me with these accusations?

Suppressing the hatred in my heart, I looked at her coldly and said, "Ms. Bell, I've never wronged you, so why are you trying to frame me?"

Sheila's eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion as she replied emphatically, "Dr. Goodwin, it's true we have no personal grudge, but I can't ignore what I swore to uphold as a nurse.

"I saw with my own eyes that you switched Pierre's medication, and that's what killed him on the operating table. As for the reason… You suspected Pierre of seducing your wife, so you took revenge!"

With that, she played the very video that had sealed my fate in my previous life.

In the footage, I was in a heated argument with Pierre, who was wearing a hospital gown. Both of our faces were flushed with anger.

At the end of the video, the line "Why aren't you dead yet?" echoed hollowly down the empty corridor.

The doctors and nurses drawn by the commotion couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"I always thought Dr. Goodwin was a gentle and decent man, but who knew he could be so vicious in private. Could he have violent tendencies?"

"As the saying goes, you can't judge a book by its cover. Otherwise, how do you think he became the deputy director at such a young age?"

"You don't think he'd actually kill a patient over personal grudges, right?"

Pierre's family got all worked up again. A few burly men shifted restlessly, looking like they were ready to come at me again.

But the moment their hands touched me, over a dozen security guards stepped in to stop them. In the end, they could only point at me and curse furiously.

Mr. Monroe also looked at me in surprise.

A flicker of smug satisfaction crossed Megan's eyes when she saw this. She seized the opportunity to press me again.

"Donovan, with both witnesses and evidence right here in front of us, what do you have left to say for yourself?"

Instead of panicking, I remained utterly calm.

"It's just a video taken out of context, so it can hardly be used as evidence."

Sheila gritted her teeth and shot back vehemently, "Dr. Goodwin, do you have any proof that this video is taken out of context?"

"Then do you have any evidence that I swapped Pierre's medication? When and where did I supposedly do it?" I countered.

As if she had anticipated my question, Sheila answered with apparent ease, as though she had truly witnessed it herself.

"You did it this morning before the surgery. In the dressing room, you injected an unknown substance into Pierre's IV vial."

"I personally injected it into the vial?"

"That's right!"

At this answer, I exchanged a glance with Mr. Monroe. Immediately afterward, he erupted in anger.

He pointed at Sheila and demanded loudly, "Which department are you from?"

Confronted with Mr. Monroe's question, Sheila felt the forced composure on her face crack piece by piece.

"Mr. Monroe, I'm an operating room nurse."

"Since you're an operating room nurse, why are you helping outsiders slander one of our doctors? Don't you know that those who betray their own never come to a good end?"

Sheila's face paled in shock as she rushed to defend herself. "Mr. Monroe, I didn't. Everything I said is true! You can't just push a powerless nurse like me forward to take the blame just because Dr. Goodwin is the deputy director!"

Megan shot me a venomous glare before turning to fan the flames, trying to stir up the emotions of those watching.

"Mr. Monroe, Ms. Bell is right. You can't threaten an innocent young woman just to protect Donovan."

"Are patients' lives worth nothing in the eyes of you doctors?"

"I'm calling the police right now. I refuse to believe there's nowhere for ordinary people like us to seek justice."

I fired back without backing down, "Go ahead and call the police. I'd also like to ask them how someone with a fractured finger on their right hand could inject medication into a vial or perform surgery on a patient."

As I slowly extended my heavily bandaged right hand, both Megan and Sheila instantly paled. But there was more than left Megan in disbelief.

The next moment, the operating room doors swung open, and a doctor in scrubs stepped out.

When he spotted Mr. Monroe, his face lit up with happiness.

"Mr. Monroe, the surgery was a complete success. Once the anesthesia wears off, we can transfer the patient to a general ward."

Megan, however, screamed sharply, "Dad, who did you operate on?"