I'll Take Him

It all started when my fiancée's adoptive brother, Afton Jackson, claimed I had used a dirty scalpel in his private parts enlargement surgery, and that had given him Syphilis.

My fiancée, Mia Jackson, flew into a rage. She stomped on the hand I had used to perform surgery. Then, she stripped me naked, forced me into humiliating poses, and put me up for auction on the black market for free.

[Second-hand. Free.]

Her best friend tried to talk her out of it. "You and Ryan Hathaway are about to get married. Are you really going to destroy him like this?"

Mia's voice was calm. "He operated on Afton so recklessly and made Afton break down after catching that disease. Afton almost jumped off a building, yet he still refuses to admit what he did. He doesn't deserve to be a doctor. I'm only trying to scare him. It's not like I'm really going to give him away and let him catch some filthy disease too."

I stood in the doorway, my face pale. When our eyes met, she spoke as if every word were justified. "You made a mistake, so you deserve to suffer for just a little while. As long as you cure Afton and then apologize to him, you'll still be the fiancé I love most."

I silently held back my tears and reposted the auction link to my feed.

It was claimed in seconds with a single comment.

[I'll take him.]

But Mia's face darkened as she threw the wine glass to the floor.

I turned and left without a word.

No one at the bar dared to make a sound.

Someone tried to talk to Mia and said, "Maybe we should let it go and not let this get out of hand?"

Mia's sneer came from behind me. "If someone's willing to take my fiancé, why shouldn't I give him away? He doesn't even care, so why are you worried?"

My heart ached like it was being stabbed. When I walked out of the bar, everyone around me simply looked at me with contempt and disgust.

"Isn't that the pervert looking for group sex online only with people who have STDs? That's so disgusting!"

"Stay away from him. Who knows how many diseases he has?"

When I returned to the hospital, even my colleague looked at me and sighed with mixed feelings. "Ryan, Mia has pressured the hospital. She wants your medical license revoked, and she wants you to pay three hundred thousand dollars in compensation."

He sounded furious on my behalf. "Mia bought shares in the hospital just to protect you back then. She even almost ended up paralyzed for life because of you. She loved you as though her life depended on it. How could she destroy your future over another man?"

I couldn't say a word as my throat tightened.

Many years ago, Mia had been involved in a car accident, and twelve of her ribs had shattered. I fought at the operating table for a full day and night before I managed to save her life. She fell in love with me at first sight, and she pursued me with an almost obsessive devotion from that time onward.

She bought my hospital and paid to have me featured in the news. She turned me from an unknown surgeon into a miracle worker. She knew I had stomach problems, so she insisted on bringing me meals herself, no matter the time, while she often collapsed from exhaustion.

I thought a wealthy young woman like her would give up before long.

Then, I got caught up in a hospital dispute, and a deranged patient's relative threatened me with a knife. Mia stepped in front of me without hesitation and took eighteen stab wounds for me, damaging her nerves and almost making her unable to stand again. From that moment on, I decided to be with her.

After five years together, we had finally started talking about marriage.

But on the day of our engagement party, she disappeared for an entire day. The next day, she appeared in front of me, holding Afton's hand, saying, "Afton just came back from abroad and doesn't have any friends. I was so busy keeping him company and helping him relax that I forgot about our engagement."

I pushed down my resentment and tried to get along with Afton for Mia's sake.

Later on, Afton came to me for an enlargement surgery for his private parts. But during the tests, I discovered he had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Before I could figure out how to tell him, Mia brought Afton to me and viciously stomped on my hand, breaking it.

"Just because I kept Afton company and forgot about the engagement, you deliberately used a dirty scalpel on him and gave him Syphilis?! How could you do something so despicable and vicious?! You don't deserve to be a doctor at all!"

Afton started shouting, too. "Since you hate me so much, I'll just die so I won't be an eyesore anymore!"

After that, he grabbed a scalpel and tried to cut his own throat.

Mia quickly held him tight and calmed him down, then turned her icy gaze on me. "Ryan, apologize to my brother. Beg for his forgiveness at the hospital entrance and admit that you abused your position to take revenge, deliberately gave him Syphilis, and tried to force him to kill himself!"

I shook my head desperately and begged her to investigate, but she refused to listen. She pinned me down at the hospital entrance and started a livestream, forcing me to beg Afton.

The entire internet watched me beg, and every viewer cursed and attacked me the whole time. Only after a long time were they finally satisfied, and they left me there.

The next day, I took Afton's Syphilis test results and went to have a proper talk with Mia, but that was when I heard what she said at the bar.

At that moment, my heart shattered.

After I returned home, my phone suddenly received a text: [I'll come take you away in three days. Wait for me.]