Derrick froze for a second, then gritted his teeth and snapped, “Don’t regret this later!”

That pendant was from the time we’d volunteered in a war zone together. He’d taken a bullet for me.

I hadn’t really needed him to do it, but I’d been touched all the same. I was so sure he must have loved me enough to die for me.

Now, I understood it had only ever been a stepping stone for his promotion.

My coworker and the rescue team were still trying to argue on my behalf, but I shook my head at them.

“Forget it. Do as he says.”

Then I looked calmly at Derrick. “If I make it out of here alive, let’s get a divorce.”

He gave a cold snort. “This place could collapse again any minute. If you want to keep playing your little drama, I won’t stop you. When you really get impaled by a steel rod, no one will save you!”

With that, he took everyone and left for good.

My coworker’s eyes were red as he hurried to me. “Your condition’s too serious. Only Director Nelson has the skills to minimize the damage. I’m going to beg him right now. Wait for me!”

He left, leaving me sitting alone in the wreckage. I’d never imagined my grave would end up being a pile of ruins.

My vision was starting to blur when a flash of white suddenly rushed in, followed by two of the rescue team members Derrick had chewed out earlier.

It was my intern, Mike Levine. “Gwen! Stay with me! Don’t fall asleep! I’m here to get you out!”

Then Derrick walked back in.

He let out a mocking laugh. “What’s this? Couldn’t keep your lies straight, so you called someone in to save you? Then you’ll lie in a hospital bed for a few days and fake a miraculous recovery. Is that the script you’re going with?”

Mike’s face went red with fury. He shot to his feet and punched Derrick.

Derrick reeled, ready to swing back, but the two rescue workers grabbed his arms and held him tight.

“Director Nelson, you don’t deserve to call yourself a husband! We’re saving her, no matter what. Now, get out!”

Derrick stumbled back, fuming. “Fine! I’ll go report you all for wasting time here instead of rescuing others!”

The moment he was gone, tears streamed down Mike’s face. “Gwen, how am I supposed to get you out of here alive?”

…

I pushed weakly at his arm. “Go. It’s too dangerous. Don’t risk yourselves for me. I’m probably not going to make it.”

Both rescue workers’ eyes turned red to match Mike’s.

“Dr. Jones, we’re not giving up on you!”

The determination in their voices lit a spark of hope in my chest.

“Mike, get Chad here. Do exactly what I say, and it might work. Whatever happens, don’t blame yourselves. This is just my fate.”

Chad came running in moments later.

The truth was that Derrick wasn’t the only one who could perform this procedure. He’d learned it by practicing alongside me.

Back when the hospital director wanted to promote me to director of the department, I gave the opportunity to Derrick instead, even requesting a transfer to another department to put him at ease.

Following my instructions, they did some quick prep work, then braced my body. The rescue workers tried to cut the rebar behind me with bolt cutters. However, without a proper angle, they couldn’t get any leverage.

One wrong move, and pain ripped through my lungs so hard it felt like my soul was being torn apart.

In the end, they had no choice but to bring in a hydraulic cutter. The moment it powered on, the vibrations tore through my body, making it feel as if all my organs were shattering inside me.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake again. The pain in my body spiked, and I couldn’t stop coughing up blood.

Feeling the tremors grow stronger, I cried out to them through tears, “Just… go! Don’t worry about me!”

However, no matter what I said, not a single person was willing to leave me behind.

At last, the rebar behind me was cut in time. They lifted me onto a stretcher and sprinted for the exit.

The moment we reached solid ground, the floor behind us gave way.

Everyone went pale from the close call.

Mike squeezed my hand tightly. “Gwen, you’re going to make it!”

I was drifting in and out, but Mike kept talking to me, keeping me from slipping into unconsciousness.

We finally reached the makeshift operating room in the county hospital. Just as I was about to be wheeled inside, Derrick and Serena suddenly blocked Mike’s way.

“With the operating rooms so backed up, you’re really going to waste precious medical resources on this stunt? That’s a crime, you know!” Derrick snapped.

Mike’s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted back, “Can’t you see she’s actually hurt? How can you call yourself a doctor?”

Serena muttered under her breath, “Well, Ms. Jones has been a doctor for years, too. She knows how to fake it so it looks real.”

One of the rescue workers who’d brought me in stomped his foot in anger.

“Director Nelson! Looks to me like the woman dying in front of you is your wife. Why won’t you believe your own wife, yet you’ll take the word of a girl you barely know?”

…

Derrick just gave a cold, mocking laugh. “This has nothing to do with Serena. I know she’s faking because those doctors in front of you could never have gotten her out alive. They don’t specialize in that kind of procedure. There’s no way they’d know how to keep a patient’s vitals stable in this situation!”

Mike clenched his fists. “That’s because Gwen was the best in the field, and she switched departments for you! I came to this hospital just to learn from her. She was famous for her skill in neurosurgery. But when I arrived, I found out she’d given up her career for you.

“Now, standing here and seeing her at death’s door, can you live with yourself after everything she’s sacrificed for you?”

Then he turned to Serena. “And you, Serena! I heard she put herself in danger to save you. Could you drop the fake innocence for once? Do you think someone’s life is a game?”

At that, Serena clung to Derrick’s arm, bursting into tears.

“Mr. Nelson, they’re framing me! I really almost died back there. Sure, I usually ask you for help more often, and Ms. Jones has always been cold to me because of it.

“She wanted to kill me, so there’s no way she’d really let herself get hurt. Isn’t that right, Mr. Nelson?”

Seeing Serena cry, Derrick’s anger flared hotter. He jabbed a finger at me and shouted, “Not only are you petty and manipulative, but now you’re egging others on to attack Serena verbally!

“Apologize!”

I forced a bitter smile and asked, “You keep saying I’m manipulative, but I really don’t understand. Back when you were chasing me, you said I was the purest and kindest girl in the world. How is it that now I’ve become petty and small-minded?”

He gritted his teeth. “You’ve got some nerve to ask me that! They say Serena treats life like a game, but the one who’s been playing with lives is you!

“When Serena was interning under you, you thought there was something going on between us. Out of spite, you gave her the wrong operating instructions, and my mother died!”

“Then the entire hospital started saying I wasn’t as good as you and that I only got promoted by stepping on your back. Do you know how humiliating that was? I earned the director position through my own ability. It had nothing to do with you!

“You’re just jealous because you lost to me!

“Do you think you’ve lived up to the ten years we’ve been together?”

Hearing him say that, I suddenly lost all interest in arguing. He could think whatever he wanted.

…

“Fine. When I come out of surgery, we’re getting a divorce. For now, move out of the way.”

However, he stepped closer, smirking. “Go ahead. Don’t try to threaten me with divorce. You want to end it? We can walk out right now and do it. No need to keep up this tired act. Get up.”

Mike pointed at my face and shouted, “Can’t you see her complexion? She’s lost so much blood that she’s gone pale! What kind of makeup artist could fake that in minutes?”

For the first time, Derrick actually looked closely at me, and his expression faltered.

That was when Serena suddenly burst into sobs. “Fine! It’s all my fault, okay! You’re all right. I’m the villain in everyone’s eyes. Ms. Jones, isn’t this what you wanted? You put on this whole show so everyone would hate me. Congratulations, you win. I’ll just go die now!”

She turned as if to throw herself off the building, but Derrick rushed to grab her.

“Don’t! You’ll hurt the baby!”

The last shred of hope in my chest finally went cold.

So they were having a child together. I guess I hadn’t been mistaken.

After calming her down, Derrick came back over to me and said coldly, “I can explain all of this. Get up, and we’ll talk.”

I closed my eyes and stayed silent.

“I’m talking to you! Get up! You hear me? Quit faking! Are you still not done?”

Before anyone could react, he grabbed the rebar lodged in my body and yanked it out.

A spray of dark red blood hit him full in the face.

He froze in shock. “How is this possible?”

Just then, a female doctor rushed over and shoved him aside.

“Move! You’re not the only one who can perform neurosurgery. Get her inside. I’ll take the lead!”

The nurses immediately wheeled me toward the operating room, and Mike punched Derrick in the face.

“You’re an animal! Gwen gave you everything, and what did you do? You covered her in scars and blamed her for every miserable thing that’s happened to you!”

“Are you even the man who’s been with her for ten years? Ten years, and you never understood her at all?”

He flung a recorder into Derrick’s face.

“Listen to it yourself, you idiot.”