"We're shouldering enormous risk, all to clean up the mess these two made. So, Dean Edwards, I can handle the fallout.

"But Chad Armstrong isn't the only one who needs to face consequences."

I pressed both hands flat against the desk. "If you don't deal with Nellie Sullivan properly, this will happen again.

"And next time, I'm not sure I'll be able to save this hospital."

The dean's expression turned grave.

Nellie was her protégée, someone who'd been at her side since medical school.

But when the hospital's core interests were at stake, even a protégée had to be dealt with.

Especially now, when she still needed me to save Ms. Henson's brother, Gregory.

"That ungrateful wretch! She thinks my patronage gives her license to do whatever she wants!"

She slammed the agreement down on the desk.

"You have my word. Not only will I block the research fellowship she's about to apply for, I'll kill her promotion report too.

"After this, she'll be stuck doing grunt work on the ground floor. She'll never get near a core position in this hospital again."

I let the corner of my mouth curl upward.

And signed.

This meant that Nellie's meteoric rise from her previous life, the trajectory from research fellow all the way to academician, was now severed.

Permanently.

From morning to night.

Gregory's vitals gradually returned to normal levels.

My scrubs were drenched with sweat. The moment I stepped out of the operating room, my legs buckled and I collapsed to the floor.

It took an entire bottle of glucose solution, forced on me by a colleague, before I slowly regained full consciousness.

The colleagues who'd been in the operating room with Chad earlier grabbed my hands, tears streaming down their faces.

"Thank you, Dr. Delgado. Without you, we wouldn't know how we'd ever move forward from this..."

"Seriously. Edna Henson is a maniac. If her brother had died on our table, our families wouldn't have been safe either..."

I reassured them, one by one.

Finally, I could go home and get some real rest.

The moment I stepped into the underground parking garage, footsteps echoed behind me. I whipped around.

No one.

I muttered under my breath, turned back, and kept walking.

Then everything went black.

Some kind of gas flooded through my nostrils and into my lungs. My consciousness dissolved completely.

When my eyes opened again, my right hand was chained to a table. In the dim light, I could barely make out the silhouette of the figure standing before me.

"Nellie!"

The hand gripping mine went rigid.

I was strapped to a chair. I thrashed wildly against the restraints.

"Nellie! It's you! I know it's you!

"Whatever you're planning, we can talk about this! Please... let me go. I saved Chad's life!"

The figure in front of me paused.

When she spoke again, all that came out was a sigh.

"No. You may have spared him from Edna Henson's punishment.

"But you still left him looking incompetent and dishonorable.

"I'm sorry. If you truly want to help him, you'll have to lose a hand.

"That way, no one will think you performed the surgery. They'll believe the one who pulled off that miracle was Chad.

"I'll handle the colleagues. I'll delete your surgical records too. Thomas, just this once... do this for him."

My eyes went wide. "Nellie!"

The cleaver rose high above me. I fought against the chains with everything I had.

"I'm a surgeon! If you take my hand, how am I supposed to live?!"

The blade stopped mid-swing.

The dim yellow light caught a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

"I'll take care of you for the rest of your life, Thomas."

"Wait!"

I screamed. "If you cut off my hand, your career is over too!"

She shook her head slowly.

"Thomas, Dean Edwards is my mentor. She won't let things spiral that far.

"Don't worry. I have the connections to stay in medicine. I'll protect you for the rest of your life."

"She's already given up on you!"

Her body went rigid.

Then a soft laugh:

"No, she hasn't."

Bang! "AHHH!!"

A scream tore from my throat, raw and inhuman.

Sweat beaded across my forehead, mingling with tears as they slid down my face.

For a single promise of "save him," Nellie Sullivan was willing to go this far.

I couldn't feel my right hand anymore.

I didn't dare turn my head to look.

I didn't dare imagine what my right hand looked like now.

"Thomas, it's okay, it's okay, don't be scared..."

A towel wrapped around my right hand.

Nellie pressed her lips to my right wrist.

"Don't worry. I'll stay by your side for the rest of my life."

I heard my own voice, trembling:

"Get... away from me."

"Thomas..."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Through my ragged, heaving breaths, Nellie let go.

"Thomas, I'm sorry. But until the dust settles, I need you to stay here. Chad's reputation can't be tarnished."

I laughed through my tears.

"You're that afraid I'll walk out and tell the truth."

"I'm sorry..."

The door closed in front of me.

The room plunged into total darkness.

My consciousness followed it down.

When I woke again, it was to Nellie gripping my arm and shaking me.

"Thomas! Thomas, wake up! Why is Gregory Henson coughing up blood again? You saved him, didn't you?"

My right hand was numb. Dead to all sensation.

I stared at the wild-eyed woman in front of me.

A cold laugh escaped my lips.

"With injuries that severe, follow-up treatment has to keep pace. You really thought one surgery would fix everything?"

"You—"

Nellie's grip on my arm tightened.

"Why didn't you say so sooner!"

Then something clicked. Her expression shifted to panic and she released me, seizing my left hand and dragging me toward the door.

"Hurry! Stabilize Gregory's condition! If something happens, Chad will be held responsible!"

"Nellie!"

I summoned every ounce of strength I had left.

"My hand is gone!"

She froze mid-step.

Slowly, her gaze drifted to my right hand.

Her pupils contracted.

"It's fine..."

Her voice came out thin, barely a whisper.

"You can do it with one hand."

She looked me in the eyes. "Thomas, you're brilliant. You can do it with one hand. Right?"

Slap!

My left hand cracked across her face, leaving a bloody handprint on her cheek.

My entire body was shaking.

"You actually believe what Chad told you? That surgery can be done one-handed?"

Nellie mumbled, half to herself:

"No... Chad said one hand was enough..."

She grabbed my severed hand. I bared my teeth against the blinding pain, but she didn't care.

"It'll be fine, Thomas. Just try. What if it works? If you don't step in, Chad takes the fall!"

Bang! The door flew open, kicked clean off its hinges.

A tall woman stood in the doorway, her face carved from pure fury.

"What have you people done to my brother?"

Edna Henson's voice dripped with murder.

Behind her, Chad was pinned in place by two bodyguards, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

I looked past Edna.

"Dean!"

"Dr. Delgado..."

The dean's gaze landed on my ruined hand. His eyes went wide with disbelief.

Edna's hand came down on the dean's shoulder.

"Either you tell me the truth yourselves, or I dig it up personally."

The dean flinched.

If Edna uncovered the truth on her own, the consequences would be far worse than a voluntary confession.

I raised my left hand and pointed straight at Chad.

"It was him! He insisted on cracking the chest single-handed! That's what nicked the aorta and caused the massive hemorrhage—"

"You're lying!"

Dean Edwards's voice cut through the room like a whip.

"You wanted to one-up Dr. Armstrong, so you showed off by operating single-handed. And when things went wrong, you severed your own right hand to fake evidence that you weren't the one performing the surgery!"

I stared at her in disbelief.

"Dean Edwards, what are you talking about? The records clearly show Chad Armstrong was the operating surgeon!"

"He's a newcomer. Pinning the blame on him would've been the easiest thing in the world for you."

She had moved closer to me.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Her voice dropped to a whisper only the two of us could hear.

"I'm sorry, but your right hand is destroyed. You're useless now. Chad may be green, but he still has the potential to become a great surgeon someday. That agreement we had before? Forget it."

The smile on Edna's lips faded, degree by degree.

"Get four cars. Tie this piece of trash's hands and feet to each one, and drive them in different directions." Her voice was ice. "I want to see how many pieces he ends up in."

Then her gaze dropped to my severed hand.

One eyebrow arched.

"Oh, right. One of your hands is already gone. Tie the rope around his neck instead."

The bodyguards actually brought ropes. They lashed my limbs to four Rolls-Royces, one rope per car.

I thrashed with everything I had. Nellie leaned close, her voice soft and soothing.

"Ms. Henson won't actually kill you. She's just punishing you a little to make a point. Be good. Just endure it and it'll be over."

Behind me, Chad cried out in pain.

Nellie spun around immediately and rushed toward him.

The engines roared to life.

I screamed until my voice shattered.

"The person who harmed your brother is someone else! I have proof!"

Edna's brow furrowed. She looked at me.

I locked my gaze onto hers with every ounce of strength I had left.

"The person who approved the single-handed open-chest surgery, who destroyed the evidence afterward, who shielded the real culprit, who lied to your face. I have proof of all of it!"

"Ms. Henson, he's lost his mind..."

Dean Edwards sidled up with a placating smile, reaching for Edna's arm.

Edna shoved her away, eyes rimmed red.

She leaned down toward me.

"You get one chance."