Having heard my instructions, the surgical team and nurses quickly pushed Logan and Yvonne into the OR.

Logan, seeing my calm and professional demeanor, seemed much more at ease than earlier—until I brought out the medical camera.

In my past life, the surveillance footage had been tampered with, so I wasn't going to take that chance again. I directed the nurse to photograph them from every angle.

Logan yanked the bedsheet over himself and snapped, "What the hell do you think you're doing? How can you take photos in the OR? You're violating our privacy!"

I hid a cold smirk behind my mask and stated calmly, "It's part of the procedure, as a thorough photographic record of your bodies' points of articulation is required before our specialists can be consulted and a surgical plan properly formulated.

"If you'd rather not consent, that's your right—but we'd have to refer you to another hospital."

I put away the camera after saying that and turned to leave.

"Hold on!" Yvonne called out in a panic when she saw me turning away. She was pinned under Logan's weight in a humiliating position, and her knees were already buckling. She wasn't in any condition to deal with the hassle of switching hospitals.

She then twisted her head toward Logan with a wretched, imploring look, her eyes turning completely bloodshot. "I'm in so much pain, darling, so please just let her take the photos. Other hospitals would probably do the same thing anyway!"

"I won't allow it! If those photos get out—my reputation, my family, my marriage—everything I have would be destroyed!"

I couldn't help but sneer inwardly, thinking that it was only at this moment that he recalled his marriage and family. I simply turned to the nurse and said indifferently, "Get in touch with another hospital's ER."

"You can't do that!" Yvonne was clearly in significant distress. She continued to reason with Logan with tears in her eyes, yelling, "It's our top priority to get separated this instant, Logan. Otherwise, if we wait until tomorrow and Mariella catches us when she comes in for work, it'll be a total nightmare!"

Upon hearing my name, Logan's expression suddenly shifted, tinged with panic and guilt. He gave up his resistance, merely offering a harsh threat. "You ought to know that I'm the CEO of Lane Group. If these photos ever leak and damage my relationship with my wife, I'll personally see to it that every one of you ceases to exist in this city!"

In that instant, the nurse discreetly rolled her eyes and murmured under her breath, "He shouldn't be having an affair if he really cares so much about his marriage, then. He's doing all this crazy stuff with a mistress, yet he still wants to act like a loyal husband. How ridiculous."

I concurred with the nurse, but I maintained my composure and continued setting up my surgical instruments.

It was then that the nurse taking the photos suddenly gasped, staring at the tattoo on Logan's inner thigh. "Mariella? That's the exact same name as one of the doctors here in our ER."

I noted that the nurse assigned to the procedure was from another department. I had never met her before, which explained why she didn't recognize my face but knew my name.

I caught the look of pure panic on Logan's face, finding it almost incredulous. He had once told me I was his one true love and tattooed my name near his groin. He was in so much pain then, since it had been an excruciatingly sensitive area.

He had broken out in a cold sweat as he murmured against my ear back then, caught between agony and pleasure. "I just want you to know that this is the proof of my devotion, my beloved Mariella. No other woman will ever lay eyes on it."

I had once regarded the tattoo as Logan's solemn vow, a personalized declaration of affection dedicated to me. It was now ironically bared to the world—a silent witness to Logan's unfaithfulness and his ultimate betrayal.

"Damn it! I'm not doing the surgery here! I'm going to transfer to another hospital!" Logan snapped, grunting and writhing in agitation.

Yvonne, who was trapped underneath him, wept from the sheer torture of it. "P-Please don't move!"

Yvonne, driven by pain, spun a lie on the spot. "It's fine, darling! I'm sure there are plenty of Mariellas out there. It's just a coincidence that your mother shares it with a doctor here, so don't let it get to you!"

In the end, the nurse looked toward me, seemingly seeking my take on the situation; after all, as an ER colleague, she figured I knew Mariella well enough to confirm or deny the coincidence.

I stated coldly, "It's honestly not that big of a deal. Regardless of a patient's circumstances, maintaining their privacy is part of our professional code of conduct."

Logan's worries vanished after hearing that. He breathed a sigh of relief and mocked the nurse, yelling, "That doctor is absolutely right! You need to study up on professional conduct. Hold on!"

He suddenly fixed his gaze on me mid-sentence, his expression shifting slightly. He searched my features with a look of growing suspicion, his lips trembling as he tried to find the words. He eventually whispered, "W-Why do you sound exactly like Mariella?"

I froze on the spot. I had stuffed cotton in my mouth and worn a mask to disguise my voice and appearance. I had even layered several clothes and surgical gowns to change my silhouette. I couldn't believe that Logan still recognized me despite all of that. I was so caught off guard that I could only stammer, "I-I…"

Logan glanced at my name tag and read it aloud. "You're Emma Kerr, huh?"

His suspicion immediately vanished since I had mentioned Emma, my colleague, to him before this.

He chuckled condescendingly, saying, "It makes sense. Mariella is so devoted to me that she never keeps me in the dark about her schedule. She definitely would've informed me if she had swapped shifts. She's likely fast asleep at home right now. She might even be dreaming about what she's making me for dinner tomorrow night."

I smiled mockingly and asked calmly, "Is that so? It seems like your relationship with your mother is remarkably intimate."

Logan tensed up and finally went quiet.

Yvonne urged Logan. "You should stop being so paranoid, darling! How could she be Mariella? Mariella is so insecure about losing you that she would have collapsed in tears the moment she saw us like this! She doesn't have the stomach to stay this composed!"

She then looked at me and said, "Please hurry up and separate us this instant, Dr. Kerr!"

I smiled faintly behind the mask and replied, "I've drafted a preliminary plan, so I'm going to step out and have a quick consultation with the senior specialists."

I walked out of the OR and returned shortly after, carrying some files. "I need you to remain completely still. I have consulted with the senior specialists and finalized the most appropriate surgical approach."

Logan's expression suddenly shifted to one of alarm when he spotted me taking hold of a scalpel. "Hold on! What the hell do you think you're doing with that scalpel?"

He tried to sit up in a panic, which only made Yvonne's condition worse. "Please stop moving! It hurts so much, darling! Please, I'm begging you!"

"Did you see how sharp that scalpel is? Aren't you scared of losing something while you're under? I won't let a single person touch me with that thing until I get a full explanation of what they're doing!" Logan bellowed.

I completely understood Logan's concern, so I made a point of explaining it to him. "You can rest assured that it'll be fine, Mr. Lane. You're just physically stuck. Once we remove the object, we'll be able to easily separate you two.

"It's a straightforward operation. I'll need you to sign this consent form for liability purposes. I'd like you to know that, as for the part about losing things, you'll actually lose something, but I can promise you, those things never truly belonged to you anyway."

In reality, Logan's business partners would never have worked with a nobody like him or provided him with resources if they hadn't discovered my identity and my Famiglia background. Thus, Logan's business and his fortune were never his to begin with.

Logan was thoroughly persuaded by my composed and expert manner. He let his guard down and agreed to let me perform the operation.

I pulled out a divorce agreement that stripped him of all his assets, masking it as a surgical consent form, which he didn't bother to read a single word of, and signed the back page immediately.

I smiled as Logan signed the agreement. I was just about to pull the divorce agreement away when Logan suddenly caught a peek at the header and gripped my hand in a vice. "You'd better stay right there! I thought I just saw the word 'divorce agreement' on that surgery form!"

I attempted to wrench my hand away in a slight panic, but the second he gripped my wrist, he noticed the extra layers of clothes I was wearing.

Logan asked, "Why is an ordinary doctor wearing so many layers? Who the hell are you?"

He pulled at me with all his strength, nearly injuring Yvonne beneath him with his wild movements. "It hurts so much, Logan! I beg you—please stop being so paranoid and stop moving!"

Logan explained, "It's not like that! I just think there's something wrong with the doctor—"

Yvonne, driven beyond endurance by the pain, seized the anesthesia-filled syringe beside her and injected it directly into Logan, who screamed in agony and then lost consciousness.

It occurred to me at that moment that Yvonne had a nursing background, so handling an anesthetic-filled syringe was nothing to her.

Yvonne exclaimed, "Please ignore him, Dr. Kerr! Logan is just naturally distrustful! I'll sign the consent form this instant, so please get started on the surgery to separate us!"

I merely shrugged in response, grateful for how foolish Yvonne was to have solved my crisis just in time.

It was several hours later, and the operation was completed. Logan regained consciousness in the hospital ward and hurriedly ran his hands over himself.

He breathed a sigh of relief after finding everything intact and looked up at me as I stood there in my mask. "Thank you, Dr. Kerr. Your expertise is remarkable. I apologize for my earlier suspicions regarding your integrity and the consent form."

"You're welcome. But I'm not Emma Kerr," I said as I took off my mask and smiled at him. "I'm Mariella Lazzari, your ex-wife."

Logan's complexion turned ashen. He gaped at me, eyes wide and lips parted, but he was utterly speechless.