Bella nodded and muttered, "Brooklyn, Charlotte just brought her thug friend into the changing room again."

"He almost saw us half-naked. I told her that wasn't appropriate, and she just rolled her eyes at me."

I looked toward the end of the hallway.

A tall figure slipped past, the tattoos on his arms looking fierce and wild.

Before, I would've rushed over without hesitation. I would've driven him out and enforced the rules on the spot.

But now, I slowly sat back down.

I took a sip of the red date ginger tea my brother made for me and said flatly, "Those who dig their own graves will fall into them eventually. As for everything else—see less, say less, get involved less."

Bella froze, then smiled and nodded. "Got it. I'm heading home first. You should rest early too."

Dealing with smart people really is easier.

I still don't know what kind of freak Charlotte is, or where she crawled out from.

Only after dying once do you realize—you can't stop some people from chasing their own destruction.

So I can only keep my distance. That way, when the blood splatters, it won't hit me.

Just as I was about to leave, glass shattered near the lab window.

Then came Charlotte's exaggerated yelp. "Sorry! Little Lamb didn't mean to, okay!"

I sighed, got up, and walked over.

Charlotte stood frozen beside a puddle of dark red liquid. Shattered test tubes lay scattered across the floor.

Her tattooed childhood friend had his arm around her shoulders. "It's fine, Charlotte. Just a few bottles of blood."

The moment she saw me, Charlotte's eyes reddened. "Head Nurse, I just wanted to help deliver the samples..."

I looked at her, expressionless. "This blood was just drawn from a patient. It needs to be disinfected and handled immediately."

Raymond glared at me. "It's just a broken bottle. Do you have to be this nitpicky? You've scared Charlotte to tears!"

I let out a short laugh. "This sample may carry HIV. Blood has splattered everywhere—including on your little sweetheart's pant leg."

Charlotte's face went pale. She stumbled back two steps.

Raymond pulled her into his arms. "Who are you trying to scare? How many AIDS patients could there even be in a hospital? You're just making things hard for Charlotte on purpose."

Nurses and patients' families had already started gathering to watch.

Charlotte tugged Raymond's sleeve and said softly, "Raymond, forget it. Head Nurse Harding has always had it out for me. Don't fight with her because of me."

"I'm the best little lamb. I'm not afraid of being bullied!"

The way she said it—wronged yet restrained.

Raymond's anger flared. He pointed at my face and snarled, "Don't think you can bully people just because you're head nurse. This is workplace harassment!"

"It wasn't easy for Charlotte to test her way out of the mountains. She shows up to work every day, and you, you old hag, pick on her constantly."

I almost laughed. "Your Charlotte is 27. I skipped four grades and I'm only 25. Who's older?"

"And this is a hospital, not whatever street corner you crawl out from."

"Now leave. After disinfection, Charlotte will write an incident report."

Raymond's fist swung up, eyes bulging.

I didn't flinch. "Go ahead. Assaulting medical staff will land you behind bars."

Charlotte rushed over, tears brimming. "It's all my fault. I'll take responsibility, okay? Don't make things hard for Raymond..."

I rolled my eyes and let out a cold laugh. "If this sample is positive, can you take responsibility for the infection risk?"

"Nursing isn't playing house. That uniform isn't a costume for your little victim act."

Raymond James was hauled away by security, half-escorted, half-shoved out the door.

Charlotte Cooley ran crying toward the doctors' offices.

I knew exactly who she was going to find.

Sure enough, within five minutes, Kevin Dickerson stood in front of me, furious.

"Brooklyn, what did you do to Charlotte? She's crying so hard she can barely breathe!"

I didn't even look up. "She broke an HIV patient's blood sample. I told her to follow protocol and write an incident report. Is there a problem?"

"You could've been gentler! Charlotte just started her internship—of course she's scared of you!"

"It wasn't easy for her to test her way out of a small town. Her parents are farmers. They went into massive debt to pay for her schooling…"

I cut him off. "A hard background doesn't mean she gets to ignore hospital regulations."

Kevin choked on that. His expression darkened.

"Brooklyn, I'm starting to realize you've become cold-blooded."

He looked at me with disappointment. "Charlotte is just a simple, brave girl. Why do you have to target her?"

I looked at this man I once loved, the one I thought I'd spend my whole life with, and said softly:

"Kevin, if one day Charlotte causes someone's death—will you help collect her body, or take the fall for her?"

He frowned. "What nonsense is that? Don't curse her!"

He took a deep breath, like he'd made up his mind.

"Brooklyn, if you keep making things hard for her—"

"Then there's no need for our engagement to continue."

For an intern, he was threatening me at work.

How ridiculous.

In my last life, hearing this would've shattered me.

Now, I only felt relieved.

"Fine. Since you brought it up, I'll give you an official answer."

"I'm not marrying you."

Kevin froze. Clearly not the reaction he expected.

"Brooklyn, don't be impulsive. I was just saying that in the heat of the moment…"

I took off the engagement ring I'd worn for three years and held it out to him.

"I'm serious."

"I'm returning the ring. Tomorrow I'll sort out the bride price and return it to your family."

"Starting today, we're just coworkers. Nothing more."

I exhaled. "Dr. Dickerson, go comfort your scared little intern."

"My brother's here to pick me up. Don't make me late."

Slumped in the passenger seat, I scrolled through my phone and saw the post Charlotte had just made.

Brave Little Lamb Outsmarts the Old Witch: Some people are SO jealous of me~ But Little Lamb has a knight and a prince protecting her, so I'm not scared at all!

The attached picture was a blurry side profile—obviously a sneak shot of me.

She'd described me as a vicious head nurse, jealous of her youth and beauty, always making things hard for newcomers.

Most comments were tearing her apart, but some equally unhinged people were taking her side.

My brother glanced at my screen and snorted. "This woman is really something."

I sighed. "I broke off my engagement with Kevin today."

Silence. He didn't ask why.

"Good. That kid never deserved you."

"He came over for dinner, Mom made a whole spread—bird's nest, shark fin—and he said we were wasteful."

"When you were on your period, pale from the pain, he drank all the tonic soup I'd made for you."

"Brooklyn, you deserve better."

My nose stung. "Why didn't you ever say any of this before?"

He shot me a look. "Back then, you only had eyes for him. If I said one bad word, you wouldn't talk to me for three days."

In my last life, I really was deaf and blind.

The car stopped smoothly outside our building. My brother ruffled my hair.

"Come home this weekend. Mom's making your favorite sweet-and-sour ribs—stay a couple days."

"I'll introduce you to some nice young men. Any of them would be better than Kevin Dickerson."

The next day at work, the head of security, Landon Finch, sidled over.

"Head Nurse Harding, there was a strange man at the nurses' station last night. Didn't leave until after midnight."

I feigned surprise. "Really? You should report that."

Finch left reluctantly and called the nursing department to investigate.

Charlotte looked aggrieved. "He was just a friend dropping off milk tea. He sat with me for a bit and left..."

The exact same excuse as my previous life.

But this time, I didn't push it.

Charlotte made a point of detouring past the nurses' station and stuck her tongue out at me. "Head nurse, tattling won't help. Leadership sees everything—they know who the hardworking little lamb is!"

I replied flatly, "Your business has nothing to do with me."

Her expression stiffened. She twisted her hips and walked off.

By afternoon, the hospital floor was littered with disgusting photos.

In them, I wore my nurse's uniform, tangled intimately with different male patients—in the duty room, on hospital beds.

"Oh my God, Head Nurse Harding acts so proper, but she's such a slut!"

"No wonder she got promoted so fast—slept her way up."

"She won't even spare patients. So desperate."

The whispers drilled into my ears.

A patient's family member rushed up and jabbed her finger at my face. "You shameless bitch—did you seduce my husband too?"

Someone grabbed my hair and forced me to the floor, trying to strip my clothes off.

A slap cracked across my face. I was nearly naked, my body pinched until it bruised purple.

"Trash! The hospital should fire you!"

"Doing that in a nurse's uniform—disgusting."

My forehead slammed into the corner of the wall. Warm blood ran down my cheek.

Only when security rushed over to shield me did Kevin walk up, looking at me coldly.

"Brooklyn, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person. A worn-out slut, and you still had the nerve to act above it all and call off the engagement."

He turned to the leaders who'd rushed over and said quietly, "This reflects extremely poorly on us. I suggest suspending Head Nurse Harding."

I slowly wiped the blood from my face, my gaze sweeping to Charlotte—secretly holding up her phone to record.

She blinked at me and mouthed silently: The little lamb won.

Charlotte really was the same as before—too stupid to save.

This time, I was going to watch her personally walk into an abyss of no return.

I got five stitches on my forehead and was suspended.

A hospital administrator called me, sounding helpless. "Brooklyn, get some rest. Once the investigation wraps up, you'll be reinstated."

My brother was so furious he wanted to storm over and argue, but I stopped him.

In two more nights, something would happen to Charlotte.

The timeline from my previous life—I remembered it clearly.

At ten o'clock on the third night, my phone rang.

Bella's voice came through, choked with sobs. "Head nurse, something happened. Please come to the hospital—quick!"

When I arrived, the area outside the ER was already packed.

A gurney was pushed out. The person on it was covered in blood.

But it wasn't Charlotte—it was the psychiatric patient.

Raymond stood off to the side, cigarette in hand, puffing out smoke.

Charlotte was in Kevin's arms, crying pitifully.

"Charlotte, don't be scared. It's okay. I'm here now. No one can hurt you."

He looked up, saw me, and his gaze turned ice-cold. He strode over in seconds.

His eyes were bloodshot. He slapped me hard across the face, his voice dripping with hatred—