My firefighter husband had fallen from a great height during a mission and was rushed into the emergency room, covered in blood.

As the only person capable of saving him, I stood just outside the operating room, calm and composed. Reaching for my makeup bag, I began carefully applying my makeup.

Another doctor, panic-stricken, rushed toward me and shouted, "Dr. Warhol! The patient's kidney has ruptured! You're the only surgeon in all of Switzerland who can perform this life-saving procedure! If you don’t act now, he’s going to die!"

I continued shaping my eyebrows with steady precision, not even glancing in his direction.

"Quiet," I said coolly. "If you keep yelling, my brows might end up crooked."

My mother-in-law, Gracie Hampton trembled as she rushed forward, grabbing hold of my sleeve.

"You know… You know better than anyone that only you can save Lex! I'm begging you… Please, save him…"

This small county had not many hospitals, and the one I worked at was the best hospital in the area. Bringing in reinforcements from a hospital outside the county wasn't a realistic option.

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Suddenly, Gracie dropped to her knees, her voice choking with desperation. "Samantha, I know you can do it! Please, save Lex!"

I pulled a lipstick from my bag, carefully selecting a shade that would complement my look, and replied indifferently, "Have you forgotten? I'm currently on forced leave. If I perform the surgery without authorization, I'll lose my job."

Dr. Harry Henley, the surgeon assigned to the case, stepped in front of me, his face pale as a sheet.

"Dr. Warhol! Have you forgotten our principle of providing unconditional aid to patients?"

I extended a hand toward him, wiggling my fingers to show off my freshly done nails.

"Unfortunately, I hurt my hand today," I said, feigning regret while flaunting the glossy polish. "There's no way I can perform surgery like this."

The room fell silent as my words hung in the air. Everyone's expressions shifted in shock and disbelief.

Gracie clutched my hands tightly. Bloodstains and fresh cuts marred each of my ten fingertips, the wounds raw and jagged. Her voice quivered as she struggled to speak.

"Samantha… you—you've always cared so much about your appearance. How could you let your hands get like this?"

Then her tone sharpened, suspicion creeping in. "Did you… do this on purpose out of fear our agreement might fall through?"

Her doubt wasn't without merit. I had always been meticulous about my looks, and as a doctor, I'd long regarded my hands as sacred tools of my profession. Deliberately injuring them would go against everything I stood for.

I smiled faintly, then slammed my hand hard against the cold metal bench beside me. Pain surged through my body like a tidal wave. I forced a weak smile in her direction.

"Well, now I definitely can't hold a scalpel."

Gracie crumbled in an instant. She collapsed to the floor, wailing uncontrollably. "You're insane! Completely insane!"

"If you can't operate, what's going to happen to Lex?!" she screamed. "He's given you everything, treated you like his whole world. Are you just going to stand by and watch him die?!"

Her grief was so overwhelming that even the onlookers, who had gathered in silence, couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

I ignored her, suppressing the searing pain in my hand as I calmly applied lipstick, carefully outlining my lips until they were perfect. I pressed them together lightly, admiring my work.

"Instead of wasting time arguing with me," I said, my voice cold and detached, "why not go in and say your goodbyes to him?"

At that moment, my father-in-law, Nicholas Hampton, who had been silent the entire time, stepped forward. He dropped to his knees before me, bowing his head repeatedly against the floor. Blood trickled down his forehead, but he didn't stop.

"I've never asked anything of you," he pleaded hoarsely. "This is the only thing I'll ever beg you for. Please, save Lex."

I had always known my father-in-law as a stern and proud man, someone who valued his dignity above all else. Seeing him humiliate himself like this in front of so many people should have moved me, but it didn't. What did any of this have to do with me?

Both my in-laws continued to kowtow before me, their heads hitting the floor again and again. I didn't even spare them a glance.

"Oh!" I said suddenly.

Gracie sprang up, a glimmer of hope in her tear-filled eyes.

"Samantha, I knew you'd come around! There's still time to do the surgery!"

The crowd turned their expectant gazes toward me.

I didn't acknowledge her words. Instead, I smiled sweetly, speaking to no one in particular. "How silly of me. I forgot to put in my colored contacts."

Gracie let out a desperate cry and lunged toward me. "Samantha, stop with the makeup already! Lex is dying!"

I dropped my smile, meeting her gaze with icy indifference.

"If I don't get my contacts in properly," I said slowly, "are you prepared to take responsibility for that?"

The old couple's cries pierced the air, raw and unrelenting. Suddenly, a surge of anger coursed through me, and I hurled the powder compact in my hand to the ground.

It shattered, scattering fine particles across the floor like dust over a battlefield.

"Can you two just shut up already?!" I shouted, my voice slicing through their wails. "God, you're driving me insane! If it weren't for all your flailing around, do you think I'd have wasted my false lashes? Do you even understand how essential false lashes are to eye makeup?"

Their sobs quieted momentarily, stunned into silence by my outburst.

I seized the chance to continue, my tone sharp and scathing. "Do you have any idea how expensive they are these days? And these—these are daily disposable contact lenses! Do you know what that means? It means if you don't stop whining, you can all get the hell out of here!"

Before I could unleash more fury, a commotion from the operating room snapped everyone's attention. A nurse burst out, her face pale, eyes brimming with panic.

"The patient's condition is deteriorating rapidly," she cried, her voice trembling. "If we don't act now, we'll lose him."

Dr. Henley turned toward me, his expression steely. "Dr. Warhol, this is the last time I'll ask you this. Are you going to save him or not?"

I rolled my eyes at him, exasperated. "Dr. Henley, for someone who graduated top of his class, you really have a hard time understanding plain words."

I raised my injured hand in front of him, the wounds on my fingers jagged and raw. "As I've already said, I'm not doing the surgery."

Hearing my refusal, Gracie collapsed to the floor, clutching her chest as though the words themselves were knives.

"You ungrateful wretch!" she wailed. "Has Lex not been good to you? He's a graduate of one of the top universities—never once has he cared that you're an orphan or that you came from nothing!"

Her voice grew louder, desperate and cutting. "He's tall, handsome, and could have had his pick of girls—do you know how many lined up just to catch his eye in high school? But he only ever had eyes for you! Every morning, he went five miles out of his way to buy your favorite pastries!"

She sobbed harder, choking on her words. "We didn't ask for anything from you, didn't mind that you had no family to speak of. He even gave you jewelry when you got married. Since you got married, he hasn't let you lift a finger around the house!"

Her lament grew louder, stirring murmurs from the crowd that had gathered. Some people looked at me with open disgust, their whispers sharp and accusing.

"She's heartless," someone muttered. "How can she sit there like that, putting on makeup, while her husband is fighting for his life?"

"Money can be earned again, a job can be replaced," another added. "But her husband only has one life!"

A wave of murmured disapproval rippled through the crowd, and some even began recording on their phones, broadcasting the scene live.

But their anger, their judgment, it all rolled off me. I remained seated, calm and unbothered, as though I were carved out of stone.

When Nicholas raised his head again, his face was streaked with blood. It startled me for a moment, but I quickly masked my surprise. Crawling on his knees, he grabbed at the hem of my pants, his voice hoarse and desperate.

"Samantha, please," he begged. "If you save Lex, we'll give you everything. All our savings, all the money Lex has—it's yours. We'll even transfer the house to your name, I swear it. Anything you want, just save him.

"If you're worried, we'll beg the hospital, do whatever it takes to save your job, okay?!"

His voice cracked with each word, trembling with exhaustion and pain.

For a fleeting moment, I considered his offer. The terms weren't bad, not bad at all. I raised an eyebrow, letting the silence stretch before replying.

"Fine," I said finally. "I'll save him."

Hope flickered in his eyes, like a dying ember reignited. "Really? You will?"

But I kicked his hand away, my voice cold and impatient. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I have one condition. The money and the property transfer—they need to happen now. Not tomorrow, not later. Now."

My words hit like a hammer. Both of them froze, their expressions crumbling into despair.

Nicholas choked out, "The property office is closed for the day... And Lex, he's unconscious. He can't sign the transfer papers."

I let out a derisive laugh. "Then that's not my problem."

Gracie finally snapped. "What did Lex ever do to deserve this from you? Why are you so determined to ruin him?"

I didn't bother answering. Let her scream, let them all scream. It made no difference to me.

Around us, the crowd grew more restless, their outrage swelling. Some were glaring openly, while others seemed ready to intervene.

I smirked and held up two fingers in a peace sign toward one of the cameras, thinking, 'Let them record. Let the world see.'

Just then, a nurse rushed out of the operating room, her face ashen. "The patient is awake," she said, her voice strained. "He asked me to deliver a message."

"He said he doesn't blame Samantha," the nurse continued. "He asked you not to make things difficult for her. He said... he knows she's had a hard life, that she's always needed love, and money has always been her security. He said, as long as she lives well, that's enough for him. Even if she won't save him, everything—his money, the house—it's all hers."

Hearing Lex's message from the nurse, Gracie and Nicholas nearly collapsed. They lost all strength and slumped to the ground, mumbling incoherently, "Please, I beg you... I know you can save him. Whatever it costs, we'll pay... Lex is our only son!"

Watching the two elderly figures crumpled on the floor, I felt a brief flicker of hesitation.

My parents passed away when I was young, and I dropped out of school before finishing elementary.

Lex had been my childhood companion—we'd known each other since we were kids. If Gracie and Nicholas hadn't been kind enough to take me in temporarily, I'd probably have ended up in an orphanage, fighting over scraps with a pack of stray kids.

Gracie and Nicholas were good people. They never gave me less to eat because I was an outsider. Later, when distant relatives tried to snatch the house my parents had left me, it was Gracie and Nicholas who fought the case on my behalf, driving those people away.

Gracie had held my hand back then, her voice warm but firm. "A girl must have her own home," she had said. "That's how she'll stand tall in the world."

She had also told me that girls needed an education to avoid being trampled by society. They tightened their belts, willing to eat less themselves, just to ensure both Lex and I stayed in school.

And Lex—he was always kind to me. As a child, he'd promised to marry me. Later, when I became his first love, no matter how many girls admired him, he never glanced their way.

When we secretly got married, many of his relatives mocked us. They sneered that I was an orphan, an illiterate nobody. They didn't bother hiding their contempt.

Nicholas had been furious. He had even cut ties with those relatives on the spot. "Samantha grew up under my watch," he thundered. "I know exactly what kind of person she is! You lot are nothing but dogs spitting nonsense. Get lost!"

I was deeply moved. Even my biological parents had never treated me with such fierce protection.

From that day, I vowed to take good care of Lex and repay his parents for their kindness with everything I had.

But…

The thought broke, like a fragile thread snapping in my mind. I stared blankly at Gracie and Nicholas, weeping on the floor. My gaze shifted away quickly—I couldn't bring myself to keep looking.

Dr. Henley finally helped Gracie and Nicholas to their feet. He reassured them, "Don't worry. Even if Samantha refuses to help, I'll save him! I'll do everything it takes to save your son!"

He turned to me, his eyes blazing with disgust.

"Without you, I'll still save him! Compared to money, a human life is far more valuable. Samantha, you're a monster!"

With those words, he strode into the emergency room without hesitation, leaving the air crackling with his righteous indignation.

Inwardly, I applauded.

Ah, what a virtuous doctor. How noble, how self-sacrificing. Truly the stuff of tear-jerking melodramas. How touching.

Still shaken, I prepared to leave this suffocating place. But before I could take a step, an enraged bystander emerged out of nowhere and landed a punch squarely on my face.

"You vicious woman! The most toxic poison is a woman's heart! You're a snake in human skin—beautiful but rotten to the core. Today, I'm going to be justice itself and rid the world of you!"

They kicked my abdomen, again and again, until the world around me spun and blurred.

Then came a final blow, hard and deliberate, striking the back of my head. A low groan escaped me before everything dissolved into darkness.