A Different Woman

Dean's pupils dilated as shock flashed across his face.

He had likely never heard me speak to him in that tone of voice before.

Evelyn of the past was a punching bag who always cowered and groveled behind him, too afraid to even breathe loudly.

"W-What did you just say?" he spat out through a clenched jaw, speaking like every word was forced through sheer force of will.

"I said, you're disgusting," I clearly and loudly repeated my declaration.

Laura was the first to fly off the handle. "Evelyn, you bitch! How dare you speak to Dean like that!"

She charged over to push me.

I leaned to the side and dodged her, seizing the chance to trip her up with a foot as well.

"Aah!" She let out a shriek as she tumbled tail over teakettle, slamming her head against one of the bed's legs. Her head soon swelled with a large bruise.

"Laura!"

Dean tried to sit up in his panic, but ended up gasping in agony as the movement aggravated his wound.

"How dare you attack her, Evelyn!" he roared in his fury.

"Why are you so wicked now? Where did the sweet and kind Eve I knew go?"

"Oh, so you even understand enough to use the past tense then?" I sneered as I watched Laura rolling around in her tantrum on the ground.

"The lions of Loasia taught me that to survive, I had to be even more vicious than rabid wolves. Also, don't call me Eve. You've lost that right."

I then turned to leave.

"Stop right there!" Dean yelled from behind. "If you take a single step out of here, I'll file a complaint to your hospital director. You won't ever be able to work in this industry again!"

I paused and turned to look back at him.

"Mr. Blake, you must be mistaken about something." I pointed to my name tag before continuing grandly, "I am the hospital director. If you wish to file a complaint, go ahead."

That thoroughly stunned him.

He stared at me like he was looking at a stranger.

The woman whose life once revolved around him, who used to serve him on hand and foot, was now standing with her head held high under the spotlight of attention.

However, she was no longer his.

He was unable to accept that disparity.

"No... There's absolutely no way..." he muttered to himself for a while before abruptly looking up as though struck by realization.

"Your benefactor is helping you, isn't he? Evelyn, you actually sold yourself to get the job, didn't you? You disgust me!"

His imagination was so vivid that it left me sighing in awe.

In Dean's mind, a woman was nothing without a man.

I only achieved what I did because I was sleeping with some old man.

"Dean, it seems those with filthy minds always find the world filthy."

I left, completely uninterested in explaining myself to someone so brain-dead.

I could hear something shattering against the ground in the ward behind me while Laura sobbed and embellished what happened.

"Just look at her, Dean! She must be feeling guilty! She has been in Loasia for five years! Who knows how many men she has done it with? A woman like her does not deserve to be Mrs. Blake!"

I closed the door, locking the slanderous insults away.

As I walked to the nurse's station, I took a deep breath to suppress the disgust I felt.

My phone buzzed.

It was a message from Jason Butler, my husband. "I made your favorite ribs for dinner tonight, dear. What time are you clocking off? I'll pick you up."

Attached to the text was a photo of our daughter, Candice.

My slightly furrowed brows relaxed as I looked at my phone.

Jason and Candice

When I made my rounds the next day, there was a group of people in Dean's room.

Other than Laura, there were several bodyguards dressed in black suits in the room. There was also a reporter holding his camera up.

"That's her!"

Laura immediately shouted and pointed at me upon my entry. "This is the quack who messed around during the surgery, causing nerve damage to my fiancé's leg! Quick! Take photos of her now! Expose this evil hospital!"

The journalist began snapping away, blinding me with the flash.

Dean was glowering at me as he leaned against the headboard. "I gave you a chance, Evelyn. If you now admit to your mistake, apologize to Laura on your knees, and swear to never work as a doctor again… I can refrain from suing you."

He looked so confident that he could win.

He acted as if he had already discovered my fatal weakness.

As I watched the entire spectacle, I could only think of how absurd it all was.

"Nerve damage?" I grabbed his patient file and slammed it down before him. "Here are the EMG and MRI scans. Everything is normal. Dean, you should find a proper reason if you wish to sue me."

"Reports can be falsified!" Laura shrieked. "You're the hospital director. You can change them however you like! Either way, Dean's leg is now numb. This is all your fault! We won't be leaving until you compensate us!

"I'll even make sure everyone on the internet knows you're a wicked woman who would murder for money!"

Ah, they wanted to completely ruin my reputation.

I glanced at the twisted look on Laura's face before turning to Dean, who was just silently watching everything with implicit approval.

The last shreds of my patience finally vanished.

"Very well. If you wish to cause a ruckus, I'll play along until the very end."

I pulled out my phone to call security.

Just then, Dean spoke up.

"Eve, don't waste your energy. I am acquainted with the hospital's investors. All I have to do is say the word, and your role as the hospital director will be gone."

There was a hint of magnanimity shining in his eyes.

"I'll say this one last time. Come here, grovel, and apologize. Return to my side and behave as my lover. This is your only way out."

He held a hand out, waiting for me to subserviently place my hand in his as I used to.

His bodyguards surrounded me, blocking my escape.

Laura was grinning smugly, waiting to watch my humiliation.

It was then that the door was slammed open.

A young but loud voice called out, "Don't bully my mom!" Candice held her arms out and glared hard at Dean, who was still in his bed. "Stay away from my mom, you meanie!"

A slender but muscular arm reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Jason stood tall in his tailored gray coat; his usually warm eyes had frosted over as he watched this farce unfold.

He walked further in and casually wrapped an arm around my waist. "Apologies for being late."