But now, whatever love I had for Ethan was completely gone.

That night, I held the divorce papers drafted by the company’s legal team, ready to send them to Ethan.

But then I saw a photo on Lily’s social media.

Candlelight, red wine—what a perfect scene for this cheating pair.

In the center of a table surrounded by 990 roses sat a small, elegant box.

Inside was the diamond ring I had once longed for.

I remembered how, when we got married, Ethan couldn’t afford a real ring.

He bought a fake one for ten dollars on Amazon and slid it onto my finger, looking deeply into my eyes.

“Sophia, this ring is fake, but my love for you is real.

Thank you for marrying a poor man like me. I promise I’ll buy you a real one just like it someday.”

I still have that fake ring.

I thought he had simply forgotten.

But now that real ring had shown up in another woman’s photo.

He hadn’t forgotten—he just never intended to give it to me.

The caption under the post read:

“I made a huge mistake giving the wrong medication today, but my dear Dr. Walker took all the blame for me.

If it weren’t for him, my career in medicine would have been over.

But misfortune turned into blessing—I got a love confession tonight!

I can never repay you, so I’ll just let you hold me whenever you want, for the rest of my life .”

I laughed coldly and gave it a “like.”

Screenshot. Saved.

Another piece of evidence secured.

Then I sent the divorce papers to Ethan.

“Look them over and sign them when you get home.”

Not even a minute later, my phone rang.

It was Ethan.

“Sophia Reed, what the hell is this supposed to mean?”

He barked angrily.

I was just about to say, “Since you’ve already confessed your love to her, I’ll step aside,” but he cut me off—

“I’m warning you, Lily’s post has nothing to do with your mother’s death!

If you dare to come to the hospital and ruin her future, I swear I’ll divorce you!”

Then he hung up.

I stood frozen, staring at the phone.

My heart, which was already numb, split open with pain.

I had thought he called because of the divorce papers.

But no—he just wanted to protect his mistress.

“Ethan, your mother’s body is still lying in the hospital morgue, and you have the nerve to go on a date? Aren’t you afraid of karma?”

I gritted my teeth and texted him.

But a red exclamation mark appeared next to the message.

He had blocked me.

I laughed bitterly.

Fine. If he didn’t care about his own mother, why should I care about anything anymore?

I had fallen for him because of his supposed filial piety, but even that had been a lie.

When Ethan was young, his father had racked up gambling debts, abandoned his wife and kids, and disappeared, leaving Mrs. Walker to raise Ethan and his baby sister alone, enduring endless hardships to make him who he was today.

Even yesterday, when Mrs. Walker felt unwell, she didn’t want to come to the hospital—she didn’t want to worry her son.

I had been the one who forced her to come to St. Mary’s Medical Center and called Ethan myself.

He had impatiently told me he was off duty and to find another doctor.

After I begged him again and again, Ethan reluctantly came.

When he arrived, Lily was with him.

By then, Mrs. Walker had already completed her CT scan.

Ethan didn’t even step into the room. He just glanced at the scan and snapped, “You called me for this? Such a small issue?”

He told me to leave everything to him and walked away with Lily.

I still trusted his medical skills.

After all, Mrs. Walker’s stroke was not severe, and we had brought her in quickly.

She should have been fine with proper thrombolysis.

But instead, I got the news that she had died from a sudden brain bleed.

And Ethan still thought the patient was my mother.

Clearly, he hadn’t been the one treating her—he hadn’t even looked at the chart.

Her chart clearly had Mrs. Walker’s name on it!

Her body had been at the hospital for a full day.

They should have notified her family by now.

So why did he still act like he didn’t know?

As I wrestled with these questions, I heard the sound of the door unlocking.

I looked up and saw Ethan walk in with Lily, who was dressed to the nines.

They didn’t even bother to close the door before they started kissing passionately.

“Ethan, you secretly handled her mother’s body. What if she finds out?” Lily asked with fake concern.

“So what if she does? That woman chased me like a dog for three years.

If it weren’t for her family’s money and what they could do for me, do you think I would’ve married her?”

Ethan smirked, holding Lily by the waist.

“Besides, I took a huge risk for you today. How do you plan to thank me?”

In that moment, everything became clear to me.

Ethan had been afraid that I would request an autopsy and sue his precious intern.

So he had used his influence at the hospital to cremate his own mother’s body without my consent.

As a doctor, did he not understand that this wasn’t just unethical—it was criminal?

Lily giggled, “How do you want me to thank you? I’m already all yours—whatever you want, you can have.”

Ethan grinned, scooped her up in a bridal carry, and started toward the bedroom—

Only to stop dead when he saw me standing in the doorway, phone in hand, staring at them with narrowed eyes.

“Sophia, what are you doing here?” Ethan blurted, his face draining of color.

“This is my house. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

I gave them a cold smile.

“Don’t mind me. Go on.”

“Sophia, your mother just passed away, and you’re not at the vigil? What kind of daughter are you?”

Ethan set Lily down, his face dark and accusing.

Seeing him try to play the victim made me so furious I could barely breathe.

I wanted to rip him apart and see what kind of heart he had left in his chest.

He had the audacity to bring his intern into our home and do this—and then to question me?

“Sophia, good, you’re here.”

Ethan suddenly said coldly.

“The hospital couldn’t reach your family, so your mother’s body couldn’t be processed.

I signed the death certificate on your behalf.”

As he spoke, Ethan Walker handed me a cardboard box wrapped in a plastic bag.

“This is your mother’s ashes. Saves me the trouble of bringing them to you.”

I had already expected he wouldn’t treat his own mother’s ashes with any dignity.

But when I saw the torn, flimsy packaging and the ashes spilling everywhere as he handed it over, my rage broke free.

“Ethan, have you lost every shred of human decency just to protect your little lover and destroy the evidence?” I demanded coldly.

“Bullshit! What evidence did I destroy?” Ethan’s expression turned dark and vicious.

He threw the box of ashes on the floor and roared,

“Sophia Reed, I’m a doctor, not a god! People die in our hospital every day. Your mother’s death has nothing to do with me!”

I took a deep breath, knelt down, and picked up the box.

Inside, barely half of the ashes were left.

“The dead deserve respect. You call yourself a doctor, but you can’t even give the deceased the basic dignity they deserve!”

Ethan’s face twisted with impatience.

“The crematorium burns so many bodies every day—those ashes all get mixed up anyway. What does it matter? As long as there’s enough to bury, that’s all you need.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

How could a human being say something so callous?

“Dr. Walker, Mrs. Walker, please don’t fight. This is all my fault.”

Lily suddenly burst into tears, interrupting us.

“I was the one who collected the ashes. If I had known, I would’ve scooped up more so even if some spilled, there’d still be plenty left.”

“How is any of this your fault?”

Ethan patted her head indulgently before turning to me with disdain.

“She didn’t even take care of her own mother’s body, and now she’s using her death to extort the hospital.

You went out of your way to bring her the ashes, and instead of being grateful, she blames you.

A daughter like that—no wonder her mother died early!”

My chest burned with fury.

This was beyond absurd.

This was clearly a medical malpractice case, caused entirely by Lily’s mistake.

But Ethan had abandoned all sense of right and wrong to protect his mistress.

“Don’t say that, Dr. Walker. Mrs. Reed is probably just emotional because her mom just died,”

Lily said softly, pouting and playfully covering Ethan’s mouth.

A tenderness flashed across Ethan’s eyes—one I had never seen before.

Seeing it felt like a knife to the heart.

“Mrs. Reed, life and death are fate. It’s better to let Mrs. Walker be laid to rest quickly.

Otherwise, her remains might end up scattered even more.”

Lily blinked innocently as she handed the ashes toward me again.

I gave a cold laugh and pushed them back toward her.

“Then let Ethan keep them himself.”

As I pushed the box back, a mischievous glint flashed in Lily’s eyes.

She suddenly stumbled backward, tearing the bag open.

Ashes spilled all over the floor, filling the air with a choking cloud.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reed,” Lily said pitifully, plopping down on the ground.

“If hitting me will make you feel better, go ahead.

But your mom’s death really has nothing to do with me.”