During the holidays, Ellie Harper, my wife who's a hospital director, tells me once again that she has taken on a few operations at the last minute, so she can't go home with me to spend time with my parents.

But soon, I see her assistant, Jaiden Roth's social media feed. Apparently, Ellie is slaughtering pigs at Jaiden's village in preparation for a holiday party.

The caption writes, "Dad says having a daughter-in-law who works as a doctor is amazing. To think that she's this skilled in slaughtering pigs as well!"

With a cold smirk curling on my lips, I leave a like on the post. I also comment, "That's her major, after all."

My colleagues keep gossiping among themselves in various group chats. They all think I'll definitely get into a huge fight with Ellie this time.

Ellie wastes no time in calling me. I can already imagine the impatient look on her face and the way her brows are drawn into a tight frown.

"Jaiden's village is hosting a huge party for the holidays, so I'm there to lend them a helping hand! What's with that passive-aggressive tone of yours, huh?

"There isn't anyone who can help out in his household, you know! Do you know how badly it'll reflect on his family if no one from his side helps out at all? I was just helping him out as a friend! What's there to kick up a fuss over?

"Hurry up and remove the like and the damn comment! Don't make life difficult for Jaiden at the hospital, you hear me?

"Once I get back from the village, I'll pick a good date to go back to your hometown with you, okay?"

Another empty promise from Ellie, it seems. All she does is making empty promises that she can never keep nowadays.

I'm completely stuffed with those promises, and I can't afford to wait for her anymore.

Once the holidays are over, I'll receive the divorce certificate marking the end of our seven-year marriage once and for all.

I didn't respond to my wife, Ellie Harper. For the first time, I hung up on her.

Sure enough, she was furious, and my phone rang again. I just blocked her, like she always did to me after one of her tantrums.

Mom and Dad looked at me with concern.

"Vance, what's going on with you and Ellie?" Mom asked.

Meeting their curious gazes, I gave them a quick smile and lowered my head to shovel a few bites of food before replying indifferently, "Things are not working out. We'll be getting a divorce soon."

Mom sighed, but she just gave Dad—who was still dazed—a quick pat. Then she forced a cheerful tone as she urged us to focus on our meal.

My phone buzzed with a new message. It was an apology from Ellie's assistant, Jaiden Roth, in the workgroup chat.

"I was just messing around. Big thanks to Dr. Harper for not taking it to heart. My apologies if my post bothered anyone."

But the bragging was pretty clear.

Soon, Ellie replied, "It was just a joke. There's nothing to apologize for. If anyone's bothered, they're just petty."

But to be honest, I didn't feel bothered at all. I was glad to be rid of Ellie.

As soon as Ellie sent that text, my colleagues knew exactly whose side to take. They immediately jumped in to chime their agreement.

"It's always so dead around the hospital anyway. Jaiden is basically sacrificing himself to liven things up. We're lucky to have him!"

"Who knew Dr. Harper was not only a master with a scalpel but also a pro at butchering pigs? Jaiden, you're one lucky guy!"

"Haha! We all know who's really being petty here."

Watching them go on and on with their insults, I couldn't help but feel a sense of profound sadness.

Because half of those suck-ups were my former students. They used to follow me around and constantly butter me up. Now, they couldn't even mention my name.

I couldn't blame them. After all, Ellie was the hospital director. Since she favored Jaiden, he became the man of the hour in everyone's eyes.

Even though this hospital grew from my work and the money I poured into it, Ellie's favoritism was worth more than all my sacrifices.

I let out a bitter laugh, locking my phone to focus on eating with Mom and Dad.

But what surprised me was that Ellie actually called Mom.

Mom looked at me helplessly.

I sighed and decided to pick up.

Before I could say anything, Ellie's cold voice came through the phone. "Is Vance there? Give him the phone. I need to speak with him."

For a moment, I regretted answering.

She called Mom to get to me and didn't even bother to say hello. That stung.

"What is it?" I asked.

Ellie's tone grew colder when she heard my voice. "Jaiden's post-op patient is showing signs of infection. Get back to the hospital now to perform a second surgery."

Her tone was commanding, as if she owned me. My anger flared at once.

The patient she mentioned required a cardiac septal bypass. Even if I were the one to perform it, I couldn't guarantee even a 50% success rate.

But because Jaiden was so desperate for that department head promotion, he begged me for this surgery.

I knew he wasn't qualified, so I refused.

But Ellie was so fixated on Jaiden. She passed the patient to him without a second thought.

I argued my case, but she said Jaiden needed experience and told me not to be so focused on personal gain.

To her, a life was just a stepping stone for Jaiden's career. Now that there was a complication, she expected me to clean up his mess.

Was she seriously treating me like a fool?

I refused flat-out. "I'm not going back. Let whoever screwed up deal with the consequences. If you're so worried, do the surgery yourself. You're the one who vouched for him, anyway."

I added, "I'm having dinner with Mom and Dad. They thought you were coming home, so they made this huge spread. It'd be a shame to let all this food go to waste. If that's all, I'm hanging up now."

Just as I was about to end the call, Ellie yelled, "Don't you dare hang up! Vance Gibson, have I been too nice to you lately?"

Ellie's scream hurt my eardrums. Even Mom, who was partially deaf, turned to look at me with a worried expression.

I forced down my anger, stepped outside, and lowered my voice. "What the fuck are you yelling at me for?"

There was a brief silence on the other end, then Ellie snapped back, "I know you're upset because I bailed on you, but I already promised I'd make time to go back with you later. What are you throwing a fit for?

"You're doing Jaiden's surgery whether you like it or not. If you don't, then we're done."

Fine by me. I didn't want to be with her anymore anyway.

Just as I was about to bring up divorce, I heard Jaiden shouting in the background. "Ellie, the party's about to start. Dad's asking for you to come to the table."

I heard her cover the phone, then respond in an unnervingly sweet tone, "I'm handling some hospital stuff. I'll be there soon. Tell Dad I'll be right there."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, Dr. Harper, you have another dad now, huh? You've been on the phone with me this long. Aren't you afraid of keeping your dad waiting? Oh, right. I forgot. I'm petty."

Jaiden seemed close by. Ellie's voice dropped as she growled, ​"Jaiden's village is small, and the people love to gossip. I'm his boss. What's wrong with showing up to make him look good? Is there any need for this sarcastic attitude?

"Listen up, Vance. I'm giving you three days to get that surgery done. If you don't, you can get the hell out of my hospital!"

With that, she hung up.

I stood there at the entrance of my house. As the wind brushed past me, I felt a hollow ache in my chest.

But my mind was made up. I was done being the scapegoat.

The next second, I received a call from the Chief Medical Officer of the hospital, George Hudson. Apparently, someone had reported that I performed surgery while drunk, and he wanted me to come back and handle it.

I felt like I was losing my mind.

My breath hitched. "Dr. Hudson, are you sure there isn't a mistake? This patient has congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was already at death's door when he first arrived."

But George sent me the complaint letter anyway.

My mind went blank. I didn't even get to finish dinner. I rushed back to the hospital in a panic.

Faced with George's accusing look, I requested a confrontation with the accuser. But he remained silent. He simply pulled forward a witness to identify me.

But the witness—the anesthesiologist for that surgery—happened to be Jaiden's best friend.

The realization hit me like a physical blow, and my blood boiled.

"Dr. Hudson, he's Jaiden's friend. Jaiden has a grudge against me. He could easily be framing me!"

It was a desperate, hollow defense. I had no proof.

Before I could say more, a shrill voice cut through the room. "Enough!"

Ellie stormed in. Her eyes were filled with disgust as she glared at me.

"A grudge?" she snapped. "You're the one who hates him! You're the one trying to ruin him! Vance, I thought you were just petty, but still professional. I never imagined you could be so shameless!

"Do you have any idea how serious it is to fake a malpractice claim? I can't believe you'd gamble with a patient's life. You don't deserve to be a doctor, and you certainly don't deserve to be my husband!"

I froze in place, my throat tightening as if it were being squeezed.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to speak. "Ellie, do you really think I'd risk a patient's life out of jealousy?"

Ellie's chest heaved with anger, her gaze dark and unreadable. "Why not? I've seen the alcohol bottles in the fridge at home."

That single sentence sealed everything.

George handed me the termination papers, and I felt the scorn of my colleagues raining down on me.

Dazed and defeated, I finished packing up. I was just about to walk out the door when the patient's mother kicked me to the ground.

"You bastard! Why did you kill my son? Why did you drink before the surgery?"

The woman kicked me again and again while slapping me across the face.

My vision began to blur. As the woman was dragged away, I crouched on the floor, quietly gathering my scattered belongings.

And then, I heard Jaiden's voice from behind me. "Vance, you got what you deserved!"

I turned to find his smug face twisted into a half-smile. Striking the pose of a victor, he looked down at my box of belongings with a look of mock surprise.

"Oh no. Are you resigning to atone for that medical accident of yours?"

Jaiden was the one pulling all the strings behind the scenes, so why was he acting in front of me now?

I sneered and shot back, "Sorry, I just realized working with someone like you is beneath me. So, I'm out."

Jaiden's smirk grew wider. He became even more smug, raising his voice as he pointed at me.

"Vance, as a doctor, you've caused a major medical accident. You can just resign and run away, but the patient's family is making a scene. It's the hospital's reputation that's taking the hit.

"I suggest you apologize to everyone in the hospital. Why should we all suffer because of the mess you caused?"

After saying that, Jaiden looked around, expecting someone to back him up.

The sheer absurdity of it was almost funny. I turned and prepared to walk away.

But Jaiden wasn't done. He rushed up and blocked my path. I tried to sidestep him, but at that moment, he suddenly plopped down on the floor.

Ellie's voice rang out instantly. "Jaiden! Are you okay?"

She quickly ran over to him, her face full of concern as she checked on him. Then, she turned to glare at me and snapped, "Vance Gibson! Are you crazy? Why would you push him? Apologize right now!"

Before I could speak, Jaiden played the nice guy. "Ellie, don't get mad. I was just afraid that Vance's medical accident would hurt the hospital's reputation. I'm sure he didn't mean to push me…"

The mention of the medical accident lit a fire in Ellie's eyes. Frowning, she said, "You were so incredibly reluctant when I asked you to take over that one surgery, and now, the patient's dead.

"Tell me, what are we supposed to do now? How did I not see this side of you before? You treat human lives like they're nothing!"

I found her words ridiculous and shot back, "Well, when you helped Jaiden frame me, wasn't my life worth as little as a pawn to you?"

Then, I shot a sidelong glance at Jaiden, who was looking diffident. "A scumbag like him will ruin you one day!"

Ellie immediately shielded Jaiden and snapped back at me, "Vance! Stop making accusations. You were the one who performed surgery drunk. Who's to blame for that? You're just getting what you deserve!"

My throat tightened with anger. All I could do was let out a bitter laugh.

It was always like this. Whenever Jaiden was involved, Ellie was always on his side, no matter the cost, even if it meant sacrificing my career.

I had no proof for now, so I could only take the fall.

Too tired to argue further, I picked up my box and prepared to leave.

But Ellie wasn't done. She grabbed my sleeve, pulling me back.

"You think just resigning solves everything? I'm going to make sure every hospital in this city knows about this! You'll be blacklisted from the entire industry!"

I turned slightly and gave both Ellie and Jaiden a contemptuous look. I said coolly, "Go ahead, but before you do that, you'd better pay your respects to that patient. You wouldn't want his restless soul coming for your necks while you're sleeping, would you?"

With that, I strode toward the hospital exit, ignoring their wide-eyed stares of guilt.

Ellie was always like this. She viewed my every move through a lens of malice.

The moment something went wrong with the patient, she pinned it on me. She just wanted me to be the scapegoat so she could protect Jaiden.

But none of it mattered anymore.

Once outside, I contacted a real estate agent to list the house that Ellie and I had paid for in full when we got married.

The young agent told me the market was hot right now, and the house could sell for a good price.

But I simply told him that the place was a bit of a mess. Once he found a buyer, he could just call a junk removal service and toss everything out.

I didn't want any of Ellie's stuff.

After that, I went straight to the courthouse. Just before closing time, I finally got the divorce certificate.

Ellie probably didn't even remember that she'd slapped a divorce agreement on my face in a fit of rage months ago.

Realizing I'd forgotten to tell her to move out earlier that day, I drove back home, intent on a final showdown.

On the way there, I imagined the look on her face when she saw the divorce certificate.

But I didn't expect her to surprise me first.

I couldn't get the smart lock to open.