Ronda couldn't believe her eyes. "What did you say? You want me to apologize to her?"

"If you hadn't insisted on calling me at that moment, I wouldn't have been distracted, and Rose wouldn't have run into a dangerous area out of shock."

Greg spoke with conviction. Each of his words felt like nails piercing Ronda's heart.

"Moreover, when the rescue team carried you out, you clung to the stretcher with all your might and refused to leave. You frightened Rose. She's in a very unstable mental state now, constantly murmuring apologies to you. You'd better go and tell her that you're okay so she can recover peacefully."

"I'm not going." Ronda closed her eyes, and tears finally fell. "Greg, get out."

"Ronda!" Greg didn't expect that his usually gentle and forbearing wife dared to speak to him like that. His anger flared instantly. He grabbed her uninjured left shoulder tightly. "Don't act like this. As the spouse of the director, you must be showing leadership and compassion now, not being petty. What will people say about you if they see you like this? Rose is such a kind-hearted woman, and you caused her to be like this. Don't you feel guilty?"

"Is she kind-hearted?" Ronda's eyes snapped open, filled with hatred. "She's kind-hearted, so she entered a dangerous construction site when she was aware of danger? She's kind-hearted, so she clung to your hand, cried out in fear, and told you not to bother with me when she saw me trapped? Greg, are you blind?"

"Shut up!" Greg released his grip abruptly.

Ronda, already weak, was thrown against the iron railing of the bed with a heavy thud.

The dull sound echoed.

Ronda felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. A warm liquid flowed out instantly.

Her face turned ashen as she clutched her abdomen and curled up in agony. "It hurts! My abdomen..."

Greg looked at Ronda with more disdain. "Are you pretending again? Ronda, how many times are you going to constantly sound false alarms? Last time you pretended to have a stomachache. The time before you feigned a headache. Now you are telling me you have abdominal pain? You're a doctor. Could you at least make your act convincing?"

"Help... the baby..." Ronda was sweating from the pain. Her fingers gripped Greg's sleeve tightly, and her knuckles turned pale. "Greg, please... call the obstetrics department... I'm pregnant..."

Greg stiffened as he looked down at her pain-contorted face. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.

But soon he started being ironic. "Are you pregnant? You said that last time to trick me into going home, and what happened?"

Greg coldly removed her grip and continued, "Ronda, you've repeated the same lie three times this month. I don't have more patience with you. If you don't apologize to Rose, I'll cut off all the research funding for the neurosurgery department this year."

With that, he disdainfully brushed off the wrinkles from his sleeve where she had grabbed it and strode out.

"Greg!" Ronda cried out desperately, and the warm liquid beneath her kept spreading, staining her hospital scrubs and the white sheets.

That was her husband, whom she had loved for ten years.

She had fought to marry him against her family's objections back then.

To him, her life-threatening situation was a ploy for sympathy, and her unbearable pain was a poor performance. Even the baby in her womb was nothing but a tool for gaining his favor.

"Nurse... help..." Ronda mustered the last of her strength to press the call button by her bed. Her vision darkened as she became unconscious again.

Before completely losing consciousness, she heard Greg's tender voice in the hallway. He had never been so tender to her.

"Don't be afraid, Rose. I'm here. That hysterical woman is fine. She just wants to scare you... Be good. Take your medicine. I'll help you with it."

Ronda had a long dream.

In the dream, a blood-red sea spread out before her, and a baby floated on the surface. It reached out with its hands and cried for its mother.

She desperately swam towards it and wanted to grasp its hand. But just as her fingers were about to touch it, Greg's cold face suddenly appeared. He held a scalpel and ruthlessly severed the connection between her and the baby.

"Ah!" Ronda woke up screaming, drenched in cold sweat.

"Dr. Lambert, you're awake?" A young nurse stood by her bed. Her eyes were red as she changed the IV bottle for Ronda.

Seeing Ronda awake, the nurse quickly turned away to wipe her tears. She said in a choked voice, "Please try not to move. You're still very weak after the dilation and curettage procedure."

The dilation and curettage procedure.

Ronda blankly reached for her abdomen. It was as flat as ever. But she didn't feel connected to her baby anymore.

"The baby... is gone?" Ronda's voice was as light as a breeze. It seemed to dissipate at any moment.

The nurse couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears. "Dr. Lambert, you were brought in too late... If it had been just half an hour earlier, even ten minutes earlier, the baby could have been saved. But... but...

What happened?

But her husband, the baby's father, thought she was lying and acting when her life was on the line. He shook off her hand for help and even used research funds to threaten her into apologizing to the very woman who caused this.

Besides, he had even pushed her hard against the headboard.

Ronda did not cry.

She had given up on him.

She simply stared quietly at the ceiling. The light in her eyes slowly faded away. They became lifeless in the end.

"What about my hand?" Ronda asked her second question.

The nurse's sobbing paused, and her eyes were evasive. She dared not speak.

"Tell me the truth." Ronda's voice was surprisingly calm.

The nurse bit her lip and said in a trembling voice, "The orthopedic chief just came by. He says... that your right arm's ulnar nerve is completely severed. The tendons are severely damaged. The crush fractures from the secondary compression... Even if it recovers, you... won't be able to perform surgery anymore."

It was as expected.

Ronda closed her eyes and couldn't utter a single word.

She would no longer be able to hold a scalpel.

She was the youngest neurosurgery expert in the country. Her hands had saved countless lives. They were her pride and the only dignity she had in her cold marriage.

Now, her hand was destroyed by Greg, who claimed it was "just a minor injury."

"Leave me alone. I want to be quiet," Ronda said softly.

The nurse gave Ronda a worried glance and reluctantly walked out of the room.

The ward fell into a deathly silence again.

Ronda lay on the bed as a puppet without its soul.

She didn't know how much time had passed when the door opened again.

This time, it wasn't Greg, but Rose, wearing a pink hospital gown. She looked very well.

She carried a bouquet of vibrant lilies and walked gracefully. She showed no sign of an asthma flare-up.

"Ronda, I heard you had undergone surgery? Oh dear, poor woman." Rose approached the bed and looked down at Ronda with a fake smile like a victor. "Greg is very busy looking for a psychologist abroad for me, so he couldn't come to see you. I thought I'd come on his behalf to check on you."

She casually tossed the lilies onto the bedside table. The pollen sprinkled down and landed right on Ronda's pillow.

Ronda was allergic to pollen. Greg knew it, and all the staff members of the hospital knew it.

But Rose didn't seem to know it.

"Take your trash and leave." Ronda didn't even bother to lift her eyelids.

"Ronda, don't be so angry." Rose pulled up a chair and sat closer to Ronda. She lowered her voice with a venomous boast. "You know what? Greg just promised me that once I recover, I'll be joining the neurosurgery department and taking over your position. He says your hand is useless anyway. So you cannot hold a position for nothing. It will be a waste of resources. It's better to give me the opportunity, as I am more talented."

Ronda's eyes snapped open, and she glared at Rose intensely. "What did you say?"

"I said your position is now mine."

Rose laughed happily while pointing to Ronda's plastered right hand. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that hand was once called the 'Hand of God,' but now? I bet you even struggle to hold a spoon. Ronda, what's the point of your fighting? The only reason Greg married you was that your hands could bring profit to the hospital. Now that you're useless, do you think he'll keep you? You are a washed-up woman now."

"Rose, you'll pay for what you have done," Ronda said, each word with anguish.

"Really? Fine," Rose snorted coldly. She suddenly changed her expression. She grabbed the fruit knife from the table, shoved it into Ronda's hand, forcefully held her hand, and aimed the knife at her own arm.

"What are you doing?" Ronda was shocked and tried to pull her hand back, but Rose's grip was astonishingly strong.

"What am I doing? Of course... I'm helping you out." Rose gave a sinister smile as she applied force. "Hiss—"

Blood gushed out instantly and stained the white sleeve red.

Rose immediately let out a piercing scream. She fell backward and knocked over the chair. Then she lay trembling on the floor. "Help! Help! Ronda, no... I'm sorry. Please don't kill me..."

The door was flung open.

Greg rushed in. His pupils constricted sharply at the scene.

Rose was sprawled on the floor, her arm covered in blood. Her face was streaked with tears, and she pointed fearfully at the bed.

Meanwhile, Ronda stood frozen, holding the bloodstained fruit knife in mid-air.

"Ronda, have you lost your mind?" Greg roared.

He kicked the knife out of Ronda's hand and then got down on his knee to cradle Rose in his arms. He said with concern, "Rose, are you okay? Don't be afraid. I'm here."

"Greg... it hurts... I just came to apologize to Ronda... I didn't expect her to suddenly grab the knife..."

Rose curled up in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. She was trembling like a leaf in the wind. "Am I going to die..."

"Don't say that. With me here, no one can hurt you." Greg lifted his head sharply and looked at Ronda as if she were a heinous criminal. His gaze was filled with rage and murderous intent. "Ronda, have you lost your humanity? Rose came with good intentions, and you attacked her with a knife?"

Ronda looked at the undisguised hatred in his eyes and suddenly laughed out loud.

Tears streamed down her face.

"Greg, if you're not blind, you'd see who the knife handle is pointing at. You can see the direction of the force."

"You are still denying it."

Greg stood up with Rose in his arms. He towered over Ronda like a judge. "I saw it with my own eyes. Is that not enough? Rose wouldn't even dare kill a chicken. How could she possibly harm herself? But you are jealous and heartless. Ronda, it seems losing your right hand wasn't enough to teach you a lesson. Do you want to end up in jail?"

"I want to end up in jail?" Ronda propped herself up on the bed. Her face was ghostly pale, but her voice was clear. "Greg, do you even know what I've just been through? My baby is gone. You killed your baby. I don't even have the strength to hold a knife. How could I hurt her?"

"My baby?" Greg sneered. His eyes were full of disdain. "The obstetrics department did send a report saying you had a curettage. But Ronda, who was the father? I haven't touched you for months. How could you get pregnant?"

Ronda's mind went blank at that moment.

She couldn't believe her ears. "What did you say?"

"I said, don't try to pin that unknown illegitimate baby on me." Greg's words were like daggers. "In an attempt to win me back, you pretended to be injured. Now, you're faking pregnancy and resorting to finding another guy? Ronda, you disgust me."

"Last month on the third..." Ronda tried to explain. He was drunk that day.

"I was drunk that day. I don't remember anything. You may take advantage of me, or you just made it all up."

Greg interrupted her impatiently. He turned to gently console Rose in his arms. "Rose, let's go. I get you bandaged. Such a vicious woman isn't worth your tears."

At the door, he paused. With his back to Ronda, he said, "Given your deliberate harm to Rose, I'll have the legal department involved. Also, you're relieved of your duties as head of neurosurgery. Stay here and reflect for the next few days. Once Rose forgives you, you can get out of the hospital."