Rita pinned the blame squarely on me, instantly drawing contemptuous looks from everyone around us.

My heart felt as though it had plunged into a bottomless abyss. I roared, "It wasn't me—it was Julia—"

Before I could finish, Rita slapped me across the face and shouted angrily, "That's enough! Kevin, stop dragging other people into this. If you make a mistake, own it!"

The onlookers all assumed I was lashing out because I'd been exposed, and they began pointing at me in disgust.

One of the younger men from the patient's family rushed forward and punched me to the ground.

"You're still trying to argue? Are you refusing to compensate my sister?!"

My teeth cut into the inside of my mouth. A thin line of blood spilled from the corner of my lips and dripped onto my white coat.

Someone gasped.

"He's hurt?!"

Rita snapped back to attention and frowned sharply.

"What injury? He just got hit once. Stop exaggerating."

Afraid the situation would escalate further, several people hurriedly pulled the family member away and helped me into an empty consultation room to disinfect the wound.

Before leaving, someone sighed at me.

"Dr. Miller… you really handled this poorly."

I sat there numbly, holding a cotton swab as I applied medicine to my swollen cheekbone.

Not long after, Rita entered with a dark expression. She snatched the cotton swab from my hand, soaked it heavily in iodine solution, and pressed it against my face. Yet, her movements were unexpectedly gentle.

After calming her breathing, she said, "The patient's family made their demands. They want you to kneel and apologize, then pay fifty thousand dollars in compensation."

"Kevin, if this falls on Julian, it'll ruin his future. But for you, it's only a loss of reputation. Don't blame me. This is the best solution. Once everyone forgets about this, I'll promote you and give you a raise."

I shook my head.

"I'm not going."

After all, I was about to become vice director at another hospital.

Rita's expression darkened instantly. She threw down the cotton swab, and it bounced against my face painfully.

At that moment, Julian pushed the door open, looking as though he had suffered a tremendous injustice.

"Kevin, I apologized to the family on your behalf earlier, and they hit me. I know you hate me, but if news of a scandal like this spreads through the hospital and you refuse to step up, do you know how much damage it'll cause? For the hospital's sake, just admit it already!"

"You got hit?!"

Rita panicked immediately and lifted his clothes to examine him.

Julian pushed at her theatrically and pointed toward me.

Only then did she seem to realize how inappropriate her reaction looked. She coughed lightly.

"Kevin, look at how much Julian has sacrificed for you. Stop being difficult. Go outside right now and admit your mistake, or I'll have no choice but to fire you to satisfy everyone."

She was so worried about Julian that she couldn't even be bothered to keep pretending with me anymore. She actually threatened me with termination.

Clearly, this disaster had been caused by Julian, yet somehow it had become "for my own good."

The absurdity of it nearly made me laugh.

"Fine. Then fire me."

Rita froze.

I stood up and removed the bloodstained white coat.

"Rita, if you fire me without cause, then based on my seven years of employment, you'll owe me compensation. Thank you for your generosity."

Her face darkened furiously as she knocked the medical kit onto the floor.

"Kevin, are you so desperate for money that you're actually scheming against me now?!"

But Julian's eyes gleamed with delight, as though driving me away had always been his ultimate goal.

"Rita, so it was about the money all along! I never expected Kevin to be this materialistic. Forget it, just give it to him. His fourteen months of salary probably isn't even worth as much as the watch you gave me."

He deliberately raised his wrist, displaying the expensive Patek Philippe watch strapped to it.

Hospital regulations explicitly prohibited staff from wearing jewelry of any kind. Yet, Rita had broken the rules for him again and again.

The wife who constantly cried poor in front of me—who said running the hospital wasn't easy and begged me not to pressure her for promotions or raises—could casually spend hundreds of thousands on a watch for Julian.

Still, Rita acted as though she were entirely justified. She sneered coldly.

"Kevin, why don't you thank Julian? Your knees must be awfully precious. As long as you kneel and apologize, the money is yours. I'm taking Julian to get checked for injuries."

She shot me a glare before helping the "injured" Julian out of the room.

Then suddenly, the phone lying on the table lit up.

A person with a black cat profile picture had sent me a single question mark.

[Why haven't you come downstairs yet? I've been waiting for you for an hour. Did something happen?]

I snapped back to my senses.

Me: [Nothing. I'll be there in a minute.]

As I walked downstairs, I heard Rita softly comforting Julian inside one of the hospital rooms.

"Don't be scared. Everything's already been handled. Didn't you say you still haven't had enough fun? I'll travel with you for a few more days to help calm you down, okay?"

Julian sounded aggrieved.

"Do you think he'll willingly take the blame for me?"

Rita replied casually, "He and I have been married for seven years. Don't I know him by now? He's all talk. Ignore him. Before, he nearly died from overwork and ended up in emergency resuscitation, but I still skipped staying with him just to have dinner with you. In the end, after ignoring him for a few days, he came back and apologized to me anyway."

The corner of my mouth curled into a mocking smile.

She was so certain that I valued love too deeply, that I loved her too much, and that I couldn't bear to leave the hospital I had helped build from the ground up.

But my love was never meant to become a weapon she could use against me.

'Don't worry, Rita. I'm never coming back again.'

I headed to the underground parking garage and got into the Bentley that had been parked there for a long time.

Only after I had completed the onboarding procedures at my new hospital did Rita finally call me, screaming curses the moment I answered.

"Kevin, where the hell are you?! Are you insane? I already calmed the patient's family down! All that was left was for you to apologize, and you disappeared! I got yelled at because of you! Don't tell me you actually think the hospital can't function without you? Julian is a hundred times better than you. And you still want a promotion and raise? Are you even worthy?!"

She wanted to replace me with Julian, didn't she?

He had caused no one knew how many disasters like today's. They just hadn't exploded publicly yet. I was already sick of cleaning up his messes.

This ticking time bomb could stay with Rita. She could suffer the consequences herself.

Too lazy to listen to her ranting, I hung up directly.

Then I deliberately posted on my social media that I had transferred hospitals. Any patients needing treatment could now come find me at my new hospital.

Rita sent me only one sentence in response: [You're doing this on purpose just to disgust me, aren't you? Is this really necessary?]

Then she blocked me again.

I soon received another message. It was from the richest man in the city.

[Kevin, I only trust your medical skills. I'm transferring hospitals immediately.]

Not long ago, the tycoon had been diagnosed with a brainstem tumor. The entire hospital had been eager to make the surgery perfect and use it as a publicity opportunity.

Unexpectedly, he had firmly chosen me.

Naturally, I accepted without hesitation.

Three days later, at my new hospital, I completed the tycoon's brainstem tumor removal surgery in only four hours.

To build the hospital's reputation, and with the tycoon's consent, I voluntarily invited peers in the field to watch the surgery livestream.

Everyone was astonished by my surgical skill, and the event quickly went viral beyond medical circles.

Especially the tycoon's daughter—she even posted publicly online to thank me, saying she planned to invest two hundred million dollars into the hospital.

I was still considering how to reply to her when Rita suddenly removed me from her blacklist and sent me a screenshot.

[So you went this far just to win me over? Fine. I'll forgive you. I'm vacationing in Selanya with Julian right now. Buy a train ticket and come over. I'll travel with you for two days as your reward.]

I opened the screenshot.

It was the post made by the tycoon's daughter.

Rita had commented underneath it: [Kevin isn't even the best doctor at our hospital. Everyone is welcome to come seek treatment here!]

I was utterly speechless.

What nonsense was she commenting?

I immediately opened the post, intending to clarify things under Rita's comment.

But the comments had already exploded, and people who didn't know the truth were praising Rita's hospital for producing so many outstanding talents.

Then, the next second, another post shot straight onto the trending charts.

The user had a black cat profile picture and a username made up of random symbols. They deliberately posted screenshots and tagged Rita directly.

[Stealing my family's credit was one thing, but now you're trying to steal Dr. Kevin Miller from me too? Rita, have you no shame at all?]