"Fine. So I lost a piece of gauze. Big deal."

In the sterile silence of the operating room, Nora Qiao shoved her phone into her scrub pocket, her expression dripping with impatience.

"The surgery went fine. The patient is alive. Do you really need to make a scene over a scrap of fabric, Head Nurse Simmons? One piece more or less—who cares?"

Her lips, coated in a shade of red far too bright for an operating room, curled into a sneer.

I clenched my hands at my sides, nails digging into my palms. "Where did you lose it?"

She scoffed. "Do you speak English? It's lost. If I knew where it was, it wouldn't be lost, would it? Open the door. You're cutting into my beauty sleep."

When I didn't move, she rolled her eyes, pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket, and tossed it at my feet.

"Here. Pretend that's the gauze. Happy now?"

I didn't hesitate. I snatched the tissue and shoved it straight into her mouth.

"I'll ask you one more time—where did you lose the gauze?"

——

"Mmph—!"

She gagged, stumbling back and spitting frantically. "Rachel Simmons, are you insane? You ruined my lipstick! You're trying to kill me!"

Nora shoved me away, retching.

I stepped forward, voice trembling. "I'm not the murderer here. You are. And you're dragging the entire hospital down with you."

She paused mid-fix of her makeup, clicking her tongue. "Drag you down? Please. If you have a problem with me, just say it. It's gauze. We go through hundreds a day. Why is it the end of the world just because I dropped one?"

Blood rushed to my ears.

"Do you have any idea what the consequences are?" My voice echoed off the tiles. "This is a critical medical error. Everyone—surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses—stays until it's found."

I pointed at the instrument tray.

"This was a liver tumor resection. Twenty-five hemostatic sponges. You were third assist. While the lead surgeon was finishing, you were supposed to help count. Instead, you were texting."

I took a breath. "We have twenty-four. If it's not on the floor, there's only one other place it could be."

I locked eyes with her. "Inside the patient."

Nora's smirk faltered before hardening into indifference.

"Impossible. Don't try to scare me."

The other nurses weren't so confident. The younger interns looked ready to cry.

"Head Nurse Simmons, what do we do?" one whispered. "If we can't find it, will the Director fire us?"

"It can't be inside him... right? Even without infection, he's a VIP. He'll sue us into the ground."

A dull throb started behind my temples.

The VIP ward had only one occupant: a key investor for the hospital's next funding round. This mistake wouldn't just be a scandal—it would be a death sentence for the department.

Everyone knew this surgery had to be flawless.

Sensing the shift, Nora briefly reined in her attitude. She checked her watch, then reverted to her dismissive mask.

"Stop being dramatic. I was just closing the incision. If something happens, it's not my fault."

Her eyes narrowed, a cruel glint appearing.

"You know, I think you're just jealous. You hate that Mom didn't even ask you before shoving me into this surgery. But so what? I'm the one she loves."

She stepped closer, lowering her voice.

"Even if you're the biological daughter, you'll never replace me."

The words hit like a blow, stealing the air from my lungs.

Under the stunned gazes of my team, the bitter truth washed over me. To the world, we were colleagues. In reality, we were family under the same roof—and that was the cruelest joke of all.

Five years had passed since I was restored to my rightful place as the biological daughter of the Simmons family. Nora Qiao, the girl who had taken my place, was forced to revert to her original surname.

Yet my mother's affection for her didn't wane. If anything, guilt over Nora losing the family name only deepened their bond.

Nora grew more entitled, while I remained nothing more than a blood relative tethered to the house by obligation.

I clawed my way up, earning my nursing license and grinding through a three-year internship to become head nurse. Nora? She claimed she was bored, so Mom forced the hospital to take her on as a doctor to "gain life experience."

Even this surgery roster had been manipulated by my mother's demands.

The favoritism was so blatant they didn't bother to mask it. Whispers rippled through the operating theater.

"No wonder Dr. Qiao is always butting heads with the head nurse..."

"You'd think the biological daughter would get some respect, but look at this..."

I inhaled sharply, forcing the air deep into my lungs.

"The gossip is irrelevant," I said, my voice cutting through the murmurs. I locked eyes with Nora. "Find the missing gauze before your shift ends. Until you do, don't even think about leaving this room."

Nora's face flushed crimson.

"Who do you think you are?" she snapped. "I'm a doctor. You're just a nurse. You think you're worthy of speaking to me like that? I'm leaving."

She stepped forward, shoving past me.

Bang.

A heavy fist pounded against the operating room door.

"What is going on in here?"

The deep baritone made my shoulders sag with relief.

The Director.

Also my husband—Nathaniel Fleming.

I pulled the door open. Nathaniel strode in, his presence immediately dominating the sterile room. His gaze swept the area, pausing briefly on Nora's sulking face before settling on me.

"The surgery is over. Why are you all still here, Rachel?"

"We have a problem." I kept my tone strictly professional. "During the post-op count, we discovered a piece of hemostatic gauze is missing."

I didn't wait for a response.

"Director, we need to lock down the surgical suite immediately. The entire medical team must cooperate with the search, and we need to inform the patient's family. Transparency is critical."

His brow furrowed slightly, so I pressed on.

"I know this impacts the hospital's reputation, but a retained foreign object is a severe medical error. Furthermore, regarding Nora's negligence as the third assistant during the count—"

"Let me ask you," Nathaniel interrupted, his voice devoid of warmth. "Did the surgery go smoothly?"

I blinked.

"...Yes. The lead surgeon noted it went better than expected."

"And the patient's vitals? Stable?"

I understood the implication. But I refused to believe he would stoop so low.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying," Nathaniel frowned, looking at me as if I were a petulant child fussing over a broken toy, "the patient is fine. The surgery was a success. Isn't that enough? Why are you dwelling on this?"

He turned to the rest of the room. "That's it. Everyone is dismissed."

Nora let out a sharp, triumphant giggle.

"Exactly! Nathaniel is right. It's just a little piece of gauze." She latched onto his arm, swaying as she pouted. "I've been standing for hours. I'm exhausted, and I need my beauty sleep."

Nathaniel's expression softened into something dangerously close to doting. He reached out, smoothing a stray lock of hair from her forehead.

"Alright. I'll drive you home."

My heart hammered against my ribs.

Nathaniel Fleming never showed warmth to subordinates. He was ice and steel.

Even I, his wife, was bound by his strict rules of separating public and private life. At work, he was Director Fleming, and I was Nurse Simmons. We barely exchanged glances, let alone intimate touches.

But everything had shifted two weeks ago. During a family trip, Nora had nearly drowned, and Nathaniel had pulled her from the water. Since then, the dynamic had changed.

I dug my fingernails into my palms, the sharp sting grounding me.

"So, you intend to bury this?" I asked, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "You aren't going to handle this properly, Nathaniel?"

He scoffed, his face hardening back into a mask of indifference.

"Watch your tone," Nathaniel snapped. "Who said I don't care? Keep looking. If you can't find it, that's your problem. Nora's exhausted—I'm taking her home."

His gaze turned cold. "She's an intern, Rachel. Expecting her to take full responsibility is ridiculous. If anything goes wrong, it's because you failed to manage your team."

I stared at him, nails digging into my palms. The anger I'd bottled up for months threatened to spill over.

This wasn't new. His blatant favoritism toward Nora had been chipping away at me for a long time.

Last week, on my birthday, I'd finally secured a night off. Nathaniel vanished. I found out later he'd gone to help Nora wash her dog—left me waiting in the dark without so much as a text.

Two days ago, she'd simply walked off with a limited-edition bag I'd commissioned a personal shopper to find. When I confronted him, he'd just shrugged. "Nora suits it better." As if that settled it.

"My management?" I choked out a laugh. "Nathaniel, think. If that gauze is inside the patient, it's not just my problem. You're the Director. If this blows up, it'll bury you too."

His eyes narrowed.

"Is that how you speak to your superior?"

Dead silence. The other nurses lowered their heads, afraid to breathe.

Nathaniel pushed through the operating room door without another glance. "You all stay. Search until you find it. Report to me in the morning."

Nora, teetering on stilettos that had no place in a surgical suite, shot me a triumphant smirk. "I'll be heading out then. Good luck."

The door slammed shut.

The youngest nurse dissolved into tears. "What do we do? If we don't find it, Mrs. Harrington will destroy us."

"The Director is so biased," another whispered furiously. "Dr. Qiao wears full makeup and heels in the OR, and he says nothing. We have a single loose hair, and he writes us up."

"Enough." I forced my voice steady despite the dread coiling in my stomach. "We have a job to do. Search the entire suite again. Every inch."

We scoured the room until dawn. Bins, floor, instrument trays—everything.

Nothing.

The silence screamed the only remaining possibility: the gauze was inside the patient.

Exhaustion and horror hit me at once. The room spun. I grabbed the counter to steady myself as a nurse pressed hot water into my trembling hands.

"Drink," she urged.

I took a sip, trying to clear the fog. I had to tell the family. I had to—

Sharp heels clicked down the corridor.

Nora breezed in, humming, a fresh coffee in hand. "Morning."

She scanned my haggard face and feigned shock, covering her mouth. "Oh my god, did you stay up all night? You look terrible."

She shoved the cup at me. "Here. On the house."

My gaze locked on her coat—a white mink I'd bought with my year-end bonus but never had the heart to wear. She was wearing my clothes. Again.

Red clouded my vision. I slammed the coffee onto the table. Brown liquid sloshed over the rim.

"The gauze is in the patient, Nora. How do you intend to fix this?"

Her smile faltered. "How... how can you be sure? Maybe you just missed it."

She recovered quickly, her expression hardening. "If you're incompetent, don't blame me." She rolled her eyes and flopped onto the sofa without even removing her shoes.

"What is all this noise?"

Nathaniel strode in, brow furrowed. "Is this a hospital or a market?"

Nora shot up, voice dripping syrup. "Nathaniel! You're here early."

I opened my mouth to report the crisis—the missing gauze, the patient in danger—but he cut me off with a sharp clap.

"Listen up." His gaze swept over the exhausted nurses. "Nora performed exceptionally during yesterday's surgery. She has officially passed her internship."

He paused, a faint smile touching his lips.

"As of today, she is a full-time attending physician."