The look in his eyes was filled with worry and desperation.

But I calmly extended my hand, revealing the small scratch on its back, and said coldly, "I'm sorry, my hand is injured. It's not convenient for me to perform surgery."

My refusal, swift and without hesitation, left everyone in stunned silence.

The attending doctor was visibly puzzled. "Director Carson, this is just a minor scratch. The skin isn’t even broken—it won’t impact your ability to operate!" His voice grew more urgent. "The patient’s condition is critical. Every minute we delay could cost her life!"

Hearing this, my mother-in-law burst into tears, her voice trembling as she pleaded, "Anna, the doctor said your injury won’t affect the surgery. Hayley’s condition is dire—please save her!"

My father-in-law, his eyes reddened, added, "Anna, Hayley is your daughter—your own flesh and blood. She was willing to sacrifice herself for you. Are you really going to stand by and let her die on the operating table?"

Taylor, my husband, looked at me with growing concern. "Anna, are you hurt somewhere else?"

He moved closer and began inspecting me, as if convinced I must be hiding another injury.

"No need to look," I said coldly. "Because Hayley acted on time, I am perfectly fine."

Taylor’s demeanor shifted immediately. His voice, usually gentle, rose in frustration.

"Then why won’t you save Hayley? Do you even realize how much she loves and admires you?"

"When she received her admission letters, the first thing she said was how happy you’d be. She couldn’t wait to share the news with you."

"She risked her life to save yours, and now you’re abandoning her?!"

Even Taylor, usually calm, couldn’t suppress his anger.

My mother-in-law frowned deeply, her voice filled with confusion and pain as she spoke, "Anna, you are the person Hayley looks up to most in this world. She even chose to apply to Princeton and Harvard because you studied at their medical schools."

"She wants to follow in your footsteps, saving lives just like you. You’ve saved countless strangers—how can you not save your own daughter when she needs you the most?"

My father-in-law, grief-stricken, cried out, "Yes! Hayley sees you as her hero. If she knew her beloved mother, the one she admires most, turned a blind eye to her in this moment, how heartbroken would she be?"

I looked at the three of them, their faces filled with sorrow and desperation. My tone was firm as I replied, "The hospital has strict regulations prohibiting surgeons from operating on their immediate family members. I can’t break those rules."

"I will not perform this surgery."

Without waiting for their reaction, I turned and walked away.

Behind me, the attending doctor called out anxiously, "Director Carson, is adhering to hospital policy more important than your daughter’s life? If you don’t intervene, she has no chance of survival!"

But I didn’t stop.

As I reached the hospital’s entrance, Taylor and my parents-in-law caught up with me. My mother-in-law fell to her knees, her voice breaking as she begged, "Anna, please, I’m begging you! Don’t leave! If you walk away, Hayley will die!"

Her action, kneeling in public, immediately drew the attention of bystanders.

"Isn’t that Director Carson? The renowned medical genius? What’s going on?" one whispered.

"I heard her daughter got into a car accident trying to save her," another replied. "But now Director Carson won’t save her own child, and her family is pleading with her."

The crowd grew increasingly outraged as they pieced together the situation.

"I can’t believe it. Director Carson, who’s so compassionate with her patients, would abandon her own daughter?"

The murmurs of indignation swirled around me, but I kept walking, indifferent to the judgmental stares and accusations.

"I guess her kindness was all an act. If she’s this ruthless to her own daughter, how could she ever be sincere to strangers?"

"Exactly! What kind of mother wouldn’t save her own child? She’s no different from an animal!"

"Even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs. It’s heartbreaking that her daughter, so loving and selfless, risked her life to save such a heartless mother!"

The crowd's scornful words stung like daggers, their anger directed squarely at me.

Even the patients I had once treated, who had praised me for my compassion, now looked at me with disgust and contempt.

Amidst the storm of condemnation, my father-in-law wiped his tears, his voice trembling as he said earnestly, "Anna, I can’t believe you’re truly this cold-hearted. You’re not the kind of person people are saying you are."

He paused, then continued with a shaky voice, "When you gave birth to Hayley, you faced life-threatening labor. You almost didn’t make it. Yet even in the midst of your suffering, you begged the doctors to save the baby first."

"You said this child was more important than your own life—that as long as she survived, nothing else mattered."

"Hayley is the child you brought into this world with your life. How could you now stand by and watch her slip away because of you?"

Tears streamed down his face as he looked at me, pleading and hopeful. But I didn’t respond. I stood there silently, unmoved.

Seeing my indifference, Taylor’s patience snapped. His voice rose, his words sharp with desperation, "Anna, the person lying in that operating room is our daughter! She risked her life to save you—her own mother!"

"How can you be so heartless?"

I turned to him and replied seriously, "I’ve told you—I can’t do anything."

My voice was firm, my resolve unshaken. The hope in Taylor’s eyes and my in-laws' expressions evaporated.

The crowd, already seething, erupted with anger. Their insults became louder, more venomous.

"How could she be this cruel? What kind of mother does this?"

"She’s a disgrace to all parents! Her poor daughter!"

Some began pulling out their phones, recording and broadcasting the scene live.

"Everyone needs to see what kind of person Director Carson truly is!"

Their posts flooded social media, and soon, the entire Internet was ablaze with outrage.

"If she really cared, she wouldn’t be standing around doing nothing!"

"Look at her—calm and unbothered while her daughter’s life hangs by a thread. It’s disgusting!"

Onlookers started throwing eggs and rotting vegetables at me in anger. I stood silently amidst the garbage, their accusations raining down.

Even Taylor, once my staunchest supporter, had reached his breaking point. His gaze, once filled with love and admiration, now burned with rage.

"Anna," he said, his voice trembling with barely contained fury, "I’m asking you one last time—will you save Hayley?"

His eyes, red and swollen, glared at me with a ferocity I had never seen before. But my response remained calm, resolute, "I will not jeopardize my career for personal reasons."

Slap!

Taylor’s hand struck my face, the sharp sound echoing in the tense air. His voice, trembling with anger, cut through the silence, "So your career is more important than your own daughter’s life?"

He grabbed my arm roughly, his voice now a roar, "I won’t stand by and watch Hayley die in that emergency room!"

"Today, you will save her—or so help me, Anna, if anything happens to Hayley, I’ll make sure you pay for it!"

Without waiting for a response, Taylor dragged me toward the hospital’s emergency room, his grip unyielding.

My in-laws followed closely behind, their faces etched with desperation and fear.

The crowd erupted in applause, cheering as they followed the live broadcast in real time.

When Taylor finally toughened up and took action, the live comments exploded with satisfaction, celebrating his resolve.

The atmosphere at the scene was electric, the tension mounting as Taylor dragged me to the emergency room.

But just as we reached the door, it swung open.

The attending doctor stepped out, his face somber as he sighed heavily.

"The patient couldn’t be saved. She has passed away."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

In the stunned silence, my daughter’s lifeless body was wheeled out on a gurney.

Taylor and my father-in-law rushed to her side, their anguished cries filling the air.

My mother-in-law, overcome with shock and grief, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

Ignoring the chaos, I calmly pulled out my phone and dialed the police.

"Hello, I need to report a case. My daughter has been killed," I said, my voice steady.