A wave of dread hit me. Just like in my previous life, Yolanda had left a gauze pad inside the patient’s chest!

Everyone in the room immediately realized the severity of the situation, their eyes glued to the patient.

If that gauze was inside the patient, it would be a catastrophic medical error!

I noticed Vincent’s hand on Yolanda’s waist.

His hand had touched contaminated areas and was no longer sterile. He couldn’t handle the scalpel.

In my past life, right after we pushed the patient out of the operating room, their blood pressure surged, and they died despite our best efforts.

We were out of time.

The gauze had to be removed right away.

I took a deep breath, grabbed the scalpel, and cut through Yolanda’s sloppy stitches.

Yolanda, however, stormed towards me in a fury.

“I had it all stitched up! Even if you’re jealous, you don’t have to… ah!”

I saw the wild look in her eyes as she deliberately aimed at my hand holding the scalpel.

If she succeeded, the scalpel would pierce the patient’s heart!

She was trying to use the patient’s life to frame me and ruin my career.

Acting quickly, I kicked her hard, sending her crashing to the floor before she could reach me.

“Get out!”

I put all my strength into the kick, sending her flying several feet away.

Yolanda lay there, stunned, glaring at me with a mix of anger and hatred.

I swiftly opened the patient’s chest and carefully pulled out the blood-soaked gauze.

A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

Suddenly, the heart monitor started beeping urgently.

“Code blue! The patient’s in critical condition!”

“Prepare for resuscitation!”

Vincent quickly put on new sterile gloves and took charge of the resuscitation.

With everyone in the operating room focused on the emergency, Yolanda, now sidelined and no longer the center of attention, stood off to the side, looking dejected and out of place.

After an intense hour of resuscitation efforts, we managed to stabilize the patient.

While we had saved them for the moment, the danger was far from over.

Seeing that we had finally saved the patient, Yolanda let out a sigh of relief and moved closer to Vincent, lifting her chin in my direction.

“Looks like you almost killed the patient. Thankfully, Vincent’s skillful hands brought them back to life!”

“Vincent, you’re amazing!”

I removed my gloves, my gaze cold. Without a word, I raised my hand and slapped Yolanda across her insincere face with a sharp smack.

Yolanda clutched her face, staring at me in disbelief. Her eyes were red, a mix of shock and anger, though she tried to keep up her helpless act.

“You… you hit me…”

I slapped her again, sending her stumbling. My tone was cold. “Yes, I hit you.”

“Yolanda, I can’t stand incompetence. If you’re so clueless, go back and get your act together. Don’t come here and mess things up!”

“You knew I had a scalpel and still charged at me like that. Were you trying to hurt me or kill the patient?”

Her eyes flashed with hatred, but she forced herself to look hurt and said in a small voice, “I was just trying to stop you from making things worse.”

“The patient was stable before. It was only after you reopened the chest that their condition deteriorated.”

I pointed at the blood-soaked gauze. “Stable? You left gauze inside the patient during stitching. How is that ‘stable’?”

“Do you only understand the severity when someone’s life is in danger?”

“Did all your training go to waste?”

Yolanda, twisting her clothes, looked pitiful. “It’s not that serious. The patient didn’t die, did they?”

I was furious. “Is it only serious when someone dies? That’s a human life we’re talking about!”

Yolanda pouted and threw herself into Vincent’s arms, crying dramatically.

“Waa… I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean to… I’ve always been this clumsy…”

“Waa… Vincent, she hurt me so much…”

Vincent shot me a disapproving look. “Wendy, that’s enough! You’re frightening Yolanda.”

I was fuming. “If you’re so aware of your own incompetence, then stay out of trouble and don’t make things worse for everyone else!”

Yolanda grumbled, “I’ve already apologized. What more do you want from me?”

I scoffed. “An apology? Do you think a few tears and a weak apology can fix a life? Do you really think your apology means anything?”

“And you, always playing the delicate little thing. How old are you? Haven’t you learned how to communicate properly?”

“Yolanda, stop pretending to be cute. It’s just gross!”

I turned to Vincent and said coldly, “Your lapses in protocol and Yolanda’s incompetence almost caused a major disaster and worsened the patient’s condition. I’m going to report this exactly as it happened.”

“And Yolanda, you’d better figure out how you’re going to explain this to the patient’s family.”

“There’s no way she’s passing her internship with such a lack of professionalism and respect for life.”

Someone like her is a danger to this hospital.

Yolanda was my intern, but from the moment she started at the hospital, she’d treated me like an enemy, constantly at odds with me.

I thought about it carefully and realized her hostility probably began the moment she learned that Vincent was my boyfriend.

One person deliberately stirring trouble, the other just going along with it.

They were a match made in heaven, it seemed.

With that thought, I turned on my heel and walked away, ignoring Vincent’s dark expression.

Behind me, Yolanda’s wailing voice echoed.

“Waa… Vincent, why does she have to target me like this…”

Less than half an hour later, a nurse came to find me.

“Doctor Ellison, the department head wants to see you in his office.”

She looked worried and leaned into a whisper, “It seems Yolanda said something that made the department head really angry. Be careful.”

As I made my way to the office, I noticed nurses whispering and pointing at me.

I caught snippets of words like “offend” and “director’s daughter.”

The director’s daughter?

Frowning, I entered the department head’s office.

The moment I stepped inside, a pen flew straight at me.

I barely dodged it, but it struck my temple, sending a sharp pain through my head. It was a close call, just inches from my eye.

The department head slammed his hand on the desk and glared at me. “Wendy! What on earth are you thinking?”

“You treat patient lives like a game, trying to grab the spotlight during surgery and causing a major error that nearly killed the patient.”

“If Yolanda hadn’t intervened and fixed your mistake, you’d be responsible for a death today!”

“And on top of that, you dared to hit someone. You’ve completely overstepped!”

“Apologize to Yolanda, immediately!”

Three years ago, when I first graduated and started my internship at the hospital, it was the head who took me under his wing. I respected him deeply and saw him as a mentor.

In my previous life, when the patient’s family came to the hospital in an uproar, he knew the truth but still conspired with Vincent to throw me under the bus.

He demanded my dismissal without giving me a chance to defend myself.

Even though I was prepared for his bias toward Yolanda’s lies, experiencing it again still stung.

Vincent stood to the side, avoiding my gaze, his expression conflicted.

Yolanda, almost deliberately, pressed her arm close to Vincent’s, looking smug like a rooster that had won a fight.

Her eyes seemed to show her victory.

Look, your mentor, and your boyfriend, both are on my side.

I met her challenging gaze and asked coldly, “Apologize? Why should I? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Yolanda, did I really make a major mistake in the surgery that nearly killed the patient?”

Yolanda responded with a sugary smile and a soft, innocent tone, playing the role of the magnanimous victim. “Yolanda, even though you made a big mistake and inexplicably hit me, I’m not bothered. No need to apologize.”

“But the patient is innocent. They were already suffering from their illness. I hope you can show some professional ethics in the future and not harm patients.”

The director added with a scowl, “Wendy, look how generous and understanding Yolanda is. You should learn from her!”

Watching their charade, their distortion of the truth was nauseating. I sneered, “Learn? Learn to lie through her teeth, to be hypocritical, to twist facts, and to use others' misfortunes for her gain?”

Yolanda's eyes were wide with indignation, tears welling up as she clung to Vincent’s chest, her voice taking on a pitiful tone. “Vincent, she’s bullying me again…”

I ignored Yolanda’s thinly veiled provocation and raised an eyebrow.

“Vincent, you were the lead surgeon and present throughout the operation.”

“You saw firsthand whether I mishandled the instruments, caused the patient’s severe bleeding, or left a piece of gauze inside the patient, nearly leading to a major medical disaster.”

I locked eyes with him, waiting to see him twist the truth right in front of me.

He shifted uncomfortably, instinctively avoiding my gaze, his demeanor awkward.

After three years together, he knew me well, and I knew him just as well.

His guilt was palpable.

But feeling Yolanda snuggle closer, he squared his shoulders, as if to claim the moral high ground.

“Wendy, not only are you refusing to admit your mistakes, but you’re also trying to tarnish Yolanda’s reputation. I’m deeply disappointed in you.”

“Fine, remember today’s falsehoods. You might regret them later.”

I smiled.

He didn’t realize that every slanderous word would turn into ammunition for my revenge, and soon enough, he’d face the repercussions.