I didn't say a thing. Instead, I took off my doctor's coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the back of my chair. Then, I picked up the car keys on my desk and turned to leave.

Adrian was waiting in the middle of the hospital lobby, standing by a pillar there with a pair of sunglasses on his head and a hand in his pocket.

It was clear that he was waiting for me.

When he saw me walking out with a cardboard box of my things, he took off his sunglasses and gave me a smug grin.

"Say, aren't you getting off work a little too early today, Dr. Knight? Weren't you pretty stubborn when you rejected me yesterday? Oh, no, how did you end up getting fired over it?"

He then leaned in closer to me and said in a low voice, "Not a single hospital in the entire country will ever dare to employ you again, Stella Knight."

He then looked at me, waiting for me to express my shock or disbelief and fall to my knees to beg him for mercy.

However, I did none of that.

I just stared back at him quietly.

He frowned, as if he weren't satisfied with my response.

"I can give you a way out of this, however. You will come to the Duran household and be Adeline's private doctor. You will be on call 24 hours a day. And if you manage to treat her illness, then I can promise you that you won't have to worry about another day in your life again.

"So, what do you say?"

I suddenly chuckled. "Adrian Duran."

He was stunned.

"Did you really think the Durans were the only wealthy and influential family in the whole world?"

I didn't waste another breath on him and strode right out of the hospital, leaving him behind.

He didn't know that I wasn't just the deputy dean of this hospital, Gemmington Central Hospital, or just a well-known cardiologist in the city.

I was also a nationally appointed cardiologist and the only adoptive daughter of Sylvester Knight, the most esteemed and highly respected cardiologist behind Gemmington's biggest medical company, Knight Medical Group.

I was only working here as a cardiologist to hone my skills and complete the training assessment that Dad set for me.

The true national authority in medicine was the Knight family, and nobody else.

And yet, Adrian still thought that he could blacklist me from this industry?

What a joke!

That night, while scrolling on my phone, I suddenly realized that my name was trending on social media.

I was also included in a couple of trending hashtags on X, like "#LeadingCardiologistRefusedCriticalPatients", "#StellaKnightAcceptsBribes", "#EthicallyChallengedColdBloodedDoctor", and more.

A video was also wildly circulating online. It showed Adeline in a wheelchair, her face pale and haggard, clutching at her chest, while Adrian pleaded with me by her side to treat her.

"Dr. Knight, please save my sister… We've brought the money…"

The camera then cut to me, showing my cold expression as I said, "I will not treat your sister's illness. Kindly take your black card and get out of my office."

Immediately after that, an account claiming to be an "insider" revealed in a pinned comment, saying, "I'm working at Gemmington Central Hospital, and I can confirm that this is true! Dr. Knight is a horrible doctor, and she also accepts bribes by the side!

"She claimed that the bribe amount from the Durans was insufficient, and that was the reason why she refused to treat their daughter! But the dean already found out about it and has already fired her this afternoon!"

The rest of the comments under that were all insults and curses directed at me.

"That bitch! How could a vicious woman like her even be a doctor at this point?"

"Even capitalists have more conscience than she does! This doctor is so heartless. She needs to be thoroughly investigated!"

"I heard that she'd been banned across the Internet. Serves her right! Scum of the earth like her deserves to die!"

Adeline then posted on her social media accounts, showing a photo of her wrist receiving an IV drip, her skin pale and bluish. The caption read, "My life might be counting down now, but I still believe that there's light in this world. It's not Dr. Knight's fault. It's just my bad luck."

Hundreds of people rushed into my direct messages, insulted me with filthy words, edited photos of my tombstone, cursed my entire family, and more.

I just scoffed internally. Dr. Gallagher was the one who accepted the bribe from them to fire me this afternoon, and yet, he turned the arrows toward me instead and accused me of his own crime.

I'd already experienced the exact same treatment in my past life.

Adeline had another one of her "episodes", and Adrian then publicly accused me of worsening her condition, posting a maliciously edited video of me online and spreading lies about me online, slandering me and destroying my reputation altogether.

I called Adrian.

It took a couple of rings for him to finally answer the phone.

His smug, contemptuous voice came from the other end.

"Aw, what is it? Has Dr. Knight finally decided to come to her senses after all?"

I ignored his opening line. Instead, I said, "I will agree to treat your sister, Adrian Duran."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Then, Adrian's arrogant laugh was heard.

"You should have agreed to it earlier if you knew that this was going to happen sooner or later."

I interrupted him and said, "But I have one condition. I want this consultation to be live-streamed online."

Adrian's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Live-streamed?" he echoed, his voice turning cold. "Don't you know that you're being attacked left and right online right now, Stella Knight? And you still think that isn't enough? You want them to curse you even more?"

I glanced out the window, my lips curling slightly upward.

"Wouldn't that be something you want? Millions of people would see me finally giving in and bowing to you and treating your sister's treatment in real time.

"And I could even use the opportunity to admit my faults to the online community and give myself a way out of this."

Adrian fell silent. Seconds later, he let out an extremely pleased hum.

"You're a person of principle, Stella. Fine. Since you want to be openly criticized and humiliated that much, I will grant you your wish."

"One more thing," I said, cutting in. "You must not let Adeline know about the livestream. She's a patient. If she knows that millions of people are watching her, I'm afraid she will get agitated and overstimulated. And if anything happens to her because of that, I refuse to be held liable for it."

Adrian agreed at once without even lingering on the thought.

…

Early the next morning, I arrived at the appointment venue that he picked, which was the VIP ICU room on the top floor of Gemmington Central Hospital.

Two familiar people were standing at the door. It was a couple in their 50s. The man was tall and strong, wearing a dark gray wool sweater, while the woman was wearing a navy blue coat, looking poised and elegant.

They were Jeremy Duran and Florence White, Adrian's parents.

"You must be Dr. Stella Knight," Florence said gently to me.

I nodded. "I am."

She gave me a once-over and nodded slightly.

"I'm Adeline's mother. I've heard of you, Dr. Knight. Adeline is our daughter, and we've brought her up since she was very young. We're all very sincere about inviting you over for her consultation today."

She retrieved a business card from her purse and handed it to me, but I didn't take it. She didn't seem to mind, however.

"If you treat Adeline, you won't have to worry about your reputation or the expenses afterward. And we will also deal with your dismissal from this hospital.

"I can also guarantee to you that Duran Group's resources in the national medical system will all be at your disposal. This is how we would like to prove our sincerity to you."

I glanced at her.

Unfortunately for her, I didn't lack anything she was offering me.

"I'm here for a consultation today, Mrs. Duran. We will only discuss other matters afterward."

Florence's eyes flickered, but she quickly regained her composure a short while later.

Jeremy coughed lightly when he heard me say that. His eyes weren't as gentle as Florence's.

"Dr. Knight, what my wife said is only her intention. But what we mean is that the Durans will not mistreat you if you can cure Adeline of her illness."

He paused for a bit before continuing, "Your reputation is already destroyed. And you're the one who asked for this to be live-streamed. It's also your final chance to turn things around for yourself.

"If you fail to treat her, then the entire country will witness it in real-time, and you will also never find a footing in the medical field anywhere anymore."

I remained standing, holding my gaze with him for three whole seconds.

"I will only be able to tell if I can treat your daughter after taking a look at her, Mr. Duran."

Then, I walked right past him and pushed the room door open.

Jeremy frowned slightly like he was deliberating about something. Then, he followed me in with Florence by his side. They didn't say another word more and sat quietly by the side.

Adrian was peeling an apple for Adeline next to her hospital bed. He glanced up at me before his gaze flickered toward the air conditioner vent and then the decorative ornament on the bedside table.

He had to have hidden the cameras there.

The livestream had already begun. The video was live online, and the title said, "Cold-Blooded Cardiologist Dr. Stella Knight Publicly Bows Down and Agrees to Live Consultation".

With Duran Group manipulating the traffic behind the scenes, coupled with the lingering heat and fury of yesterday's trending topics, countless people online were aware of the situation, and they were all angry and furious with me while suppressing their anger.

It hadn't even been ten minutes since the video went live, and millions of people tuned in at once, leaving live comments that flooded the comments section like a blizzard.

"Finally! That bitch gave in! Good job!"

"Let's see how this quack doctor begs for mercy on her knees!"

"I feel so sorry for Adeline for still having to face such a terrible doctor!"

Adeline lay on the bed, her face so pale that she was nearly glowing. When she saw me, she shrank back on instinct.

"Adrian…"

She had no idea that millions of people were watching her live.

"Don't be afraid. She's here to treat you this time," Adrian said, handing her a slice of the apple. He then got up and walked up to me.

He knew that a live broadcast was ongoing, so he adopted an extremely arrogant attitude and said, "Let's begin, Dr. Knight. Hurry up and treat my sister. But if you fail, you will be permanently kicked out of the medical field."

I ignored him and went straight to the medical equipment cart beside the bed, putting my gloves on while glancing coldly at him.

Adrian gritted his teeth. However, he was mindful of the camera and held back his temper, letting out a disdainful scoff instead.

He stepped aside, hands in his pockets, and the room fell silent.

My back was to the camera as I held up my stethoscope and pressed it against Adeline's chest.

"Inhale.

"Exhale."

Adeline cooperated with me, taking deep breaths and furrowing her brows hard.

The live comments were filled with sympathy toward her and curses and insults directed toward me again.

I then set down my stethoscope and picked up the thick stack of medical reports that the Durans had obtained of Adeline's health from various other hospitals.

They diagnosed her with advanced heart failure and myocardial ischemia, with each diagnosis more severe than the last. I flipped through every page of the reports, the frown on my face deepening.

About five minutes later, I slammed the stack of reports onto the hospital bed. Then, I removed my gloves and turned around.

"Adeline Duran, your illness is indeed quite difficult to treat."

Adrian then looked subtly in the direction of the camera and laughed coldly. "What do you mean by that? Aren't you supposed to be one of the top cardiologists in the country? How can you even call yourself that when you're nothing but a quack?"

The comments were filled with insults once again.

"She's nothing but a quack! I knew it!"

"She's just trying to shirk responsibility! The Durans should blacklist her immediately!"

I ignored everyone and said lightly, "Because she's not even sick to begin with."