Chapter 1

After being forced off the operating table, I sat in the corridor for a day and a night.

I didn't move until the surgery ended and Elmer walked out.

Then I braced my numb legs, stepped forward, and blocked his path.

"Elmer, it's not that I was out to target Sadie today. She's a residency trainee. She isn't qualified to be on the operating table yet. On top of that, she didn't scrub in properly, and when I pointed it out, she wouldn't admit it. In surgery, scrubbing in is the most basic thing there is. If she can't be rigorous about that, then when an accident happens, no one will answer for her."

"So did one happen?" Elmer looked at me coldly.

I opened my mouth, but before the words came out—

Sadie had already trotted to his side and tilted her face up with a smile.

"Dr. Henson, thank you for standing up for me today, and thank you for the chance to be on the table. How about I treat everyone to dinner?"

The people around us cheered and egged her on.

Elmer nodded, his face carrying a tenderness I had never seen before.

Sadie looked over at me again and said graciously, "I don't blame you for what happened today. You should come along too."

I said nothing.

Elmer frowned and turned to soothe her. "Don't mind her. She's just not good enough, and she talks too much and loves to lecture people."

The corner of Sadie's mouth curved. "Then let's go."

I watched their backs as they walked away.

My fists loosened and clenched, clenched and loosened.

In the end I laid a hand over my belly.

I had planned to tell him once today's surgery was over.

But now there was no need.

...

By the time I finished the miscarriage procedure and got home, it was already midnight.

Elmer was already back, sitting in the living room handling work.

When he saw me, his expression went icy. "Out this late, not answering messages, not picking up the phone—where have you been? Don't you know how dangerous it is out there alone?"

As he spoke, he set down the takeout he'd brought back. "If you haven't eaten, eat now, then get some rest."

I looked at the leftovers in the takeout box. The corner of my mouth twitched, but I said nothing. I changed out of my shoes and poured myself a glass of hot water.

After I drank it, still saying nothing, I turned to head back to the bedroom.

Elmer frowned and caught my wrist. "Deidre, who is this temper of yours for?"

I pulled free and smiled. "You're overthinking it. I'm not in a temper."

Elmer sneered. "You come home this late, and when you finally do, I talk to you at length and you don't say a single word back. You say you're not angry? Who's going to believe that?"

My lips moved, but I didn't speak.

He went on:

"How many hours has it been, and you're still not over it? What, do you need me to coax you? Well, let me tell you—today I'm not going to coax you at all. I'm going to tell you that you brought this on yourself."

I looked at him in disbelief.

He sneered.

"From the moment you got on the operating table, you kept picking at Sadie. When she scrubbed in, you had something to say. When she gowned up, you had something to say. Isn't that a textbook case of someone who isn't good enough yet loves to lecture others? Kicking you off the table was exactly the right call."

Not good enough, yet loves to lecture others.

That was the second time I'd heard that line today.

I suddenly wanted to ask him: back when no one dared to take on his father's surgery—

who was the lead surgeon who saved his father's life?

But the words reached my lips, and it all just felt utterly pointless.

He wouldn't care.

If he cared, then as the second assistant surgeon today, I wouldn't have been driven off the operating table by him.

After the surgery, he lectured me in front of everyone.

Afterward, he went off to eat with the young, pretty female student.

And after I came home from the miscarriage, another lecture.

Today, I've lost count of how many times he's defended Sadie.

Something suddenly occurred to me. I lifted my head, looked at him, and asked out of curiosity:

"Elmer, did you sleep with Sadie?"