Chapter 2

Monday, the moment I reached the hospital entrance, the warm congratulations started pouring in.

I answered every one of them like it was nothing.

I'd packed my schedule until there wasn't a gap in it, running the same two points over and over, hospital to staff housing and back, so I'd have no time to think about anything else.

Samuel Barnes, who loved nothing more than making himself the center of attention in front of me, had stopped coming around to cause trouble.

Polly, who used to like showing up at the hospital to walk me home, stopped coming too.

But now and then a message from her would land on my phone.

"Eric Graves, even being angry has a limit."

"You still can't see what you did wrong."

"Fine, keep hiding like this if you can. We'll stay at a standoff for the rest of our lives."

I deleted them without a word and pretended I'd never seen them.

The next day, I'd just stepped out of the operating room when I ran straight into Samuel.

He was dressed head to toe in labels, the chain at his waist catching the sunlight and gleaming, his hair styled just so, and none of it could hide the cheapness bred into his bones.

My mother-in-law and Polly came close on his heels.

My mother-in-law took my hand, all warmth and eagerness.

"My good son-in-law, you've been promoted to Head of Surgery. Why didn't you tell your family the good news right away? Keeping even us in the dark, honestly."

"News this good has to reach every relative in the family. Listen to me and let's throw a proper celebration."

"Let everyone get a look at the fine son-in-law of the Barnes family."

The way my mother-in-law could flip her face faster than turning a page left me stunned all over again.

But what she wanted happened to be exactly what I wanted.

I lowered my eyes and played along. "Whatever you say."

My manner had them all nodding, satisfied.

The banquet would be held at the Fresh Breeze Grand, with Polly sending the invitations out to friends and relatives.

The moment the crowd walked into the Fresh Breeze Grand, every eye was drawn to the lavish, finely appointed hall.

Samuel called over a staff member and ordered off the menu from on high, like he was the host of the whole thing.

"Bring your most expensive drinks and dishes to every table, one of each."

"Giant deep-sea conch, seafood bisque, duck slow-braised with rare herbs and ginseng, braised premium shark-fin soup, all of that. The rest is up to you. For drinks, wine."

I shot a look at Melvin Greer, who was posing as a staff member, and he caught my meaning at once and laid a document down in front of Samuel.

"This is the itemized bill for what you've ordered today. Would you mind signing it and adding a fingerprint?"

Samuel had a flicker of hesitation, but the crowd's cheering swept his sense of direction away.

He signed his name with a flourish.

They gathered around him, laughing, and in the laughter there was pretense, there was envy, there was indifference.

As if he were the star of this banquet.

But it didn't matter. Soon enough he wouldn't be laughing anymore.