Chapter 3

I looked at Noah, who was standing nearby.

His face was completely blank, and his small body was shivering violently.

Grace brushed it off, stepping closer to him. "It’s fine. Shivering is a normal reaction. He just needs to get used to it."

"The fact that he's willing to come outside is already a huge step forward."

Noah forced a stiff smile at me. Max was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

But in Noah's eyes, I didn't see the warmth of recovery.

I only saw a dark, empty void—like he had completely given up on life!

That look of sheer despair made it hard for me to breathe, yet everyone around him thought he was getting better.

Grace, especially, was smugger than ever:

"Well, Maya has always been the star of our clinic. It's natural for her to be overly cautious."

Max looked at me with nothing but disgust:

"I think she's just been put on a pedestal for too long. She thinks nothing can function without her!"

"To think she would make up such a pathetic lie to cover up her own mistake. Truly pathetic."

On the drive back, Noah's expression haunted me.

He was only seven. How could he have such a hopeless, forced smile?

I turned to Grace and demanded again, "What exactly did you do to therapy him?"

Grace sighed, looking helpless:

"I know you've always looked down on me because I'm just an inexperienced intern."

"But it was an absolute emergency, and you weren't there. I had no choice but to step up."

"I was terrified too, okay? It was so much pressure."

"If I messed up and angered Max, Julian would never have a chance to get back into the Sterling family."

Julian chimed in, his face serious. "Maya, stop acting so self-righteous!"

"You're the one who failed to show up, and Grace cleaned up your massive mess."

"Instead of thanking her, you're here acting like some moral guardian."

I pulled out the sticky note. "I didn't fail to show up! You gave me this fake address!"

Julian denied it instantly. "I never wrote that. Stop trying to drag me down. This is a critical time for me, so stop playing your petty mind games."

No matter how much I questioned them during the rest of the drive, they both ignored me.

I didn't know what kind of deal they had made with Max, and I didn't know what Grace had done to Noah.

It was like they shared a dirty secret.

Julian was my boyfriend, but the way he looked at Grace was filled with affection, while he looked at me with nothing but absolute disgust!

When we got out of the car, I watched Grace casually wrap her arm around his.

Julian beamed, announcing to the entire clinic staff: "Grace did it. She saved Noah Sterling!"

Deafening applause erupted around me.

"I knew Grace had it in her!"

"Mr. Sterling is loaded. He might even invest in our clinic now!"

Looking at the clinic I had worked myself to the bone to build, I suddenly felt like an outsider who needed to leave.

I had been so busy designing the perfect therapy plans that I hadn't even noticed when Grace and Julian had become so close!

Our clinic wasn't huge, but it had a stellar reputation.

For the past few years, I had worked day and night, treating every single patient with care to get us to where we were.

I strove for perfection, but my strict attitude had apparently rubbed many of my colleagues the wrong way.

These people had probably been waiting for me to fail so they could push me out.

From a distance, I saw Grace blushing, practically burying herself in Julian’s chest.

She said, "It was all thanks to Julian."

"And guys, we might not even need outside investors anymore."

"Because Julian is actually Max Sterling’s brother!"

More gasps of admiration followed.

They started whispering about how successful Julian was, giving up his inheritance just to experience the life of a regular guy.

Someone even said:

"Now I know why Mr. Sterling didn't go to those world-class clinics and chose us instead!"

"It's because Julian is his brother!"

My credentials, my hard work, and the clinic's reputation had been built brick by brick by me!

Yet, with just a few sentences, they erased every single ounce of my effort over the years!