Chapter 4

The situation was urgent, so I hurried out after the nurse.

As I neared the hospital lobby, I heard a familiar voice.

It was Nolan!

He stood in the crowd, holding a banner and shouting, "Today I'm putting justice above my own family!"

"I'm filing a formal complaint under my own name against neurosurgery specialist Narelle Finch. Not only does she take money from patients on the side, she also exposes their private information."

"And she's had multiple misdiagnoses and medical accidents, all of which she used her connections to bury."

"As her son, I truly find such behavior beneath contempt. I'm ashamed of her!"

"So today I'm putting justice above family. I'm filing a formal complaint under my own name!"

My steps froze abruptly, and my heart nearly stopped.

I took two steps forward, and when I saw the words on his banner, my heart ached as if a hand were squeezing it.

"Unscrupulous doctor Narelle Finch takes lives and is unfit to practice medicine! Unfit to be my mother!"

In the crowd, my eyes met Nolan's.

In just an instant, my eyes went red.

He was my son, the son I carried for ten months and gave birth to.

My husband died young, and I raised him all on my own through every hardship.

But now, for a woman, for that money, he could actually do this to me.

He'd even stoop to spreading lies?

When he knew perfectly well how much I loved being a doctor.

How much I had given up for it over the years.

In the crowd, quite a few people who heard him began talking among themselves.

"I know Dr. Finch. She's a very good person. She speaks kindly, and she always prescribes me the cheapest medicine."

"Yes, she did my mother's surgery, and the results were excellent."

"That's right, that's right. My family is poor and couldn't afford treatment, and she even had someone find a charity to reduce my surgery fees. How could she be the quack he's talking about?"

...

Hearing everyone speak up for me, Nolan and Maria's faces changed drastically, and they hurriedly shouted.

"I'm her son. Would I lie?"

Maria put on a sweet, wounded act.

"Exactly. I'm her daughter-in-law. Some people you can know by face but never by heart. We're her closest family, and even we've come forward to report her. It just shows how truly rotten her conscience is."

As she spoke, she wiped at her tears. "And there's more. I'm her future daughter-in-law. Last time she told me to wash the dishes, and all I said was, 'Can I do it in a little while?'"

"She slapped me five times across the face, and I've got a baby in my belly!"

Behind them were the actors they'd rounded up. I recognized their faces—they had to be Nolan's friends.

Each of them was holding either a banner or a black-and-white photo of me.

Every one of them claimed to be a victim, accusing me of misdiagnosing them, of causing medical accidents during surgery that ruined their lives.

The group described it all so vividly that many of the onlookers began to half believe it.

After all, when a man's own son reports him, how could it be false?

My legs felt as heavy as lead, and the hand gripping my phone kept clenching tighter.

That suffocating feeling wrapped around me, and the discomfort in my chest grew stronger.

Ding—Nolan had sent me a message.

A "snickering" emoji.

Mom, well? Do you give up or not?

Transfer the money now and buy the house for me, or Maria and I won't have a good life, and you can forget about having one either!

I nodded, forced myself to take a deep breath, and replied.

Fine. The money—I'll give it.

After sending the message, I immediately reached out to a mysterious number.

Last time you mentioned that the Australian medical research team invited me.

I agree to join.