Chapter 4The Surgeon’s Fatal Choice

"D-Director Hester…"

The moment I saw Alonzo Hester, the hospital director, I felt like I was seeing a lifeline. I immediately grabbed his hand, my voice urgent.

"Director, please. My daughter really isn't going to make it. Please save her…"

"Director, don't listen to him. Elina already said—"

Before Kendra could finish, the director roared, "Is she the director, or am I? Since when can an operating room be reserved for someone? Who said doctors aren't allowed to treat patients?"

Once Lilah was rushed into the operating room, the weight I'd been carrying in my chest finally eased, but I was still shaken.

The patients' families who had been accusing me of putting on an act immediately changed their attitude after hearing the director. They surrounded Kendra and pointed at her.

"How can someone like that be a doctor? That's a human life at stake!"

"Exactly! The child was that badly injured, and she still stopped people from treating her. How can someone like that be a doctor?"

"A parent will do anything for their child. God…"

Kendra panicked under the families' accusations. She finally realized just how badly she had screwed up. She opened her mouth, her eyes darting around. "No… That's not what happened. Elina told me there was nothing seriously wrong with her."

Kendra was a doctor, but she had no mind of her own. Whatever Elina told her, she believed. The only reason she had been able to become a doctor at this hospital was that Elina had pulled strings for her.

I just hadn't expected this mess to reach Alonzo.

Remembering how arrogant Kendra had been moments earlier, anger surged through me.

"Kendra, everyone here saw what you did today. The security cameras recorded everything too. Wait for my lawyer's letter." My tone was firm.

Lilah was my daughter. After a car accident, she should have received immediate medical treatment.

In my previous life, I had trusted the wrong people.

Now that I had been given another chance to choose differently, I still had to fight off the people Elina had put in my way. I couldn't let this go.

The moment Kendra heard me, her face went deathly pale. Her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed. She grabbed my sleeve, her voice trembling. "C-Carter, I didn't mean to. It was Elina. Elina told me to stop you. I was only doing what she told me… It wasn't my fault!"

Her apology only disgusted me.

I immediately stepped back, putting distance between us.

The patients' families all raised their phones and started filming Kendra's face.

She screamed and flailed her arms. "Stop filming! All of you, stop!"

Seeing Kendra behaving so hysterically, everyone instinctively backed away.

"This hospital is unbelievable. We should transfer out immediately. What kind of lunatics do they hire as doctors?"

I silently watched Kendra's frightened expression.

Then I suddenly remembered that Kendra, Elina, Nolan, and I had all graduated from the same university. Kendra was Elina's junior and had always been under her protection. The three of them had always been close.

That was why Kendra listened to Elina's every word.

In her eyes, I was nothing more than a pathetic husband who was always jealous.

Nolan had been Elina's first love. The two of them had once reached the age when marriage was on the table.

However, Nolan suddenly went abroad, cutting off all contact with Elina. No matter how hard Elina tried to win him back, he refused to return.

I heard that Nolan had been bullied and developed depression, which was why he had gone abroad for treatment.

Nevertheless, I could never understand one thing. If Elina loved Nolan that much, why had she married me?

Before Nolan came back, Elina and I hadn't had a bad relationship. If anything, we had been very much in love. But the moment Nolan returned, Elina's attitude toward me changed completely.

I curled my lips into a bitter smile. In the end, I still couldn't compete with the person in Elina's heart.

"Carter, please. This was my fault. Can you let it go? Please don't sue me…"

Faced with Kendra's desperate pleas, I chose to ignore her. I would never forgive her for this. She had come within a hair's breadth of killing Lilah.

Time passed second by second.

After five hours of emergency surgery, Lilah was finally wheeled out, but because her injuries were so severe, she had to be transferred to the ICU for observation.

Alonzo reassured me, "Don't worry. The child has a strong will to survive, and the surgery was a success."

I looked at him gratefully. Then I went to pay the medical bill.

If it weren't for him, Lilah might have died long ago.