Chapter 1

Chapter 1

During my heart transplant, my mother, who was the chief surgeon, secretly handed the scalpel to my intern brother just to give him some hands-on experience.

I begged her with everything I had to perform the surgery herself. It was a life-or-death procedure, where the slightest mistake would cost me my life.

Instead, my mother glared at me with pure disgust and yelled, "You are his older brother! What is wrong with sacrificing a little for him? Why are you so terrified of seeing your brother succeed? Today, I am going to prove to you that he has what it takes!"

During the operation, my brother committed a catastrophic surgical error, and I died beneath his trembling blade.

The moment she finally accepted my death, she lost her mind overnight.

***

I was dead. My cold, blood-stained corpse lay motionless on the operating table.

The person responsible stared at my body in terror. He quickly swallowed his panic, hastily stitched up the messy incision, and declared the surgery a success.

The assisting surgeon beside him grew agitated and spoke up in a hurry. "The patient's vitals are crashing and his breathing has stopped. This isn't a success―"

"What the hell are you talking about?" my brother snapped, his voice trembling. "My brother has always been weak. His vitals are just faint right after surgery. I am the lead surgeon here. Do you know better than me? Wheel him out!"

He barked the order to shut the doctor up, but I could clearly see the sweat rolling down his forehead and his shaking knees.

He was terrified because he knew I was already gone. His grave mistake had caused my excruciating death. Even under anesthesia, my body had convulsed uncontrollably until the very end.

Yet he could not show the slightest hint of weakness. If anyone found out, his medical career would be over before it even began.

Recalling the agonizing pain before my death made my lingering soul shiver.

The one who operated on me was my younger brother, Austin. He was merely an intern who had panicked at every complication, completely overwhelmed and out of his depth.

Unfortunately for me, he had a renowned surgeon for a mother. She was my mother, too. I wondered how she would react when she learned of my death.

"How did it go? Was it a success? Wonderful! Let's see what your brother has to say now. You worked so hard, Austin."

Speak of the devil. My mother rushed toward Austin, wiping the sweat from his brow and handing him a bottle of water. She didn't even glance at my corpse as it was wheeled right past her.

"Chief Bennett, I really think―" the assisting surgeon tried to intervene.

Mother waved her hand dismissively. "You think what? If the surgery succeeded, go take a break! Why are you crowding around my son? Don't you know how exhausting a major operation is? If you have nothing better to do, go check on the recovery room. Do I really need to teach you your job?"

Her doting gaze remained fixed on Austin, showing zero interest in listening to anyone else.

Of course she didn't. She had absolute faith in Austin, and she had orchestrated this whole thing herself. Why would she ever doubt her golden boy?

Seeing this predictable outcome, tears welled in my spectral eyes. If only she had looked at me once. Just a single glance.

Why did she treat me with such complete indifference, as if the person on that gurney was a total stranger?

I clutched my chest, curling inward with silent sobs. Mother took Austin's white coat and guided him toward the exit.

"Your brother just had major surgery, so he won't wake up anytime soon," she said softly. "Let's get dinner. You must be starving."

Those ordinary words felt like a dagger twisting in my heart.

Normal family members would stay by the patient's bedside. Yet my mother walked away without looking back, taking her younger son out for a meal.

All the way down the hall, pride was written across her face. When colleagues offered their congratulations, she beamed at Austin.

"It was nothing. Austin has always had a good heart. Even though his brother insulted his skills before the surgery, Austin rose above it and finished the job. Tomorrow, dinner is on me! We are going to celebrate our little hero properly!"

Anyone could hear that the doctors were congratulating the fact that I had supposedly survived.

To Mother, however, every compliment was validation for Austin―a shiny new medal pinned to his chest.

Faced with the praise, a flicker of guilt crossed Austin's face, and he lowered his head. That only made Mother laugh harder.

"Look at him, he's so modest. He gets that from me!"

"Zack is a good kid, too," a senior doctor remarked, throwing a doubtful look at Austin. "Letting an intern handle such a massive transplant is risky. Aren't you going to check on Zack?"

Hearing my name, Mother's face instantly darkened. It was as if my survival wasn't something to be happy about, and the doctor's tone only offended her.

"What could possibly happen? It was a routine procedure," she replied coldly. "He doesn't need a whole crowd hovering over him. Austin just pulled off a major surgery, so I'm taking him to eat first."

Without another word, Mother dragged Austin away. She refused to spend another second talking about me, and she certainly wouldn't allow anyone to question her precious youngest son.