Chapter 3

3

Caleb let out a cold, condescending laugh. "This has nothing to do with Brielle. I know she's faking because the two people standing in front of me aren't capable of performing that extraction alive!"

"They aren't specialists. There is no way they could have maintained her vitals in that situation!"

Silas clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "That's because Elena was the most brilliant surgeon in that field! She only transferred departments because of you!"

"I only came to this hospital for my residency because of her reputation as the best neurosurgeon in the state! I get here, and I find out she threw away her career for a man like you!"

"And now, you're standing here watching her die? How can you look at yourself in the mirror after what she sacrificed for you?"

He then turned his fury on Brielle. "And you! Brielle! I heard she got trapped because she saved your life. Can you drop the manipulative act for one second? Do you think human life is a joke?"

Brielle immediately grabbed Caleb's arm and started sobbing.

"Dr. Vance, they're ganging up on me! I almost died back there. I don't know what to do."

"I admit I ask you a lot of questions about work, and Dr. Thorne has always been cold to me because of it. She tried to kill me back there! Why would she do that if she was actually hurt? Dr. Vance, you believe me, right?"

Seeing Brielle cry sent Caleb into a fresh rage. He pointed a finger at my face. "Not only are you petty and manipulative, but you've poisoned everyone else's mind against Brielle! What is wrong with you?"

"Apologize to her. Right now!"

I struggled to move my lips, my voice a mere rasp. "You always say I'm manipulative. I don't understand. When you were courting me, you said I was the most innocent, kindest soul you'd ever met. When did I become this monster in your eyes?"

He hissed, "You have the nerve to ask? They say Brielle treats life like a game? No, you're the one doing that!"

"Back when Brielle was your intern, you purposely gave her the wrong instructions during my mother's emergency because you were jealous of us. That's why my mother died!"

"And everyone in the hospital says I only got my position because I stepped on you! Do you know how humiliating that is? I earned my title. It had nothing to do with you!"

"You just couldn't handle me becoming Chief of Surgery. You're jealous that you lost!"

"Ten years together, and this is how you treat me?"

Hearing those words, the last bit of fire in my soul went out. I didn't want to talk anymore. It didn't matter what he thought.