Chapter 3

3.

With two weeks left in the cooling-off period, I moved completely out of the home I shared with Audrey.

Five days later, I realized I had left my passport behind. When I returned to retrieve it, the smart lock refused to open.

I tried our wedding anniversary and my birthday, but the lock beeped in error every single time. Left with no choice, I called Audrey.

She hesitated on the line before mumbling, "Jesse stayed over for a few days, and he kept forgetting the code, so I changed it to his birthday."

Staring at the digital keypad, I could not help but remember when she first bought this apartment as our marital home. She had happily programmed our anniversary into the lock with her own hands.

The memory of her radiant smile back then now felt like a searing slap across my face.

Audrey rushed over in a hurry to unlock the door, her eyes filled with nervous guilt.

"I am sorry, sweetheart. Jesse has been in a really dark place lately, and I was so busy keeping him company that I neglected you."

"Jesse has a crucial thoracic surgery scheduled today. I am terrified he might botch it like before, so could you scrub in and do it for him?"

"I promise, as soon as this procedure is done, I will take my annual leave and take you on a vacation. Did you not say you wanted to go to the Maldives?"

I had already seen Jesse's social media posts.

During the past two weeks, Audrey had taken him on a lavish trip overseas to relax.

She was so consumed by him that she had not even realized I had already packed my bags and moved out.

I grabbed my passport from the desk and replied coldly.

"We are already getting divorced. Was the last disaster not enough for you? I will never cover for him again."

Audrey spent days trying to sweet-talk me into helping.

This specific surgery was the final hurdle for Jesse to pass his clinical assessment, and she was desperate to secure his promotion.

She had even postponed the patient's surgery multiple times just to accommodate Jesse's schedule.

I had been managing this patient since his initial admission, and when the medical director told me his condition was deteriorating rapidly, I could not stay indifferent.

After repeated pleas from the director, I finally agreed to go to the operating room.

However, I refused to act as the primary surgeon; I would only stand by to provide guidance.

Inside the operating suite, Jesse snapped on his sterile gloves and shot me a smug, venomous look.

"Look at you. A former chief professor who cannot even touch a scalpel, reduced to playing assistant to an intern. Is that not pathetic?"

I reviewed the patient's vitals thoroughly before snapping back.

"I am standing here because this patient needs care, not because of you."

Jesse sneered and stepped up to the operating table. Halfway through the procedure, he locked eyes with me.

"Do you believe me if I say I can destroy you completely today, making sure Audrey never dares to take you back?"

I kept my eyes glued to the monitors and growled in a low voice.

"I have no interest in your petty games. The patient is in critical condition, so focus on the surgery!"

Without warning, Jesse gripped his scalpel and slashed viciously into the patient's lung tissue, carving a deep, ragged line.

"I am a butcher―Sean Mercer!"

The patient already had severe pulmonary damage, and Jesse's reckless laceration triggered catastrophic hemorrhaging instantly. The monitors blared with frantic warning alarms.

My eyes burned with fury as I shoved him aside, grabbing the surgical instruments to initiate emergency resuscitation.

Despite my desperate efforts, the patient bled out and flatlined on the table because of Jesse's intentional sabotage.

Devastated and numb, I stepped out of the operating room to deliver the tragic news, only to be met with a brutal slap across the face from the patient's son.

"You butcher! Why were you operating on my father? Dr. Campbell told us you forced your way into the OR just to save your own career! You murdered my father!"

A deafening ringing filled my ears. Through the haze, I heard Jesse sobbing pathetically in Audrey's arms.

"Audrey, he snatched the scalpel from my hand, rambling about repentance, and then he started carving words into the patient's lung! He killed the man in cold blood!"

Audrey glared at me with absolute disgust, her voice dripping with ice.

"Get on your knees and apologize to this family!"

My tears broke through as I yelled in frantic defense.

"It was not me! Jesse was the lead surgeon! I only grabbed the scalpel because he was intentionally mutilating the patient's organs while I tried to save him!"

"The circulating nurse was charting the entire time! Make her bring out the surgical log and see for yourself!"

The nurse stepped forward with the chart, but the log clearly stated that I had forcefully seized control of the operation, resulting in a fatal surgical failure!

Slap!

Audrey stepped up and struck me across the cheek without a second of hesitation.

"Why would Jesse ever try to frame you? Sean Mercer, your reputation is already trash, so who the hell is going to believe your lies?"

"Apologize to the family right now!"

Listening to the family's heartbroken sobs, I found myself completely stripped of the strength to say another word.

She was right. Who would ever believe a disgraced surgeon who was already labeled a medical monster?

"I am deeply sorry... It was my failure."

The grief-stricken relatives lunged at me, beating and kicking me relentlessly while spitting at my face.

Once they had vented their rage, Audrey spoke with chilling detachment.

"The wrongful death settlement is fifty thousand dollars. You will pay every cent out of your own pocket. Sean Mercer, being tied to a soulless butcher like you is officially over."

"Our cooling-off period is up. I will see you at the courthouse."

Once again, Audrey had falsified evidence to protect Jesse, throwing me to the wolves to be torn apart by public outrage.

Out of profound guilt for failing to save the patient's life, I transferred the fifty thousand dollars directly to the grieving family.

Once everything was finalized, I met Audrey at the courthouse and signed the final divorce papers.

Before boarding my international flight, I called my junior colleague.

"Everything here is settled. I am leaving the rest in your hands."

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