Chapter 1
To help her younger lover gain prestige and a promotion, my wife, the hospital director, deliberately ran over my leg with her car, breaking it. She then stole the pancreatic cancer surgery plan I had painstakingly prepared for patients.
On the day my right leg was amputated, she was busy throwing a celebration party for her younger lover.
As a result, the young boy performed surgery while drunk, causing the patient to die on the spot.
To protect him, my wife intentionally altered the surgical plan and falsely accused my immature plan of causing this major medical accident.
To demonstrate her impartiality, she punished me on the spot by demoting me and cutting my salary. She even used my wages for the next thirty years to compensate the patient's family as atonement.
In the conference room, she lowered her head and persuaded me:
"Your skills speak for themselves. This is just a surgical accident. At most, you'll face suspension pending investigation. People will forget about it soon."
"But Nolan is different. He's still young with limited experience. This accident could end his medical career."
Hearing this, I nodded.
My wife thought I had agreed and happily promised to make our marriage public after this incident.
I smiled faintly and said:
"I've already reported this to hospital administration. Let the professionals determine right from wrong."
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1
Vivienne, my wife, darkened her face as I finished speaking.
My colleagues all stared at me in shock, not expecting me to confront the situation so boldly. Their gazes then turned to my wife's young boyfriend, Nolan.
Caught off guard, Nolan panicked for a moment. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees, clutching Vivienne's pant leg as he wept profusely:
"Vivienne, mentor changed the plan for the patient's benefit. Please don't blame him. It's my lack of skill. I'll resign immediately and apologize to the deceased's family."
Vivienne tenderly helped him up, consoling him in a gentle voice:
"Nolan, don't sell yourself short. Everyone can see your talent."
"This time, it's all Alaric's fault for being old and useless, abusing his authority to force you to use an unproven method. That's what led to such a serious medical accident."
With just a few simple sentences, she completely absolved Nolan of any blame, as if he were an innocent, naive young man who understood nothing, and it was all the fault of me, the evil mentor.
One of Nolan's toadies in attendance jumped out to accuse me:
"Hey, Alaric, this is too convenient. You just had an incident and couldn't perform surgery, then Nolan, who took over your operation, makes a major mistake and faces dismissal."
"Are you deliberately trying to break your own leg to give Nolan a chance to take over this problematic surgery and openly force him out?"
Everyone gasped in shock.
Nolan waved his hands frantically:
"That's not possible. How could my mentor, who's been so good to me, set me up like that?"
"Besides, what benefit would he get from doing this?"
The bootlicker, exasperated, retorted:
"Nolan, you're just too naive. He's screwed you over and you still believe he's a good person?"
"Everyone in the hospital knows Alaric has a crush on the Chief. But the Chief is your girlfriend. If you leave, he'll have a chance to steal her from you!"
Seeing the gossipy expressions on everyone's faces, Nolan looked at Vivienne with reddening eyes:
"You've all got it wrong. There's nothing between Vivienne and me. Vivienne is..."
Vivienne shook her head, interrupting him, and then glanced at me apologetically:
"Enough. We've already addressed Alaric's crush on me in the last meeting."
"Now, we're discussing who should take responsibility for the surgical error!"
Chastised by her words, the person who spoke earlier fell silent and sat down obediently, no longer causing trouble.
As for me, I wasn't particularly pleased about this.
Vivienne seemed to be defending me, but she inadvertently confirmed the fact that I was the other man.
But the truth is, we've been married for ten years. It was her who said office romances would spark gossip, so we kept it under wraps.
People only started to suspect something when she suddenly fainted at work due to illness. I carried her to the hospital and anxiously stayed by her side for three days and nights.
When our colleagues saw how devoted I was, rumors began to spread.
However, after Vivienne woke up, instead of being touched, she berated me for not considering the impact of my actions at the hospital.
She even called a meeting to harshly criticize my behavior, revoking my performance evaluation and year-end bonus on the spot.
At that time, although I was displeased, I still prioritized her work and accepted the blame and punishment.
But now, with rumors flying about her and Nolan, she not only doesn't care but also prevents Nolan from explaining.
Given this differential treatment, it's crystal clear who the true love is.
With a thud, Nolan fell to his knees again: