1 My sister was ambushed during a supply run. Her pulmonary artery was ruptured. As she was being airlifted to the military hospital for emergency surgery, I was at the firing range, practicing with my sidearm. My movements were clean, precise. Thirty seconds later, my fiancé, Jack, kicked open the blast-proof door. "Aria," he roared, his voice thick with fury, "your sister is dying! You're the only one who can save her. Every senior officer is waiting for you outside! You can't just let her die." I knew I was the only one who could perform the complex microvascular suture required. But all I said was a cool, "Oh," as I reloaded my magazine. My parents, both high-ranking political commissars, burst in next. My father’s fist slammed into my right hand. "That's your sister! She saved your life! How can you stand there and do nothing? Are you even human?" I shoved them away, revealing the horrifying scar on my right forearm. This hand, which had saved countless lives on the battlefield, was now twitching uncontrollably. "What a shame," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "My physical this morning revealed I've been exposed to a neurotoxin." "This hand is useless now." The once-noisy firing range fell silent. Three pairs of eyes were fixed on my right hand. The hand that had performed countless impossible surgeries, the hand once hailed as the "Hand of God" in the field hospital. Now, it was just a grotesque, trembling mess, a public declaration of my fall from grace. Jack was the first to recover. He shook his head in disbelief. "Aria, stop the act. You were fine yesterday. How could your hand just be 'useless' today?" I held my hand out to him, my voice like ice. "Perhaps fate has decided it's time for Aurora to die." Jack was speechless with rage. My mother rushed forward, clutching my hand, her voice a desperate plea. "Aria, are you still jealous of your sister?" "Please, Mom is begging you. Just this one surgery. Where would you be without her?" I lifted my head, my eyes as dead as a winter sky. When we were kids at a military summer camp, I somehow fell into a river. It was my sister, Aurora, who jumped in and saved me. To show their gratitude, my parents, who had always wanted another child, adopted Aurora, an orphan. From that day on, everything I had, Aurora had too. I knew it was fair. Aurora was better than me at everything. She was a more fitting daughter for my parents. Crucially, she was more promising. We both tried out for the new recruits program. I was disqualified because I got a stomach bug. My parents had always dreamed of me becoming a general, leading troops into battle. I failed to live up to their expectations. Aurora succeeded. And so, the scales of their love began to tip. My mother always said Aurora needed more nourishment for the battlefield, so all the best food, the best of everything, went to her. I knew, and I nodded silently. It's only right. If I couldn't be a soldier on the front lines, I would be their support from the rear. I became the most skilled surgeon in the military. But in my parents' eyes, I was still second best… Faced with my mother’s accusations, I said nothing, continuing to load my pistol. My father’s anger boiled over. He slapped me across the face. It was the first time my father had ever hit me. I never knew his hand could hurt so much. "Aria, has your conscience been eaten by a dog? Even if she isn't your biological sister, she's lived with you for so long." "Think about it! Aurora has always been the one taking care of you!" The past flooded my mind, each memory a blow to my heart. Still, I remained silent. I raised my pistol and pulled the trigger. My mother couldn't take it anymore. All her commissar's authority vanished. She lunged at me like any other frantic woman, pounding on my chest. It was the first time I had ever seen her lose control like this. Not even when I was held hostage by enemy combatants had she looked so distraught. "Aria, I'm begging you. Just do this one surgery. Do you really want me to get on my knees and beg?" "Or at least go take a look! See if there's another way to save her!" My father stepped forward. "The fact that you're still here practicing your shooting tells me it's not that serious. Get to the operating room, now." "Even if your hand is crippled, you will finish this surgery before it's crippled for good!" Click. A bullet missed the target completely. Zero points. A mocking smile spread across my face. "Are you sure? If Aurora dies on my operating table, whose fault will it be?" 2 The three of them stared at me, their eyes filled with disappointment. My mother shrieked, out of control. "What do you mean by that? Are you planning to kill her during the surgery?" I just smiled without a word. "You're insane!" The clock was ticking. The golden window for a pulmonary artery repair was forty-five minutes. After that, not even a god could bring her back. Just then, Jack stepped forward. "Uncle, Auntie," he said, his voice firm. "Let me do the surgery." "Aria and I graduated from the same medical academy. My skills aren't that far behind hers. And I've been her assistant on all her major surgeries. I know the procedure inside and out." My parents hesitated. This was their favorite daughter's life on the line. Jack took my mother's hand. "Auntie, I know my skills aren't quite there yet. But with the help of Aria's robotic arm, I know I can do it." My heart skipped a beat. I had been developing that robotic surgical assistant for five years. It was designed to guide delicate procedures like vascular sutures with unparalleled precision. The success rate was already at seventy percent. My parents' faces lit up, but they were still apprehensive. "But it's just a machine. Can it really be more flexible than a human hand?" "It will be fine," Jack insisted. "As long as I have a few assistants, I'm confident I can complete the surgery." Just then, a dozen doctors crowded in from the doorway, all volunteering to assist. This was the commissar's daughter. Saving her would mean commendations, promotions—a golden opportunity. I turned to look at them. These were the same doctors who had once sworn to follow me forever. My parents finally relaxed, gripping Jack’s hand with gratitude. "Thank you, Jack, thank you so much. After the surgery, I will personally write a recommendation to your commanding officer. I'll make you the youngest specialist in the military." That was my dream. "Wait," I said, my voice cutting through their celebration. "You're planning to use my robotic arm. Have you received my authorization?" Jack stared at me, incredulous. "Aria, have you lost your mind? You're worried about authorization at a time like this?" 3 "That is my intellectual property. Why should I let you use it for free? Just because you're my boyfriend?" Shame and anger warred on Jack's face. He glared at me, his eyes burning with hatred. "Unless," I said, my voice dangerously soft, "you give me the villa that's under my parents' name. Then, I might consider it." My parents were trembling with rage. My father raised his hand and slapped me again. I just smiled. "A million dollars a slap. Otherwise, don't even think about getting my authorization." My father's hand trembled, but he didn't strike again. "You monstrous child!" he choked out. "Using your sister's life to blackmail us for money! Are you even human? That villa was meant to be your sister's dowry!" I said nothing, just tapped my watch, reminding them that time was running out. A few seconds later, my father finally nodded. I pulled out a pen and paper and had them write and sign a transfer certificate on the spot. I sent it off to be officially stamped. Otherwise, I would never agree. Only when I saw the officially sealed document did I nod in satisfaction. "You have my permission. I hope you can operate the robotic arm successfully." In reality, the arm was still a prototype. The most critical component was still the lead surgeon. Jack looked at me with open contempt. My parents just shook their heads, their eyes full of disgust. The other doctors whispered and pointed at me. I held the document, my head high, and walked out of the firing range. I went home and started packing, removing every trace of myself from the house and moving into the villa. The carnations my grandmother loved, which she had planted by the door, were dead. But that was okay. I would fix that. The surgery lasted nearly four hours. Everyone in the field hospital was on edge. The entrance was swarmed with media. My phone was blowing up. Everyone was calling me a cold-blooded monster, a woman who would trade her sister's life for money. I ignored it all, simply arranging the carnations I had brought with me. Finally, six hours later, the operating room doors opened. Jack announced that the surgery was a success. A roar of celebration erupted through the hospital. The media descended on Jack. The consensus was clear: the title of the best surgeon in the field hospital had a new owner. Jack was being hailed as the new "Hand of God." In front of the cameras, Jack passionately recounted the details of the surgery. He announced that he would work to get the robotic arm into hospitals everywhere, for the benefit of all. "A doctor's duty is to save lives. What Aria refuses to do, I will do in her place!" Soon, medical device corporations were lining up, all vying for exclusive rights. Jack eventually chose to partner with the Horizon Group. Overnight, Jack's name became a household word. And I became a pariah, a rat crawling in the mud. Looking at the message from my father on my phone, I knew it was time for my judgment. 4 A few days later, a military vehicle pulled up in front of the villa. I gathered everything I had prepared and said goodbye to my grandmother's portrait by the door. "Grandma, wait for me. I'll be back soon." I calmly got into the vehicle. At the military tribunal, every eye was fixed on me, burning with anger. My parents looked like they wanted to devour me whole. The judge banged the gavel. "Aria Sterling, the tribunal accuses you of dereliction of duty and violating the military physician's code by refusing to render aid. Do you have anything to say?" I slowly raised my head and said, word by word, "I do not accept the charge." The courtroom erupted. Accusations flew from every direction. If it weren't for the bailiffs, my parents would have torn me to shreds. "Aria, we all saw you refuse to help! We saw you extort your own family! How dare you plead not guilty!" Jack stared at me with disgust. "Aria, if you have any shred of conscience, you'll confess. If I hadn't performed that surgery, your sister would be dead right now!" I looked at them, my eyes lifeless. "But she's not dead, is she?" The entire courtroom gasped. Camera flashes exploded around me, the media desperate to capture the face of this villain. No matter what the judge asked, my only answer was, "I do not accept." Just as they were at a loss, the doors opened. Aurora was wheeled in, looking incredibly frail. Even with a successful surgery, she would never recover her full strength. Her dream of being a general was over. "Your Honor, Mom, Dad," she said, her voice weak but clear. "If my sister won't admit to abandoning me, will she at least admit to treason?" Every eye in the room swiveled back to me. Aurora’s voice rose with emotion. "I was ambushed because someone leaked our operational plans. And that person was Aria!" "She couldn't stand that I, an orphan, received all of our parents' love, so she decided to destroy me!" "But you didn't expect me to survive, did you, Aria? Now, I'm going to expose your vicious true colors!" Aurora presented her evidence: security footage of me in her office the night before the supply run. I had stood by her desk for a full five minutes. "My entire operational plan was on that desk. If Aria hadn't betrayed me, how could we have possibly been ambushed?" The anger in the courtroom intensified. If looks could kill, I would have been dead a thousand times over. But I remained expressionless, listening to her accusations. "Aria, I've always treated you like my own sister. Why would you do this to me?" "Bullying me at home was one thing, but how could you do something like this?" My parents rushed to comfort Aurora, cradling her like a precious treasure. "What? Aria has been bullying you?" Aurora nodded, a look of profound pain on her face. "She believes I don't belong in this family. She would often put things in my food to make me disoriented. I almost fainted on the battlefield several times." "Aria, you're not human!" My father's roar nearly shattered my eardrums. Forgetting where he was, he actually pulled out his service weapon and aimed it at me. Just as he was about to fire, the doors burst open again. Several men in higher-ranking uniforms entered. "Good afternoon. We are from the Central Military Commission. We've received a report that Captain Aurora Sterling violated protocol in her mission planning, resulting in the deaths of six soldiers. We are here to investigate. Who filed the report?" I smiled and raised my hand. "I did."
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "393698", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel