When Ethan came home after his night shift, I set his favorite pasta on the table. I wanted to tell him that my mom had finally agreed to let us get married. But he tossed his car keys on the table and said wearily, "I got married." "What?" I was confused. "I married one of the new nurses. She's pregnant. I have to take responsibility for her." My voice trembled. "Then what were these eight years I spent with you?" Ethan looked up at me and actually smiled. "As long as you're willing, we can still be family." I didn't cry. I just picked up that bowl of pasta, walked to the kitchen, and dumped it in the trash. Ethan frowned. "Sophia, I just worked an all-night shift. I hate it when you give me the silent treatment like this." I turned to look at him. "When did you two get the marriage license?" He rubbed his temples. "Yesterday at noon." "Tara finished her night shift. City Hall wasn't busy, so we just stopped by." Just stopped by. Yesterday at noon, I was with my mom for her dialysis evaluation. She lay in the hospital bed, gripping my hand, saying, "Sophia, I've thought it through. If you're really set on Ethan, then marry him." I almost cried right then and immediately sent Ethan a message: "My mom agreed to let us get married." He didn't reply. Turns out he was at City Hall taking wedding photos with another woman. I asked, "Does she know about me?" Ethan was silent for two seconds. "Yes. She doesn't mind. She's young and insecure. She cried and said she didn't want a wedding ceremony, just wanted to legally stand by my side." I laughed. "Then after eight years with you, where am I supposed to stand?" Ethan looked up at me. "Sophia, you haven't lost out these eight years. You've been living in my house rent-free." I finally understood. His so-called compensation was letting me continue living here. Continue cleaning up after him, continue taking care of him. Just with my status changed from girlfriend to housekeeper. I went into the bedroom to pack my things. When I opened the closet, my hand froze. There was a row of unfamiliar women's clothes inside. Pink sweaters, dresses, a nurse's jacket. In the shoe cabinet was a pair of white sneakers. On the bathroom counter was a new bottle of face wash. On the nightstand was a thin hair tie. I picked it up and asked him, "She's moving in?" Ethan stood in the doorway and said: "Tara can't sleep alone in the dorm." "So she's sleeping in my bed from now on?" I took off the ring he'd given me and placed it on the table. It was a silver ring he'd bought the year he finished his hospital internship. He said once he became a doctor, he'd replace it with a diamond ring. Later, when he became a doctor, he said he'd buy me a ring after he bought a house. But now, he was married. I pulled out my suitcase. Ethan suddenly panicked. He wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Sophia, I don't want to lose you. I'm just settling Tara in first. She can't live without me. You're different. You're mature. You understand me." Being held by him, I only felt nauseous. The doorbell rang. Tara stood at the door, her face small, her eyes red. She was wearing a men's jacket. The one I'd waited in line for two hours to buy for Ethan last winter. "Ethan, I came to get my marriage certificate." Then she looked at me and smiled. "Sophia, you're here too." I said nothing. She walked straight into the bedroom like she owned the place and opened my nightstand drawer. The marriage certificate was pressed under an old photo album. On top of the album was a letter. A letter my mom had written to Ethan. She'd just finished writing it yesterday and asked me to deliver it. The first line on the paper read: "Ethan, I'm entrusting Sophia to you from now on." Tara picked up the letter and blinked. "Is this from your mom to you two? Sorry, should I not be reading this?" I reached out to take it. But Ethan grabbed it first. A corner of the paper tore. I watched him standing protectively in front of Tara and suddenly felt like this house was very unfamiliar. I'd lived here for five years. But now standing here, I felt like an outsider.
I forcibly snatched the letter back. Tara hid behind Ethan. Ethan's face darkened. "Sophia, you're emotionally unstable right now. Don't go to the hospital tomorrow." I looked at him. "I'm the head of the lab department. I don't answer to emergency room doctors." Tara's tears fell instantly. "Sophia, I really didn't mean to take what's yours. I just love Ethan too much." I laughed out loud. "Well, you sure know how to love—you loved your way right into someone else's home." Ethan lowered his voice. "Don't be so harsh." My phone rang. It was the dialysis center. "Ms. Walker, your mother is experiencing sudden chest tightness and unstable blood pressure. Please come immediately." I grabbed my bag and left. Ethan instinctively followed. My heart actually relaxed for a moment. The next second, Tara clutched her stomach and crouched down. "Ethan, I'm dizzy..." "I didn't eat last night. It might be low blood sugar." Ethan stopped in his tracks. He glanced at me. "You take a cab first." "I'll take her to the ER. I'll be right there." I said nothing. As the elevator doors closed, I saw him pick Tara up in his arms. In the taxi, I called him three times. No one answered. At the hospital, my mom's face was ashen. A nurse pushed a risk disclosure form in front of me. "Sign this. She might need emergency dialysis or even resuscitation." My hand shook so much I couldn't write my name. For eight years, Ethan always said, "Your mom is my mom from now on." He said I didn't need to be afraid. He said he'd handle everything at the hospital. But when the day finally came, I was the one signing. Outside the emergency room, I opened my phone. The first post on my feed was from Ethan. In the photo, he and Tara were holding up their marriage certificate. Caption: For the rest of our lives, please take care of me. Posted at the exact time I made my third call. A bunch of ER colleagues had liked it. Tara replied: "Thank you everyone! Ethan says he's treating everyone to a big dinner tonight." I stared at those words as my palms slowly went cold. When my mom woke up, her first words were, "Where's Ethan?" I pressed my phone against my palm. "He's treating a critical patient." "Doctors are busy. I understand." The family member from the next bed suddenly leaned over. "Isn't your son-in-law Dr. Hayes? He got married, but the bride isn't your daughter?" She shoved her phone in front of my mom's face. I couldn't stop her in time. My mom saw the photo and her breathing suddenly became rapid. The monitor immediately started beeping. I rushed out to call a doctor. Running to the nurses' station, I saw Ethan. He was holding Tara's hand, handing out wedding invitations to the ER staff. Someone teased, "Dr. Hayes, you kept this well hidden." Tara blushed and leaned against him. Ethan saw me and frowned. His first words were: "How did you upset your mom like this?" I stood there, still clutching my mom's critical condition notice in my hand. I threw the report in his face. "Ethan Hayes, where do you get the nerve?" The ER fell silent. Tara's tears fell again. She said softly, "Sophia, don't blame Ethan. It's my fault." Ethan pulled her behind him. "This is a hospital. Don't make a scene." I looked at the invitation in his hand and suddenly found it hilarious.
I didn't make a scene. I just asked him in front of everyone: "What right do you have to blame me?" No one in the ER said a word. Tara leaned against Ethan, crying softly. Ethan lowered his voice. "Sophia, don't interfere with work." "You're the one interfering with work." "My mom is in the observation room, and you're here celebrating your marriage." Someone looked down, pretending to organize charts. Tara suddenly covered her mouth. "I feel sick..." The ER colleagues immediately started making noise. "Just got married and already pregnant? Dr. Hayes works fast." Ethan's expression changed. He immediately helped Tara up. "Let's draw blood first and check." My mom was still in the observation room. But he stayed by Tara's side every step of the way for the blood draw. I stood at the lab window and watched him personally label the blood collection tubes. His movements were carefully precise and piercing to watch. She touched her belly, lowering her head with a smile. "I hope the baby grows up healthy." Ethan said in front of his colleagues: "Once we have a child, I'll give you a proper home." I thought that sentence had nothing to do with me. Until that evening, when I returned to that house and saw an agreement on the table. Housing Arrangement Agreement. It stated: To facilitate Tara's pregnancy, Sophia voluntarily moves out of the master bedroom. Holding the paper, I laughed for a long time. The down payment for that house was two hundred thousand dollars—money I paid. The renovation costs—I charged to my credit card. For years, I'd transferred three thousand dollars to Ethan every month for the mortgage. Only his name was on the deed. Because he said doctors could get loans more easily. He said, "Sophia, there's no yours and mine between us." Now he was making it very clear. The master bedroom for Tara. I even had to give up my bed. I asked, "What does this agreement mean?" Ethan sat on the couch. "Tara is pregnant. The master bedroom gets better sunlight. It's better for the pregnancy." I spread the agreement in front of him. "What about my two hundred thousand?" "What about the mortgage payments?" He frowned. "Eight years together, don't make it sound so ugly." Tara came out of the kitchen with a glass of water. She was wearing an apron, looking like the lady of the house. "Sophia, don't worry. I won't live here for free." "I'll give you eight hundred a month. Is that okay?" I almost laughed in disbelief. "Eight hundred?" "Are you joking?" I picked up the agreement and tore it up. Ethan suddenly grabbed my wrist. "If you keep this up, I'll have to transfer your mom to a regular ward first." I looked up at him. He continued: "And the dialysis scheduling doesn't have to go through me either." The room was very quiet. Tara stopped crying. She stood behind Ethan, looking down at me. Her expression was obedient. And also smug. I slowly pulled my hand away. "Ethan Hayes, you're threatening me with my mom's life?" He avoided my gaze. "I just hope you'll calm down." I nodded. "Fine." "I'll calm down enough to make you regret this."
The next day, I went to the lab department as usual. The first thing I did when I entered the office was export all the transfer records I'd made to Ethan over the years. Including the expenses I'd covered when his father was hospitalized. And the chat records showing he'd been managing my mom's medical files. I uploaded them all to the cloud, one by one. Ethan sent me a message. "Don't make this bigger. Let's talk tonight when you get home." I didn't reply. At ten in the morning, Tara came to the lab window. She handed me a blood test order. "Sophia, I'm pregnant. Can you expedite it for me?" The office instantly went quiet. I followed protocol and said, "Register, pay, and wait in line." Tara's eyes reddened. "Are you still mad at me?" I pushed the order back. "This is a hospital, not your living room." She bit her lip and left. To avoid any conflict of interest, I personally handed the sample to a colleague for processing and recorded everything. At noon, the results came out. She wasn't pregnant at all! Tara looked at the results and her face changed completely. Half an hour later, word came from the ER. Tara had abdominal pain and bleeding between her legs—suspected miscarriage. Tara appeared, supported by a nurse. Her face was pale, her hand covering her stomach. "Sophia, you can hate me. But the baby is innocent." My colleagues looked at me differently. The director came over too. "Sophia, suspend your work for now and cooperate with the investigation." I said, "Check the surveillance and the records." Ethan interrupted me. "Tara miscarried because she was traumatized." I looked at him: "How can someone who isn't pregnant have a miscarriage?" Tara cried, trembling. Ethan threw a stack of documents in front of me. The papers scattered. They were notices about my mom's dialysis deposit and bed adjustment applications. He looked at me coldly. "Kneel and apologize to Tara right now. I'll make sure your mom can use the machine tonight." Everyone in the department was watching me. My professional reputation. My mom's life. My eight years of devotion. He compressed it all into one apology. I bent down to pick up the documents. At the bottom was a test order from another hospital. Tara had it done last week. It stated: No evidence of pregnancy. I looked up at him. His face finally showed panic. Tara screamed, "That's not mine!" The next second, the director's office door was pushed open. Someone from the hospital's disciplinary office stood in the doorway. "Sophia Walker, regarding your suspected tampering with lab reports, please immediately accept suspension pending investigation."
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