Thanksgiving morning, my doctor wife told me once again she had a few emergency surgeries and couldn't come home with me to visit my parents. But the second I checked Instagram, I saw my wife in Jason's post, carving a turkey at what looked like a countryside kitchen, surrounded by strangers. The caption read: "Dad says having a surgeon for a daughter-in-law is great. Even carves turkey like a pro." I just laughed coldly, hit like, and left a comment. "Makes sense. Professional training." Colleagues immediately started blowing up the group chats, all thinking I'd finally lost it over my wife. Claire's call came through right away, and I could already picture her frowning in annoyance. "Jason's having a big family day. I'm just helping them out. What's with your passive-aggressive bullshit?" "His family doesn't have any women around. This feast is a huge deal and they can't handle it themselves. I'm just lending a hand. What are you making a scene for?" "Withdraw the like and delete the comment right now. Don't make Jason's life difficult at the hospital. You hear me?" "I'll pick another time to go back with you. Okay?" Another "I'll pick another time." But Claire only knew how to feed me empty promises, over and over again. I was done eating them. Done waiting. After this Thanksgiving weekend, once I got the divorce papers, our seven-year marriage would be finished for good. I didn't respond to Claire and for the first time ever, I hung up on her myself. She lost it and my phone rang again immediately. I rejected it and blocked her, just like she always did to me when she was pissed. My parents looked over with concern. "Ethan, you and Claire..." Meeting their worried eyes, I smiled at them and took a couple bites of food, acting like it was nothing. "We can't make it work. Getting divorced soon." Mom sighed and patted Dad's arm, forcing herself to sound upbeat as she called for everyone to eat. My phone buzzed with a notification from Jason posting a long apology in the work chat. "Just having some fun with everyone. Thanks to Dr. Reynolds for being cool about it. If this bothered anyone, my apologies." But the words were dripping with smugness. Claire replied quickly. "Young people should have some energy. Nothing to apologize for. Whoever's bothered is just being petty." Actually, I wasn't bothered at all. Getting to cut ties with Claire clean? That was perfect. Once the Medical Director made her stance clear, everyone instantly knew which side to pick and they all started chiming in. "The hospital's usually so dead anyway. Jason's sacrificing himself to keep things lively. We should thank him." "Who knew Dr. Reynolds was just as skilled with a knife outside the OR? Jason's got it made!" "Haha, everyone knows there's only ONE person at our hospital who's that petty." Watching them continuously trash me made me feel pathetic. Because half the people kissing Jason's ass were surgeons I'd trained personally. Back then they were sucking up to me constantly. Now, I was just "that person" they mocked. Claire was the Medical Director. She favored Jason, so Jason became the golden boy in everyone's eyes. Never mind that this hospital only existed because of my techniques and my entire life savings. None of it could compete with Claire's shameless favoritism. I laughed bitterly, turned off my screen, and tried to pull myself together to have a proper meal with my parents. Then Claire actually called my mom's phone. Mom looked at me, lost. I sighed and finally answered. But before I could say anything, I heard Claire's cold, emotionless voice. "Is Ethan there with you? Put him on. I need to talk to him." In that moment, I regretted picking up. She had the nerve to call my mom's phone to find me, but couldn't even say "Mom" when my mother answered. Something clenched in my chest. "What do you want?" Hearing my voice, Claire's tone turned even colder. "Jason's previous surgery patient is showing signs of post-op infection. You need to get back to the hospital right now and perform a second surgery." Her voice was commanding, brooking no argument, ordering me around like I was a damn dog. Rage suddenly flared inside me. The patient needed cardiac septal grafting and even if I performed it, I couldn't guarantee better than fifty-fifty odds. But Jason wanted to climb to department head, so he shamelessly begged me for that surgery. I knew his half-assed skills couldn't handle it and I refused outright. But Claire's head was full of nothing but Jason and without a word, she transferred the patient to Jason. I fought her on it. Claire said rookies need experience, told me not to be so concerned with personal gain and loss. A human life was just a stepping stone for her boy. Now there was a problem, and she wanted me to clean up Jason's mess. Did she really think I was some kind of sucker? I refused directly. "I can't come back. Whoever screwed up takes responsibility. If you can't stand watching, then you do the surgery yourself. You're his guarantor anyway." "I'm eating with my parents right now. They thought you were coming back, made a whole spread. Can't let it go to waste. If that's all, I'm hanging up." I was about to end the call when Claire suddenly screamed on the other end. "Try hanging up on me! Ethan, have I been giving you too much slack lately?!"
Her scream was so loud and even startled my mom, who was hard of hearing. She turned to look at me, worry all over her face. I forced down the rage building in my chest, walked outside with my phone, and lowered my voice to snap back at her. "What the hell are you yelling at me for?" The other end went silent for a moment. Then Claire got pissed too. "I know you're mad I broke my promise, but I already said I'd make time to go back with you. What more do you want?" "Jason's surgery-you're doing it whether you like it or not. Otherwise, we're done." Perfect. I didn't want to stay with her anyway. I was about to tell Claire we were getting divorced when I heard Jason's voice on the other end. "Claire, the food's ready. Your dad's calling you to eat." Then I heard Claire cover the phone and respond in a voice so sweet it made me sick. "I'm just handling some hospital business. I'll be right there. Tell Dad I said so." I laughed. "So Dr. Reynolds has found herself a new father? Don't want to keep your old man waiting." "Oh right, I forgot... I'm the petty one." Jason must not have walked away yet because Claire hissed at me in a furious whisper. "Jason's from a small town where people gossip. I'm his boss. What's wrong with helping him save face? What's with your passive-aggressive crap?" "I'm telling you, Ethan, you've got three days to do that surgery. Otherwise, get the hell out of my hospital!" She hung up. I stood outside my parents' house in the wind, feeling empty inside. But just after I'd decided I definitely wasn't going to be her scapegoat this time, the Chief of Surgery called. He said someone reported me for performing surgery while drunk, causing a medical malpractice case, and I needed to get back immediately to deal with it. In that moment, I felt like I was losing my mind. My breathing got rapid. "Sir, you've got this wrong. The patient had congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was already critical when he came in." But the Chief sent me a copy of the complaint. My head started buzzing and I didn't even finish dinner before rushing back to the hospital in a panic. Facing the Chief's reproachful look, I requested to confront my accuser. The Chief didn't say anything, just brought out a witness to identify me. But this witness, the anesthesiologist from that surgery, was Jason's good buddy. Realizing what was happening, I exploded with rage. "Sir, he's Jason's guy. He could be framing me." I couldn't find proof, so my defense sounded weak. But a sharp, angry voice cut me off. "Enough!" Claire pushed through the door, looking at me with pure disgust. "You did the wrong things and still to drag Jason. You hating him! Trying to destroy him!" "Ethan! I thought you were just petty, but at least professional in surgery. I never imagined you'd be this shameless!" "Do you know how serious it is to fake medical disputes? I never thought you'd gamble with a patient's life like this! Someone like you doesn't deserve to be a doctor! Doesn't deserve to be my husband!" I stood frozen, my throat feeling like it was stabbed with a thousand needles. After a long time, I finally managed to speak. "Claire, in your heart, do you really think I'm the kind of person who'd kill a patient out of jealousy?" Claire's chest heaved as she looked at me with dark eyes. "What else?" "I saw it myself. The fridge at home is full of beer bottles." One sentence sealed my fate. The Chief issued my termination on the spot and my colleagues' spit landed on me. I was still in shock, just finishing packing my things to leave, when the patient's family rushed over and kicked me to the ground. "You bastard! Why did you kill my son? Who told you to drink?" The woman kicked me over and over, then started slapping my face. My vision went blurry and the woman got dragged away while I crouched on the floor picking up my scattered belongings. Then Jason's voice suddenly came from behind me. "Ethan, you got what you deserved."
Isn't he the one who orchestrated all this? And here he is pretending to be surprised? I laughed coldly and shot back. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I just think working with trash like you lowers my value. That's why I quit." Jason's smile grew wider and he put on this smug, arrogant look, raising his voice to point at me. "Ethan, you're a doctor. Now you've caused a malpractice case. Sure, you resigned and ran away, but when the patient's family comes to the hospital to make trouble, it affects the hospital's reputation." "I suggest you get on your knees and apologize to everyone here. Otherwise, why should we have to deal with the fallout you created?" He looked around, waiting for someone to back him up. I thought this was ridiculous, turned around, and started to leave. But Jason wouldn't let it go and rushed forward to block me. I tried to dodge him and the instant we passed each other, he dropped to the floor on his ass. Claire's voice rang out immediately. "Jason! Are you okay?" She ran to Jason's side, asking him with concern all over her face, then turned to glare at me with absolute fury. "Ethan! If you've got a problem, go get help! Why the hell are you pushing people around? Apologize to Jason right now!" Before I could respond, Jason started playing the good guy. "Claire, don't get mad. I'm just worried Ethan's malpractice case will hurt the hospital. He didn't mean to push me..." Bringing up the malpractice case got Claire fired up again and she demanded with furrowed brows. "I asked you to cover one surgery and you refused a hundred times. Now the patient's got problems. What are you going to do about it?" "I never realized before that you're the kind of person who treats lives like a joke!" I thought it was hilarious and immediately asked her back. "So when you helped Jason frame me, you weren't treating my life like a joke?" Then I looked at the guilty-looking Jason with narrowed eyes. "Scum like him? He'll get you killed sooner or later!" Claire immediately shielded Jason and threw my words back at me. "Ethan! Stop attacking people! You got drunk and screwed up a surgery-who's fault is that but yours? This is your fate!" All my rage got stuck in my throat and finally just turned into a bitter laugh. It's always like this. Whenever Jason's involved, she'll defend him unconditionally, even if it costs me my career. I couldn't find evidence yet, so I had to take the fall. Too lazy to argue with them anymore, I picked up my box and tried to leave again. But Claire wouldn't let it go and grabbed my sleeve. "You think resigning fixes everything? I'm going to notify every hospital in the city! I'll get you blacklisted from the entire industry!" I turned my head slightly, giving Claire and Jason a contemptuous look, and said calmly. "Go ahead. But before you send that notice, you should probably go pay respects to that patient." "Just in case his soul hasn't moved on yet and comes back as a ghost to collect what you two owe him in the middle of the night!" After saying that, I ignored their guilty wide eyes and walked with big strides toward the hospital exit. Claire's always been like this, always ready to assume the worst about me. So the second the patient died, she blamed me. She wanted me to take the fall to protect Jason. But none of that mattered anymore. After leaving the hospital, I found a realtor and listed the house I'd bought in full when Claire and I got married. The young agent said excitedly that the market was good lately and the house would sell for a lot. I just told him flatly that the place was kind of messy, so when he found a buyer, just get someone to haul everything out with the trash. I didn't want a single thing that belonged to Claire. Then I went to the courthouse and before closing time, I walked out with my divorce decree. She probably forgot herself that she was the one who threw that divorce agreement in my face in a fit of rage. Remembering I'd forgotten to tell Claire to move out of the house, I drove home to lay it all out. The whole drive, I imagined what her face would look like when she saw the divorce papers. But I didn't expect her to give me a surprise first. The smart lock on my door suddenly wouldn't open.
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