Chapter 12

I spent six months in Capital City.

During that time, I threw myself into my work, learning everything I could, exchanging ideas with some of the best doctors. Together, we managed to save a mother who was struggling through a difficult delivery.

When the baby's first cry filled the room, my eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Congratulations, it's a beautiful baby girl, six pounds, five ounces, perfectly healthy!"

As the mother was wheeled out, her husband cradled their newborn, tears streaming down his face as he pressed his cheek to the hospital bed. A man, tall and broad, six feet of muscle, cried harder than the woman who had just given birth.

When I returned to River City, I was promoted to Chief Physician.

My first major surgery was Luna Bennett's hysterectomy.

For a split second, I hesitated, then I shut down all personal feelings and continued the procedure with clinical precision.

Afterward, Daisy Carter filled me in on what had happened.

Two months after I left, Luna, still recovering from childbirth, found out she was pregnant again. A violent confrontation with Ethan Thompson led to an immediate miscarriage.

Taking advantage of the situation, Luna moved in with Ethan, using their child as leverage to win over his parents.

But Ethan, for reasons I couldn't understand, refused to sign the divorce papers or even have any contact with her.

Frustrated, Luna drugged him multiple times.

As soon as she recovered from the miscarriage, she was pregnant again.

This time, Ethan acted like a different person, completely consumed with her, doting on her every moment.

Then came the news: the fetus was deformed.

Ethan laughed.

"Happy now, Luna? You made me drug Sophia. Now karma's paying you back. If it weren't for you, Sophia and I would still be together! This is your fault! Why did you have to keep that child?"

"I was about to have a baby with the woman I loved. I could've been happy. You ruined everything!"

Luna stared at him in shock before collapsing into sobs.

"Ethan! You were the one who came after me first! How dare you blame an innocent child?"

"You claim to love Sophia, but you cheated on her for four years! Do you really think she'd ever take you back? Never! She abandoned my baby without a second thought, what makes you think she'd forgive you? This is your punishment!"

Ethan snapped.

He grabbed Luna by the throat and nearly choked her to death.

The assault triggered another miscarriage and caused severe bleeding. The repeated pregnancies had already done irreparable damage to her uterus.

As I worked on her in the operating room, Luna recognized me and managed a weak smile, her lips pale.

"You win."

"Sophia, you win. You must be so happy, Ethan still loves you the most."

I didn't respond, focusing on the procedure. It wasn't until after the surgery, when my assistant wiped the sweat from my brow, that I finally spoke.

"Luna, not everyone obsesses over men and relationships like you do."

"My husband cheated, so I divorced him. That's normal. But I wasn't about to throw away my future over a man who wasn't worth it."

"I chose my career, and my career repaid me, by exposing Ethan's betrayal before it was too late. In a way, I saved myself. As for 'winning'? I couldn't care less."

Luna stared at me, her face ashen, her eyes clouded with confusion.

Later, Ethan approached me, holding the signed divorce papers.

"Sophia."

I looked up at him, gaunt, unkempt, a shell of the man I once knew.

"I'm sorry for everything. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I truly love you. Can't you give me one more chance?"

"This time, I'll be faithful. I swear."

I shook my head, taking the divorce papers from him.

"Let's get this finalized soon."

The light in his eyes died.

I never learned what happened to them after that.

Rumors said Luna left her child with the Thompsons and disappeared. Before she left, she went to the police, with evidence of Ethan drugging her.

The charges weren't severe, but they destroyed his career for good.

Luna came to see me once.

She apologized, sincerely, for the first time.

But I couldn't bring myself to forgive her.

At best, she became a stranger to me.

After all, I still had a long life ahead of me.

No point in wasting it on people who no longer mattered.

[The End]