Chapter 4

In the days that followed, Lucy hovered around me constantly, either talking about the permanent position or brainstorming paper topics. She rarely stayed late in the department anymore, and she almost never met with Basil alone.

That got Basil worked up.

Watching Basil's messages in Lucy's secret account, I could see his tone getting more and more agitated: "Girl, what's the matter with you lately? I message you and you don't reply for hours, and when I call you to my office you don't come!"

"Oh, come on, I'm busy with my papers and the position thing."

"I heard from people in the department that David's going to help you land a permanent staff position at the hospital? You're not planning to settle down with him and dump me over this, are you?"

"Mm-hmm, well, I'm going to have to settle down with someone eventually, and it doesn't matter who, so of course I'll pick the one who treats me well."

"Ha. I really never expected a naive little girl like you to sink into the swamp of marriage too. What a shame."

I almost laughed out loud.

He must have some enormous misunderstanding about the word "naive."

Basil clearly wasn't giving up, and he quickly dangled the bait: "Next month is the final residency certification review, and the final interview for the permanent position. I'm the head of the review panel. Don't you want to lock down that spot? Come work the on-call shift in my office tonight, and I guarantee that spot is one hundred percent yours."

Lucy caved in an instant and fired back immediately: "Mwah mwah mwah! I knew Professor Chavez treated me the best~"

"Girl, stick with me and you'll never come up short."

"But this time you promised, no more of the back. Last time it really hurt too much!"

"You've got two mouths and you only let me use one—isn't that just a waste? Heh heh."

I stared at the screen, my face black as the bottom of a pot.

All this time, besides feeding Lucy her empty promises, I hadn't been idle on Basil's end either.

His home address, his wife Polly's contact information, evidence of the kickbacks and backdoor deals he'd taken over the years, even his improper relationships with two other female residents—I had all of it down cold.

That evening, Lucy dressed up carefully, sprayed on perfume, put on black stockings, told me she had to go to the department to work late writing up charts, and hurried out.

I stood by the window and watched her get into Basil's car. The two of them headed straight for the five-star hotel next to the hospital.

I took out the anonymous SIM card I'd prepared in advance and sent Polly a text: You washed-out old hag, do you understand Basil at all? Can you give him the most primal kind of pleasure? Do you know what nurse-uniform play is? When he holds me, he says you're old and faded, that lying in the same bed with you can't even get a rise out of him—I bet you've never heard any of this in your whole life, have you?

Less than two minutes after I sent it, the other end started blowing up my phone. I didn't even glance at it. I just powered off.

Sure enough, not ten minutes later, through the surveillance feed I'd arranged in advance with a friend at the hotel, I watched Basil's phone suddenly ring. The moment he saw the caller ID, his face changed instantly. He fumbled to cover the phone and told Lucy beside him to keep quiet.

Instead of holding back, Lucy rolled her eyes in contempt and, as if to provoke him, pulled his hand to press it against her chest.

But right then Basil was in no mood for her teasing. Groveling into the phone in a low voice, he threw his clothes on in a panic and rushed out of the hotel.

Stood up, Lucy stomped around the room in a fury.

I went home more than satisfied. I'd barely stepped inside when Lucy came in right behind me. The second she walked through the door she flung her bag onto the couch and dumped all her anger on me.

"Where's today's fruit? Didn't I tell you I wanted a fruit platter when I got off work? You sit around at home all day and you can't even handle this one little thing? I'm working myself to death at the hospital every day, and here you are taking it easy!"

Before, I'd have rushed over to soothe her right away.

But now, I'd sooner coax a dog than her.

I sat on the couch without moving an inch and looked at her coldly. "I'm not your maid. Don't throw your tantrums at me. You really think that once you've got a permanent position you get to lord it over people? Go look in the mirror first and see if you even measure up."

Lucy froze, disbelief all over her face.

She could never have imagined that I—who had always done whatever she said—would talk to her like this today.

Just as I'd planned, we had a blowout fight.

Lucy was shaking with rage. She threw out her threat on the spot: "David, you'll regret this! I will never forgive you!"

And with that, she slammed the door and left.

The moment she was gone, I picked up my phone and called her mother, my tone full of guilt: "Ma'am, I owe you an apology. I pulled some strings and got Lucy a permanent staff position at our hospital, but when I told her, she said we absolutely couldn't let you know. We had a huge fight over it, and she just walked out."

The other end exploded instantly.

"David, what did you say? You got Lucy a permanent position at the hospital?!"

"That's right, ma'am. I arranged this position for her before we're even married. It's in her name alone—a rock-solid job. I felt this was too big a deal not to tell you."

Lucy's mother flew into a rage: "That ungrateful girl! Feeling too big for her britches, is she! How dare she keep something this important from her own family!"

I added, all fake concern, "Ma'am, she stormed out just now in a temper. If she comes home, please tell me right away."

Not half an hour after we hung up, her mother called back, her voice full of anger: "That girl—she came home and had a huge fight with us too, saying all we ever care about is her job!"

Before I could get a word in, her mother rushed on: "David, on this position, you absolutely have to listen to me! No other department will do—it has to be the General Surgery Department! General Surgery is where the money is, and later, when her brother Wesley is looking for work, he can benefit from it too!"

It made me laugh out of sheer anger. Sure enough, in their eyes, a daughter's rock-solid job was, in the end, just there to pave the way for the son.

I sighed, my tone deeply troubled: "But Lucy and I have fought this badly right now—what if she breaks up with me? Then the position..."

"She wouldn't dare! I'll break her legs! A son-in-law as outstanding as you couldn't be found even with a lantern. If she dares breathe a single word against it, she's no daughter of mine!"

On the other end of the line, I could hear Lucy shrieking in fury and her father sternly barking her down.