Chapter 2

Just after finishing the pre-surgery consultation.

A woman dressed in expensive clothing walked into the department.

The director respectfully opened the door for her, then called all the idle staff outside.

I also stood to leave but was stopped.

"Sally, this is Mr. Johnson's wife, Mrs. Laura. She also carries great weight in the industry. You two should talk."

With that, he gently closed the door.

I looked up at the visitor, clearer than anyone about her identity.

Laura, the female heir to the country's largest pharmaceutical conglomerate.

Decades ago, the kind of person who could command wind and rain in the industry.

Her hair was styled in a fashionable curled bob, a Cartier bracelet on her wrist.

She looked much younger than her actual age, well-maintained.

"Dr. Sally."

She sat down across from me.

Her posture carried the arrogance that only absolute confidence could nurture.

"I hope you'll perform surgery on my daughter."

Along with her words came a recommendation letter placed before me.

This was the threshold to entering the Academy of Sciences. Its weight was substantial.

She looked at me, her eyes full of certainty and disdain.

I lifted my head without looking at the recommendation letter.

"Mrs. Laura, I already have an appointment for my next surgery."

"Your daughter—I'm unable to help."

At these words, Laura's expression darkened.

Only then did she truly look at me, sizing me up from head to toe.

"Dr. Sally, why make things difficult for your own future?"

"Even if you help those bottom-feeders a thousand, ten thousand times, it won't be as worthwhile as operating on my daughter once."

"I know you have concerns. I'll handle that pregnant woman."

Laura's tone was casual.

As if that person wasn't a living human being, but an ant that could be crushed at will.

Just like my mother.

She died on a cold operating table with no one caring.

Even her husband, driven by self-interest, cruelly abandoned her.

In that desperate situation, all she could do was fight with everything she had to secure a thread of life for the child in her womb.

I laughed lightly and asked without humility or arrogance.

"Mrs. Laura, you're so skilled at this speech."

"I wonder—how many people's corpses did you step on to get where you are today?"

Laura's expression completely darkened.

She leaned back against the chair, looking down at me from above.

The feigned reasonableness vanished, revealing her mean, hypocritical true face.

"Do you think you climbed to your current position entirely by yourself?"

I looked at her, my expression calm.

"If my daughter hadn't chosen to start a family, with her credentials and background, the chief physician position would never have been your turn."

Laura's fingers lightly tapped the table as she scoffed.

"You need to understand—with our family's background and connections, destroying you is as easy as moving a finger."

"I don't care if you climbed to this position through sleeping your way up or whatever despicable means, but if you dare put on airs and flaunt principles in front of me, I'll make you cry miserably."

I organized the patient files in my hands, nodded, and stood up.

"Mrs. Laura, my principles won't change."

"Please leave. I need to perform surgery now."

If just a few threatening words and bribes could make me compromise,

I wouldn't only be letting down my patients—I'd be letting down my mother even more.

She endured excruciating pain and used a scalpel to cut open her own abdomen, trading her life for mine.

I would never allow her child to bow to her enemy.

Laura's eyes suddenly turned cold, laced with chilling intent.

"Rejecting kindness, acting like a saint while being a hypocrite."

"Just wait and see. I want to see how long you can stay smug!"

She grabbed her rare leather handbag and slammed the door as she left.

The deafening sound rang in my ears.

My whole body trembled.

Not from fear.

But from excitement.

Because I knew I was about to meet the real murderer who killed my mother.