Chapter 4

Sylvia Bennett POV

All these years we had been together, he had always liked recording things on his phone.

I had never wanted to.

But he said he could watch them when he missed me, that they would satisfy his cravings, and he promised he would never show them to anyone.

I couldn’t bear to refuse him.

I never imagined that in order to cover up Yvonne Hayes’s scandal, he would destroy my reputation without hesitation.

Back when we attended social events, if any man looked at me one time too many, Zachary would throw him out with a dark expression.

Every time we attended a banquet, the gowns he chose for me were always high-necked with long skirts.

He said not one inch of his Sylvia’s skin could be seen by anyone else.

He wished he could hide me away.

Now, he had personally posted my privacy online, letting millions of netizens fantasize about and humiliate me.

My phone vibrated like crazy.

I didn’t know who had leaked my number.

Unknown numbers poured in like snowflakes.

The text messages were full of filthy, obscene abuse. Some people even sent pictures of those parts of their bodies.

My hands shook so hard I could barely hold my phone. All the blood rushed to my head.

I called Zachary.

“Zachary Foster, did you release that video?”

I gritted my teeth, my whole body trembling.

“Yes.”

He admitted it cleanly.

“Why?”

My voice cracked, tears spinning in my eyes. “That was a video of me and you! How could you!”

“When you do something wrong, you have to be punished.”

His tone was as hard and cold as ice.

“When you exposed Yvonne’s video, you should’ve thought about the consequences.”

I was so furious I couldn’t speak.

He seemed to notice my suppressed breathing, and the coldness in his voice softened a little.

“I released that video only to push down Yvonne’s trending topics. Her career is on the rise right now. A scandal like this would affect her too much.”

He sighed softly, then began coaxing me as if he were granting me a favor.

“Sylvia, be good. Stop making trouble. Netizens are forgetful. In a few days, everyone will forget.”

“Forget?” I let out a miserable laugh.

“Will you forget? Will I forget?”

Before he could speak again, I hung up hard.

The next day, I forced myself to go to work at the hospital.

As soon as I parked in the garage, I heard two people passing by pointing and whispering about me.

“That’s her, right? The youngest chief physician in cardiothoracic surgery?”

“Tsk, tsk. She looks so cold and aloof, but she plays that hard in private.”

“I heard she’s Mr. Foster’s fiancée too. No idea where she got the nerve to mess around outside.”

I tightened my grip on my car keys and walked into the elevator without looking sideways.

When I reached the department, the atmosphere was even stranger.

Colleagues who usually greeted me warmly now avoided me like I was the plague.

I went to the ward for rounds.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard the patient’s family members talking inside.

“I won’t let her operate on my son! A shameless woman like that is a disgrace to the name of angels in white!”

“Exactly! With a private life that messy, I wouldn’t dare put my life in her hands!”

The head nurse tried desperately to persuade them. “Dr. Bennett completed a direct bachelor-to-PhD program in cardiothoracic surgery at University A, and she’s also the youngest chief attending physician at our hospital. Her skills are recognized by the entire hospital.”

“Oh, please! Who knows how she got that chief position? I demand a different doctor! If you don’t switch doctors, I’ll file a complaint!”

I stood at the door, my hands and feet ice-cold.

I studied medicine for my mother, and I studied medicine for the Foster family’s dignity.

I fought with everything I had to get into the best hospital in the entire state.

Back then, Zachary would proudly introduce me to everyone he met. “This is our Dr. Bennett, the best scalpel in cardiothoracic surgery.”

Now, he had personally thrown my professional dignity to the ground and crushed it underfoot.

Before long, the hospital director called me in.

“Sylvia, you know what’s been going on recently. The hospital has received quite a few complaints, and some family members have posted about it online.”

He looked troubled, weighing his words.

“I saw that you applied for the Doctors Without Borders war-zone medical team. The approval has already gone through, and your departure date is at the end of the month.”

“Don’t come in during this period. Rest at home for now. We’ll talk after the attention dies down.”

The meaning behind his words was obvious.

The public opinion storm around me had already seriously affected the hospital’s normal operations and reputation.

“No need.” I stood up.

“Please help me process my resignation. After I return from the war zone, I won’t be coming back to the hospital. You don’t have to be put in a difficult position.”

The director hadn’t expected me to be so decisive. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he only let out a long sigh.

I returned to the department, packed up my personal belongings, and went straight home.

When I pushed open the villa door, the aroma of food hit me.

Zachary Foster walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food.

“Off work? Come eat.”

He acted as if nothing had happened, as if the bloody storm online had never existed.

“If you can’t stay at the hospital, then come home. It’s not like I can’t support you.”

He said it casually.

I stood in the living room, motionless, staring at him.

When he saw I wasn’t moving, his brows furrowed slightly.

“I know you felt wronged yesterday. But you were the one who did something wrong first. You provoked Yvonne first. This is the lesson you deserved.”

His matter-of-fact tone finally shattered my last line of defense.

I strode over, raised my hand, and slapped him hard across the face.

Before he could react, I grabbed the tablecloth and yanked with all my strength.

The entire table of food flipped onto the floor.

“Sylvia Bennett! Are you insane?”

Zachary was stunned by the slap and instinctively stood up, roaring at me.

My eyes were red as I stared at him.

“Zachary Foster, you destroyed my career!”

My voice trembled. “You know why I became a doctor. You know how hard it was for me to get here! For that woman, you want to completely destroy me!”

Zachary looked at the tears spinning in my eyes, and only then did he seem to realize the severity of what he had done.

Panic and heartache flashed in his eyes. He stepped forward, wanting to grab my arm.

“Sylvia, I—”

His phone rang abruptly, cutting him off.

It was Yvonne.

He immediately let go of my arm. The trace of heartache in his eyes quickly faded.

When he answered the phone, his voice was so gentle it could drip water.

“What? You’re not feeling well? Don’t move, don’t be scared. I’ll be right there!”

After hanging up, he didn’t even take his coat before hurrying out.

When he passed by me, his steps paused slightly. He glanced at me with a deep frown.

“I’ll have Mrs. Watson make you something else to eat in a bit. Stop making trouble.”

The front door slammed shut.

I stood in the wrecked dining room, feeling as if my heart had been torn apart alive, the pain so intense I couldn’t breathe.

I turned and walked to the study, opened the computer, and logged into the cloud album.

The full unedited version of the video was stored there.

Inside, Zachary Foster’s face had been recorded clearly.

I knew that once this video was posted, he would become the one cursed by the entire internet.

For exposing his own fiancée’s private video, he would become everyone’s target.

But since he didn’t care about me, why should I preserve his dignity?

Without the slightest hesitation, I posted the unedited video to every major social media platform.

Then I turned off my phone and computer, got into bed, and went to sleep.