Chapter 3 · Capatio, City Of Sins

That day, Ridge stormed up to me, his face twisted with a viciousness I'd never seen before.

"Sierra, do you have to go against her?" he demanded.

I didn't get it. I only saved that man because he looked so pitiful. How did that turn into me deliberately going against Tinsley?

At that moment, it finally hit me.

The Ridge, who once cared for me, who used to treat me like I mattered, was never coming back.

Still, I couldn't help holding onto a bit of naive hope. When he asked me for medicine, I actually felt a rush of happiness, only to end up like this.

"Dr. Warner, does she really not know medicine at all?" Paisley asked.

Her eyes glinted with something I couldn't quite read.

By then, a crowd had gathered outside my clinic. Most of them were people I'd treated before.

They all craned their necks, eager to hear Tinsley's final verdict on me.

"Of course. My assessment is never wrong," Tinsley Warner declared with authority.

Paisley's smile finally broke free, her face lighting up with smug satisfaction.

"So, that means I get my ten taels of silver back, and even tenfold compensation, right?" she said, barely able to contain her excitement.

This time, Tinsley didn't even need to answer.

Ridge, the magistrate, shot me a look of pure disgust before turning to the crowd.

"According to the new medical decree," he announced, "anyone who defrauds others of their money under the guise of practicing medicine must repay tenfold!"

Paisley's eyes lit up with excitement, her breath coming faster.

Anyone would be excited about a windfall like that.

A hundred taels was a fortune!

She could work her whole life and never scrape that much!

The eyes of the crowd at the door sparkled with greedy excitement.

In a flash, several more people walked in.

"Sir, we want to accuse Sierra of cheating people and putting lives at risk..." one of them shouted.

"Dr. Warner couldn't cure my illness, but she made me better with just one dose. Maybe I wasn't even sick. Maybe she did something to trick me..." another person added.

"Yeah, I remember clearly that she was there the day my son fell ill..." someone else chimed in.

"My family..." someone else chimed in, just as eager.

I saved their lives, yet not a single person stood up for me. The moment there was profit to be made, they couldn't wait to cast me into the abyss.

"See? I knew Sierra's skills couldn't possibly outshine Dr. Warner's! She must've cheated somehow. God, that's cold!" someone in the crowd jeered.

Ridge towered over me, his eyes icy.

"With witnesses and evidence in hand, Sierra, are you still going to deny it?" he pressed.

I met his gaze, gave him a small smile, and stayed silent.

Ridge was done with me. His patience had finally snapped.

My clinic was shut down, and I was hauled off in a prison cart.

To prove just how fair and impartial Ridge was, I was paraded down the street alongside the other crooked doctors, made to face the judgment of the crowd.

As soon as word got out, the very people I'd once saved swarmed around my prison cart.

Nobody knew who threw the first one.

Rotten eggs and wilted vegetables came raining down on me, like they were handing out freebies.

Some people still had a shred of decency. They just watched from the crowd, not throwing anything at me.

"Didn't she cure your lung disease? Why aren't you speaking up for her? The new medical decree says if even one patient stands up for her, she'd get her sentence reduced..." someone called out.

"Who says she cured me? Don't drag me into this!" another person snapped back.

Suddenly, the guy whipped around and pointed at a young mother and her kid.

"You kept hyping up Sierra's skills. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have bothered seeing her at all!" he accused.

"What, are you two her shills or something?" someone else called out.

His words hit the young woman right where it hurt.

"Who says we're shills? We're victims, too!" she shot back.

To make it clear she wasn't a shill, but a victim herself, she grabbed a handful of rotten vegetables and hurled them at me.

I glanced back and recognized them.

It was Lucia Turner standing there.

Her son, Zane Turner, just five or six, stared up at her, totally confused.

"Mother, that's Dr. Spence! Why are they throwing things at her?" he asked, his voice full of bewilderment.

Lucia gritted her teeth, her conscience nagging at her, but she couldn't risk turning the whole village against her over someone who had nothing to do with her. If she did, she and Zane couldn't get by.

"What doctor? If even Dr. Warner couldn't cure you, how could she possibly have done it? She must've poisoned you!" Lucia shot back, her tone harsh and urgent.

Zane looked confused, hesitating for a moment.

Lucia pressed him, "Come on, throw it! Don't you want to go to mission school? Don't you want to be top of your class someday?

"Dr. Warner is a good person. She even opened a free school for families like ours. How could she ever be wrong?"

I watched as Lucia twisted Zane's innocent heart, bit by bit. My chest felt cold, but the more I watched, the more I just wanted to laugh.

In the end, Zane finally took the wilted vegetables his mom handed him.

But he was so small that he barely managed to toss the leaves, and they didn't even reach my prison cart.

Lucia gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "Hang on, son. Let me find you something that'll do the trick!"

Just then, a dog darted into the crowd, barking fiercely at everyone attacking me. It stood guard in front of my prison cart, its thin body blocking the way as best it could.

Chapter 3

That day, Ridge stormed up to me, his face twisted with a viciousness I'd never seen before.

"Sierra, do you have to go against her?" he demanded.

I didn't get it. I only saved that man because he looked so pitiful. How did that turn into me deliberately going against Tinsley?

At that moment, it finally hit me.

The Ridge, who once cared for me, who used to treat me like I mattered, was never coming back.

Still, I couldn't help holding onto a bit of naive hope. When he asked me for medicine, I actually felt a rush of happiness, only to end up like this.

"Dr. Warner, does she really not know medicine at all?" Paisley asked.

Her eyes glinted with something I couldn't quite read.

By then, a crowd had gathered outside my clinic. Most of them were people I'd treated before.

They all craned their necks, eager to hear Tinsley's final verdict on me.

"Of course. My assessment is never wrong," Tinsley Warner declared with authority.

Paisley's smile finally broke free, her face lighting up with smug satisfaction.

"So, that means I get my ten taels of silver back, and even tenfold compensation, right?" she said, barely able to contain her excitement.

This time, Tinsley didn't even need to answer.

Ridge, the magistrate, shot me a look of pure disgust before turning to the crowd.

"According to the new medical decree," he announced, "anyone who defrauds others of their money under the guise of practicing medicine must repay tenfold!"

Paisley's eyes lit up with excitement, her breath coming faster.

Anyone would be excited about a windfall like that.

A hundred taels was a fortune!

She could work her whole life and never scrape that much!

The eyes of the crowd at the door sparkled with greedy excitement.

In a flash, several more people walked in.

"Sir, we want to accuse Sierra of cheating people and putting lives at risk..." one of them shouted.

"Dr. Warner couldn't cure my illness, but she made me better with just one dose. Maybe I wasn't even sick. Maybe she did something to trick me..." another person added.

"Yeah, I remember clearly that she was there the day my son fell ill..." someone else chimed in.

"My family..." someone else chimed in, just as eager.

I saved their lives, yet not a single person stood up for me. The moment there was profit to be made, they couldn't wait to cast me into the abyss.

"See? I knew Sierra's skills couldn't possibly outshine Dr. Warner's! She must've cheated somehow. God, that's cold!" someone in the crowd jeered.

Ridge towered over me, his eyes icy.

"With witnesses and evidence in hand, Sierra, are you still going to deny it?" he pressed.

I met his gaze, gave him a small smile, and stayed silent.

Ridge was done with me. His patience had finally snapped.

My clinic was shut down, and I was hauled off in a prison cart.

To prove just how fair and impartial Ridge was, I was paraded down the street alongside the other crooked doctors, made to face the judgment of the crowd.

As soon as word got out, the very people I'd once saved swarmed around my prison cart.

Nobody knew who threw the first one.

Rotten eggs and wilted vegetables came raining down on me, like they were handing out freebies.

Some people still had a shred of decency. They just watched from the crowd, not throwing anything at me.

"Didn't she cure your lung disease? Why aren't you speaking up for her? The new medical decree says if even one patient stands up for her, she'd get her sentence reduced..." someone called out.

"Who says she cured me? Don't drag me into this!" another person snapped back.

Suddenly, the guy whipped around and pointed at a young mother and her kid.

"You kept hyping up Sierra's skills. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have bothered seeing her at all!" he accused.

"What, are you two her shills or something?" someone else called out.

His words hit the young woman right where it hurt.

"Who says we're shills? We're victims, too!" she shot back.

To make it clear she wasn't a shill, but a victim herself, she grabbed a handful of rotten vegetables and hurled them at me.

I glanced back and recognized them.

It was Lucia Turner standing there.

Her son, Zane Turner, just five or six, stared up at her, totally confused.

"Mother, that's Dr. Spence! Why are they throwing things at her?" he asked, his voice full of bewilderment.

"What doctor? If even Dr. Warner couldn't cure you, how could she possibly have done it? She must've poisoned you!" Lucia shot back, her tone harsh and urgent.

Zane looked confused, hesitating for a moment.

Lucia pressed him, "Come on, throw it! Don't you want to go to mission school? Don't you want to be top of your class someday?

"Dr. Warner is a good person. She even opened a free school for families like ours. How could she ever be wrong?"

I watched as Lucia twisted Zane's innocent heart, bit by bit. My chest felt cold, but the more I watched, the more I just wanted to laugh.

In the end, Zane finally took the wilted vegetables his mom handed him.

But he was so small that he barely managed to toss the leaves, and they didn't even reach my prison cart.

Lucia gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "Hang on, son. Let me find you something that'll do the trick!"

Just then, a dog darted into the crowd, barking fiercely at everyone attacking me. It stood guard in front of my prison cart, its thin body blocking the way as best it could.