Chapter 6
It was Friday.
The dinner was held at a private club in the city center.
I wore a simple black dress, no frills, just clean lines.
I pulled my hair back into a low bun.
The place was already buzzing with over twenty people when I arrived.
Everyone there was a heavy hitter in the medical field, hospital directors, department heads, CEOs from major public companies, and investors.
Charles saw me walk in and came over.
"Dr. Grant," he greeted me.
"Mr. Goodman," I replied.
"Come on, let me introduce you to a few people," he said.
He led me over to a group gathered in the corner.
"This is Professor Chapman, head of cardiology. And this is Mr. Lucas, CEO of a medical device company," he said.
I shook their hands.
"And this is—" Charles glanced at me, as if checking if I was okay with it.
I gave a slight nod.
"Dr. G, a world-class cardiothoracic surgeon," Charles said.
Everyone's expression changed.
Professor Chapman stood up abruptly.
"You're Dr. G? Evelyn Grant? The one who invented Minimally Invasive Coronary Revascularization?"
"Hello, Professor Chapman," I said.
"Oh my god," he said, shaking my hand vigorously. "I've read all your papers! The one you published in The Lancet last year was absolutely brilliant!"
The others crowded around too.
I smiled and made small talk with everyone.
I was no stranger to scenes like this.
After ten years in the international academic scene, there wasn't much that could surprise me anymore.
But back home, I always kept a low profile.
So low-key that even after three years of being married into the Quinn family, everyone still thought I was just some nobody with an associate's degree.
Halfway through the dinner, someone walked in through the door.
I barely noticed.
That was until a voice rang out nearby.
"Mr. Goodman, what a surprise to see you here!"
It was Michael.
He was dressed to the nines in a sharp suit, with Lily by his side.
Lily was rocking a sparkly dress, her makeup flawless, and she looked like she owned the place.
I turned my back to them.
Charles noticed.
He leaned in and whispered, "Do you know them?"
"My ex-husband," I replied.
He didn't ask anything else. Instead, he casually stepped in front of me, making sure I was out of their line of sight without drawing attention.
Michael was chatting with someone on the other side of the room, not even glancing our way.
Lily was holding onto his arm, scanning the room with a practiced smile.
This was exactly the kind of scene Lily thrived in. A room full of big shots, her favorite kind of social playground.
But honestly, she was out of her league here.
She'd just graduated with an MD from Metropolitan University, no independent projects, no clout whatsoever in the industry.
She was only here because she was tagging along with Michael.
She was just riding his coattails.
I ignored her and kept chatting with Professor Chapman about spreading the word on minimally invasive procedures.
"Dr. G," Professor Chapman said, "that three-vessel disease surgery last month—was that you who did it? The whole medical world's been buzzing about it."
"Yeah, that was me. The patient's doing pretty well," I replied.
"The patient had aortic calcification, right? And you used that balloon dilation and wall apposition technique you invented?" he asked.
"That's right," I said.
"Phenomenal!" Professor Chapman exclaimed, giving me a thumbs-up. "Honestly, nobody else in the country could've pulled that off."
I smiled and took a sip of my drink.
Just then, a voice rang out from behind me.
"Professor Chapman!"