Chapter 7
That was Lily's voice.
She made her way over.
"Hi, Professor Chapman. I'm Lily White. I just earned my MD from Metropolitan University School of Medicine, and Professor David Dawson was my mentor," Lily said.
Professor Chapman nodded politely. "Oh, you studied under Professor Dawson. Glad to meet you."
"Professor Chapman, did I hear you mention Dr. G just now?" Lily's eyes lit up. "Is Dr. G really here? I've been dying to meet her—"
She scanned the room.
Her eyes finally settled on me.
And then her gaze locked onto me, frozen in shock.
"Evelyn?" Lily blurted out, her voice trembling.
I turned around and looked at her. "Ms. White."
Her tone changed, tinged with confusion and caution. "What are you doing here? At an event like this. Who did you come with?"
Charles spoke up. "I invited Dr. Grant."
"Dr. Grant's here because I invited her."
"Dr. Grant?" Lily let out a small laugh. "Mr. Goodman, maybe you don't realize. She only has a two-year associate's degree."
"Ms. White," Charles replied, his voice steady but authoritative. "You might not know this, but the woman standing before you is Dr. G."
Lily's smile froze mid-air. "What?"
Professor Chapman pushed up his glasses. "Dr. Grant is Dr. G. Seriously, you didn't know?"
Lily's face drained of all color.
She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
She stumbled back a step, her mouth opened, but she couldn't get a word out.
I stared at her, keeping silent.
Just then, Michael Quinn walked over from the other side.
"Lily? What's wrong?"
He froze when he saw me.
"Evelyn? What are you doing here?"
Lily's voice was shaky. "Michael, they're saying she's Dr. G."
Michael frowned, confusion flickering across his face. "Wait, what?"
He glanced at Charles, then at Professor Chapman, and finally landed his gaze on me.
"No way," he blurted out, disbelief written all over him. "She only has a two-year associate's degree. She doesn't even have a real job—"
"Mr. Quinn," Charles cut him off.
"Professor Grant is a surgical doctorate from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a world-class cardiothoracic surgeon, and the inventor of Minimally Invasive Coronary Revascularization.
"She's published 47 SCI-indexed papers, including eight in The Lancet. The Dr. G you're talking about is your ex-wife."
Michael's face drained of color, inch by inch.
Shock, disbelief, as memories slowly surfaced, and finally, utter humiliation.
Lily stood beside him, her hands trembling.
The whole room went dead silent.
It wasn't the awkward kind of silence. It was the kind where everyone was just waiting for the drama to explode, eyes glued to the scene.
After all, everyone had just heard Lily's earlier jab: "She only has a two-year associate's degree."
Now, the truth was out.
The woman who'd been dismissed by her ex-husband's family for three years was actually the most accomplished doctor in the entire room.
I kept my expression blank.
I set my glass down. "By the way, Michael, there's something else you should know."
"What?" he said, almost stunned.
"That surgery your grandfather had last Friday? I was the one holding the scalpel.
"The Dr. G you and your family have been searching for all over the world has been living under your roof for three years," I said.
Michael swayed on his feet, like he might collapse at any second.
Lily grabbed the back of a chair to steady herself, her face ghostly pale.
I set my glass down on a waiter's tray.
"The surgery was a success. Your grandfather's recovering well. I owed him a favor, and now I've paid it back," I said.
I turned to leave. "As for you two, I don't owe you anything. Not now, not ever."
After a couple of steps, Charles caught up to me.
"Leaving already?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think I've had enough for tonight," I replied.
"Let me walk you out," he said.
"No need." I refused.
"Just being polite to a partner," he said.
I glanced at him.
His gaze was straightforward, nothing else behind it.
"Alright," I said.
As I stepped out of the club, the night wind hit me hard.
I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
"Evelyn!" Michael had come after me.
I didn't stop.
"Evelyn! Wait up!"
He ran ahead and blocked my way.
He looked at me with a mix of panic, regret, and disbelief I'd never seen before.
"Why didn't you tell me? Three years, and you kept it from me?" he said.
I stared at him, trying to figure out what he wanted from me. "What are you talking about?"
"Your degree, your real identity, your—"
"Michael," I cut him off. "Did I have to? Did you ever ask?"
He froze.
It had been three years.
He'd never once asked me what I did, how my job was, or if I was happy.
He just assumed I was some useless junior college grad, because his mother said so, because Lily hinted at it, and because I never bothered to correct them.
A husband who never even cared to know his wife's true self is no real husband.
That kind of marriage was dead from the start.
"Move," I said.
"Evelyn, I—"
"Michael, you signed the divorce papers. I've moved out.
"I even performed your grandfather's surgery myself. Every debt I owed to the Quinn Family, I've repaid.
"What more do you want from me?"
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Charles Goodman opened the car door for me. "Dr. Grant, this way."
I got in.
The door closed.
Through the car window, I gave Michael one final glance.
He stood there in his immaculate suit, but underneath that polished exterior, he looked completely shattered.
Lily had chased after him too, her makeup streaked down her face, just standing there, not knowing what to do with herself.
The car pulled away.
Charles didn't say a word as he drove.
After a while, Charles finally broke the silence.
He asked, "You okay?"
I replied, "I'm fine."
"That must've felt good," Charles said.
I smiled.
"Not bad," I replied.
"That surgery," Charles said, "has been the hottest topic in the medical world for a week.
"Everyone's dying to know why Dr. G stayed under the radar here for three years. Not anymore."
"Yeah," I replied.
"From now on, it's all about my career," I said.
"That's the right direction," he nodded. "The project at Harmony Health Group should be easy for us."
"OK," he replied.
The car glided through the city's night.
The past three years felt like a long, endless dream.
Now, I'm finally awake.