Chapter 1
Halfway through our son's surgery, David Bennett ran out of the operating room.
He was the boy's father, his attending physician, and the lead surgeon for the operation.
Yet he walked away from his own son lying open on the operating table—just because of a few words from his ex-girlfriend.
Watching my child in the ICU, I called David.
He said coldly, "The surgery was almost done. Even a dog could've finished it. What difference does it make if I'm there or not?"
Then he added, "Emily's son hit his head. I'm cleaning up the wound. Don't call unless it's important."
The line went dead and with it, so did the last thread of hope for my son.
*****
While my parents and I waited anxiously outside the operating room, Sam came rushing in.
I recognized him right away. He was David's assistant.
The next moment, David burst out of the operating room. He barely glanced at me before tossing out, "I've got an emergency," and dashed off without a second look, leaving my parents and me standing there, dumbfounded.
My mother watched him disappear around the corner, still in shock. "Wait... the surgery—is it done?" she asked.
No one answered her because the operating room light was still on.
Two hours later, a nurse came out, her face pale. She handed me a critical condition notice for my signature.
That was when I finally learned the truth. David had walked out halfway through his own son's surgery because the phone he'd left with Sam had received a call from his ex-girlfriend, Emily Carter.
"Ben hit his head," she'd cried over the line. "There's so much blood. Dave, please, come save him."
David had told Sam beforehand that if this number ever called, no matter what he was doing, he had to be notified immediately.
So, he'd dropped everything and run straight to his ex-girlfriend Emily, leaving his son on the operating table.
The rest of the surgery was left to poor Sam, who somehow managed to finish it—though not smoothly.
After a frantic round of resuscitation, Jack's life was barely pulled back from the brink. He was moved to the ICU for observation.
My mother fainted on the spot when she saw the critical notice, and my father stayed by my side, refusing to leave.
Through the thick glass, I watched my son lying there, tubes all over his tiny body, and I called David.
"The surgery was almost done," he said flatly. "Even a dog could've finished it. What difference does it make if I'm there or not?
"Ben cracked his head open, and Emily lost it. I'm taking care of it right now. Don't call me unless it's urgent."
"David, you—" Before I could finish, he'd already hung up.
After getting my mother settled, my father stayed behind to watch Jack while I drove straight to Emily's place.
I pounded on the door like a maniac. David opened it in an apron, face twisted in anger. "Olivia, are you out of your mind? Go see a shrink if you're sick. Don't come here acting like a crazed harridan," he spat.
I shoved past him and barged in.
Emily was on the sofa with her little boy, watching cartoons. Cooking smells wafted from the kitchen.
There was a plaster on her son's head and no other visible injuries.
When she saw me, her smile was all teeth. "Olivia, you're here. Ben got hurt, and I was so scared. So I asked Dave to come take a look."
The next second, I grabbed a vase and smashed it down on Emily's head.
She screamed and clutched her face. A thin line of blood ran down her overdone cheek.
Ben started wailing, and the noise made my head pound.
As I spun to confront David, he slapped me hard across the face.
"Are you fucking crazy? How dare you hit her?" David shouted at me.
The slap was so hard that I crashed to the floor.
David stepped over me and rushed straight to Emily. Eyes full of worry, he pressed a tissue to Emily's wound. "It's okay, I'll bandage it," he cooed.
Emily pointed at me, howling, "Dave, she hit me. I'm calling the police."
David turned and shot me a deadly glare. "Apologize! Are you just going to stand there like a corpse?"
Covering my sore, swelling cheek, I forced myself up. "Apologize? I'd rather she drop dead right now.
"David, Jack is still in the ICU. If anything happens to him, I swear you'll both regret it for the rest of your lives."
"That's enough! Olivia, jealous all you like, but don't drag our child into this. Are you even a mother?" he snapped.
"I did the surgery myself, so don't lecture me. It was a complete success. It was down to the last two stitches. Anybody could've finished it. Don't try to scare me," he said.
His words chilled me to the bone.
He actually had the nerve to call the surgery successful when Jack was lying in the ICU.
Thinking of Jack in the hospital, I turned and left.
At the door, I looked back at them both and said, "If anything happens to Jack, I'll make you pay with your lives."