Chapter 2

I found Irene and begged her to help me. "Dr. Willis, you're the only one who can help me. I'm begging you!" I cried, dropping desperately to my knees in front of her.

But when I looked up, I saw Del coming out of her lounge, straightening his clothes.

Before I could even question him, Del lashed out, his face twisted with annoyance. "If I'd known you were this filthy, I never would've gotten involved with you."

My mom was desperate to prove my innocence—she wrote those explanations day and night, never sleeping, until the stress killed her. All she left was her final words, in a letter.

Del dumped me, my mom was gone, and the haters online just kept spamming my DMs.

With nothing left, I threw myself off a high-rise.

Two lives lost, and only then did the police bother to start an investigation. They cut me open for an autopsy.

Turned out, someone had taken my uterus a long time ago.

To protect his precious Irene, Del led the whole scheme, lying that I'd suffered massive bleeding and they had no choice but to remove my uterus to save me.

He even swore I'd agreed to it, flaunting a forged consent form with a fake signature that looked exactly like mine.

Irene walked free, and she and Del cashed in my life insurance, flaunting their loved-up romance all over the web.

Only then did I realize Irene was the woman Del had been mooning over all along.

Snapping back to reality, I hid the hatred burning in my eyes and grabbed the surgery consent form right out of Del's hand.

"I chose a minimally invasive procedure. Why did it turn into a full-blown open surgery?" I demanded.

'Miracle doctor, huh? In this lifetime, I'll make sure she's banned from ever picking up a scalpel again!' I swore to myself.

Irene kept her tone icy as she answered me, "Your cyst has gotten bigger. Only an open surgery can clear it all out."

Del immediately backed her up, nudging me toward the decision. "Come on, Eileen, do what the doctor says. Dr. Willis isn't called a 'miracle doctor' for nothing. Don't make a fuss!"

Just like in my previous life, Del was all about handing me over to let his beloved Irene practice her craft—even though it meant my uterus was just another disposable test subject.

"I only want Wynne Floyd to do my surgery!" I snapped, tossing the consent form aside and turning my back to them.

If I remembered right, Wynne was always getting stomped on by Irene.

Back in my previous life, when I was at rock bottom, she was the one who stood up for me and wrote a letter of support—but everyone online was too busy dragging me through the mud to care.

Del barked, "Eileen, it's not up to you!" He didn't even hesitate—he scrawled my name on the consent form himself and told the nurses to cart me off to the operating room.

I scoffed, swinging my legs off the bed. "That's illegal. On what authority are you signing for me?"

Irene put on her gentle act, grabbing Del's arm to keep him from talking. "Miss Gregory, please don't take it to heart. I must not be skilled enough to earn your trust. But I hope that doesn't make things awkward between you and Del."

That move—playing innocent—had Del absolutely wrapped around her finger.

Even the nurses and other patients around us started giving me dirty looks, like I was the one being unreasonable.

"Sweetheart, getting better is what matters. Don't be so stubborn," one of them said.

"Dr. Willis is basically an angel in scrubs. What's there to object to?" another chimed in.

"Just knock her out already. People are trying to save her life, and she's blaming the ones who are helping her!" someone else snapped.

"Bet she's hiding something shady and doesn't want Dr. Willis to find out," a voice sneered.

That snide remark came from one of Irene's students. In my last life, she was the self-proclaimed justice warrior who made that audio go viral online.

All in the name of "protecting everyone from catching something from a woman like me."

I scoffed. "Dr. Willis, is this how you train your students? No way am I letting you do my surgery. If you end up making stuff up about me afterward, who would I even complain to?"

Del's eyes flickered with calculation as he tried to sound all benevolent. "Eileen, we really can't afford to wait any longer. Trust us, it's for your own good—you have to get that surgery by tomorrow. No excuses!"

I caught that scheming glint in his gaze. 'What's he plotting now?' I wondered to myself.

"Alright, let's settle it tomorrow," I agreed, masking my true intentions.

I had to catch them red-handed first. Otherwise, everyone would just think I was crazy, accusing them out of thin air.

It was the middle of the night, and I was dead asleep when suddenly my hospital bed started shaking beneath me.

I jolted awake to find myself tightly restrained to the bed, with the doors to the operating room looming ominously just ahead.

Del's voice came from above, eerily gentle. "Eileen, this is for your own good. I had to do it to keep you safe."

And as he said it, he pulled the straps even tighter, making sure I wasn't going anywhere.

I shot him a blazing glare. "Del, who do you think you are, calling all the shots? Not afraid I'll slap you with a lawsuit for this?"

He scoffed, pure contempt in his voice. Dr. Willis is the best there is. Quit being so dramatic. Once your sorry life gets saved, you should be thanking me, not suing me. Like you'd ever dare."