Chapter 2

Mark looked distressed:

“But that competition slot originally belonged to Chase. He was once the best surgeon in the country, and becoming a protégé of Dr. Reed was *his* dream too. Yet you intentionally had his hands ruined to disqualify him.”

“Chase worked for ten years to get that slot. Is this really fair to him?”

“What’s unfair about it? His hands are already useless. He’s just a disabled man, he can’t compete anyway.”

Mark still hesitated:

“But you spent thirty million dollars to get Brandon in as a substitute, and then another two hundred million to bribe the organizers to leak the competition questions. If word gets out that you helped him cheat, your reputation and the company’s stock could suffer immeasurable losses.”

Serena looked impatient:

“Enough! From the moment I met Brandon, I was ready to give him everything. Since I couldn’t make him choose me, I’ll do everything I can to support his dreams. As long as Brandon is happy, what are a little reputation and stock prices compared to that?”

“Brandon *must* win the competition. Only then can he become Dr. Reed’s protégé. As for Chase… let him be ruined. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to him.”

Outside the door, I trembled, recording everything on my phone. I stumbled downstairs.

So, the patient’s father who stabbed me that year, severed my tendons, and crushed four of my fingers – he was acting on Serena’s orders!

She saved me, married me, not out of love, but to keep a scapegoat for her beloved man, ready to be sacrificed at any moment.

I survived, but both my hands were useless, and four fingers had to be amputated.

Now I even struggle to hold forks, let alone pick up a scalpel again.

But I never imagined that behind all this was the meticulous planning of my own wife.

Just thinking that while I lay in a pool of blood, my dreams shattered and my heart filled with despair, she might have been hiding in a corner, watching with satisfaction, sent shivers down my spine.

The scars on my wrists throbbed faintly, shaking violently.

My cup dropped to the floor, the noise drawing Serena’s attention.

She pulled me into a hug, preventing me from stepping on the glass shards, and said with concern:

“Chase, I’ve told you so many times, in this house, *I’m* your hands. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”

“If not me, then Maria. Your hands aren't fully healed, what if you hurt them worse? Do you want to break my heart?”

I instinctively reached for the gloves on the bar.

Serena stopped me, gently taking my mutilated, ugly hands and kissing the scars where my fingers had been amputated.

“Chase, you never need to feel self-conscious around me, and you certainly don’t need to wear gloves to hide yourself. Because I love you, I love everything about you.”

“I only regret that I arrived too late. Otherwise, your hands wouldn't be like this, and you wouldn't have lost your dream of being a doctor. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”

Her tone and eyes were so gentle, but her words filled my heart with endless sorrow.

What I thought was deep affection and salvation was nothing but her disguise.

I forced a smile:

“Don’t say that, you’ve done your best.”

“You’ve had a tough day at work. Why don’t you go back to the bedroom? I’ll ask Maria to warm you a glass of milk.”

I secretly put two sleeping pills in her milk. After Serena fell asleep, I went to the villa’s garage.

I meant to check the dash cam, but accidentally hit a button in the corner.

The floor tiles slid open to reveal a staircase leading down, and below was a secret room.

The room had an electronic lock, and on the small screen, a heart-shaped sticker with Brandon and Serena’s smiling faces.

As expected, the password was Brandon’s birthday.

Inside, the scene that greeted me pierced my heart like a blade.

Serena had turned the secret room into a private cinema.

The best display screen on the market was playing a video of Brandon practicing vascular suturing on a white mouse during college.

Brandon’s pores were clearly visible, as if I could reach out and touch him.

Because his hands weren’t steady enough, the needle had directly pierced the white mouse’s heart, killing it instantly.

Despite such clumsy technique and awkward movements, Serena had added heart stickers to the video, with the caption:

“October 3, 2018, Sunny. My dearest Brandon, future medical star, you look so handsome when you’re focused.”