Chapter 3

A local streamer passing by caught the scent of drama.

She quickly squeezed through the crowd with her phone out.

"Guys, what's going on here?"

The mob screamed their grievances into her lens.

"This monster poisoned my son's lunch and killed him!"

"He gave my dad the wrong prescription on purpose, making him cough up blood!"

"He broke into the morgue and stole a corpse, sending the widow straight to the ER!"

One accusation after another hammered me into the ground, branding me as an irredeemable demon.

The streamer turned the camera directly onto my face.

"Did you all hear that, guys?"

"A doctor who's supposed to save lives turns out to be a psychopathic killer!"

Her chat exploded instantly.

—*Holy crap, what a psycho!*

—*A healer turned murderer? That's terrifying!*

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay level-headed.

"It really wasn't me."

At this point, any defense sounded like a cheap excuse to them.

The boy's father swung a punch straight into my jaw, shouting, "You still have the nerve to deny it?!"

"A life for a life! You're not walking out of here alive until you answer for this!"

The man whose father was given the wrong meds slammed a prescription slip against my face.

"Look at this! Read what you gave my dad!"

"He had a heart condition, and you gave him asthma medication! He had inflammation, and you pumped him full of heavy stimulants!"

"How can someone be so evil?! Don't you have parents of your own?!"

The morgue attendant stepped forward, spitting on the ground.

"Exactly!"

"To think I looked up to you as a role model! You're disgusting!"

"I was blind! Today, we get justice for the victims!"

Their voices battered against me like a tidal wave.

I took a deep breath and spoke clearly.

"I understand how angry you all are, but I'm telling the truth. I didn't do this."

"The person behind this is Mason Vance, my wife's childhood friend. You can confront him yourself. Besides, for the last five days, I've been in a holding cell. There's no way I could—"

Before I could finish, an angry voice cut me off.

"Evan Hayes! What kind of nonsense are you spewing?!"

I turned around to see Chloe and Mason walking toward us side by side.

Before I could say a word, Chloe snapped.

"Do you have any idea how worried Mason was about you when you were locked up?!"

"He kept defending you, saying you were a good man! If it weren't for the security tapes, I never would've guessed that behind your gentle doctor act, you were such a monster!"

Mason gently rubbed her back, putting on a comforting facade.

"Chloe, don't be too upset. I'm sure Evan just had a momentary lapse in judgment."

Then, he turned to me with a sly glint in his eyes.

"Evan, I know you've always looked down on me at the hospital."

"You were always picking on my work and telling the chief I wasn't cut out to be a doctor."

"All I ever wanted was to save lives. I wanted to help people."

"I could take your insults, but trying to pin a murder charge on me now?"

"I can't let that slide. If you did something wrong, take responsibility instead of framing innocent people!"

The crowd looked at Mason with overwhelming sympathy.

"You scumbag, trying to frame an innocent guy!"

The boy's father raised a wooden club in blind rage and swung it at my head.

I couldn't dodge in time. The impact sent me crashing onto the asphalt.

Warm blood dripped down my forehead, and dark spots danced across my vision.

"Stop! What the hell are you doing?!"

A patrol car pulled up, and two officers rushed over.

Leading them was Officer Martinez, the very cop who had processed my detention five days ago.

He stared at me in shock. "You just got out, and you're already causing a riot?"