Eyes red with grief, I sat before their urns and sang Happy Birthday over and over again.
Then the phone rang.
It was a call from the management company. The voice on the other end was urgent:
“Something’s happened. You need to get online—now. Dr. Wells has teamed up with the hospital’s doctors. They’re planning a public strike to protest against you.”
I opened my phone. At the top was a video posted from Irene’s personal account.
She wore a black dress, with Henry standing beside her.
Her expression was solemn as she spoke, “Even though Leo is my husband, I can’t just stand by and watch him continue down this path, harming innocent people.”
“Ever since the surgery failed and we lost our children, he’s been obsessively accusing me of murdering them. He even dragged in the anesthesiologist—my student Henry—slandering him with fabricated rumors.”
“When other doctors tried to speak up for us, he retaliated by punishing them—forcing them to relocate to hospitals in Africa. If they refused, he demanded an outrageous ‘repayment’ for their training costs.”
"Because this matter concerns the future of all us doctors, I am once again joining forces with the doctors who have been victimized in this incident to announce a strike. All surgeries will be suspended! Until Leo comes forward to apologize and compensate everyone for the emotional damage we've suffered. Especially to my student Henry — he must personally kneel and apologize!"
Henry, eyes red and choking back tears, said, "Mr. Carter, I hope you’ll stop slandering me. Please don’t send me to Africa. I’m the only son my parents have."
The comment section was full of patients' families crying and begging me to apologize.
“My father’s condition can’t wait any longer. If the surgery is delayed again, he’ll die.”
“Please, Mr. Carter, just apologize. I’ll kneel if I have to—my daughter’s illness can only be treated by Dr. Wells.”
I gripped my phone tightly and my once-calm heart was finally torn apart.
Irene called, her tone full of threat. “Leo, you don’t want your reputation ruined and the hospital destroyed, do you?”