The Billionaire's Regret: His Secret Wife Turned Medical Genius novel Chapter 81

"Yesterday, they were yelling the loudest. But today, they went silent," Mallory began. "People say someone high up called in to keep you here.

"Since when did you have backing like that?" Mallory asked.

Backing?

Emily's fingers turned cold and numb.

Gabriel's unreadable face suddenly flashed through her mind.

Who else could it be? He had once bought this hospital outright for Amelia.

This didn't feel like protection. It felt more like a warning.

He had chosen a neat way to show her his reach, to remind her that everything she was proud of was under his control. He could crush it or save it with the same ease—so long as she behaved.

This so-called kindness suffocated her more than his cruelty ever had.

"I'm going in," Emily evenly said. "I've got a complex aortic dissection this morning. I need to prepare." She stepped past Mallory and went into the office without looking back.

The operating room lights cast a stark white glare around the room. Meanwhile, monitors ticked in cold, steady rhythms.

Emily pulled on some dark green scrubs, a mask, and gloves—leaving only her eyes uncovered.

"Scalpel."

The instrument nurse set the cool metal in her palm.

The case began at 9:00 am and ran straight to 6:00 pm. From start to finish, it took nine hours.

When the last stitch was held and the vitals leveled into a steady line, Emily stripped out of her gown and walked into the hallway. She was so fatigued that she felt her body might fall apart.

Meanwhile, her colleagues broke into cheers at the success of the surgery.

Emily leaned against the wall and stared out the window.

She had no plans to go back to the villa.

…

She went rigid as the grogginess of sleep drained away and was overtaken by alarm.

Why was Gabriel here? How long had he been sitting there?

Gabriel stood up and blocked the thin wash of the morning light. It cast Emily in his shadow.

"You're awake." His voice was raw from a sleepless night.

Emily didn't answer.

Gabriel felt his chest tighten at her silence. He took a step closer. "The police have opened a case on Robert. He'll pay for what he did."

He kept his tone as calm as he could as he continued, "Amelia was the one who goaded him. She wanted him to destroy you and then..."

He stopped, the rest of his words searing on his tongue. He couldn't bring himself to say, "Then make you leave me."

"So?" Emily finally spoke, barely above a whisper. "Has Amelia paid anything at all for what she's done?"