Chapter 4

My heart plummeted. I immediately called the hospital director.

His voice was cold as ice on the other end. "I highly respected your work, Chloe. I never expected your medical thesis to be plagiarized."

"If Attorney Ethan hadn't personally brought us the evidence of your misconduct, we would have been fooled by you."

Ethan...

Rage roared through my veins. Ignoring my parents' shouts, I bolted out of the house and drove straight to the hospital.

In the private suite, Ethan was softly singing a lullaby, putting Iris's baby to sleep.

I kicked the door open. The sudden noise made the baby in the crib burst into tears.

"Ethan! How dare you sabotage my career?!" I screamed. "Being a surgeon was my dream! You know how hard I worked for this!"

He immediately covered Iris's ears, glaring at me with immense annoyance.

"Seaside General only had one opening this year, and Iris wanted it. It's a great boost for her resume."

My rage, my pain, my years of hard work—it was all nothing but a minor inconvenience to him.

I was breathing so hard my chest ached. I grabbed his collar. "You are going to call the board right now and tell them the truth, or I will sue you for defamation!"

"Go ahead and try," he smirked, entirely unfazed. "I can guarantee you that not a single lawyer in this entire city will dare to take your case."

"Besides, we have plenty of money. You don't need to work. Just stay home and take care of our baby when it's born."

I stared at him in utter shock, tears streaming down my face.

"I will hate you for the rest of my life..."

Seeing the sheer despair in my eyes, Ethan's expression softened slightly. He reached out to wipe my tears.

But Iris suddenly got out of bed and walked over. "Ethan, let me talk to Chloe."

She wrapped her arm around mine, her sharp acrylic nails digging viciously into my flesh. She leaned in, whispering in my ear:

"Chloe, your parents, your best friend, your husband, and now your job—they're all mine."

"Did you really think your patient complaints and losing your previous hospital job were accidents? Ethan set all of that up just to keep you busy so you wouldn't catch us at my prenatal appointments."

"Just accept it. You will never win against me."

"Shut up!"

Blinded by fury, I raised my hand to slap her, but Ethan grabbed my wrist mid-air with brute force.

He growled, "Don't you dare touch her!"

He pulled Iris behind him, looking at me with eyes colder than ice.

"Get out."

I lifted my chin, brushing away my tears.

"I'm going to show you exactly what I dare to do."

I went home, opened my laptop, and compiled every single piece of evidence of Ethan and Iris's affair—including their explicit photos—into a 128-page PDF.

Then, I posted the link directly under Iris's viral Instagram and TikTok posts.

The internet exploded. The story spread like wildfire within hours.

Media outlets were flooding my inbox, begging for exclusive interviews.

Before I could even reply, Ethan burst through my front door.

He grabbed me by my shoulders, practically lifting me off the ground.

"Chloe! Are you trying to ruin Iris?! The hospital is surrounded by reporters!"

"You are coming with me right now to clear her name and apologize!"

"Why should I apologize to a homewrecker?!" I thrashed, trying to break free, but his grip only tightened.

His face was terrifyingly dark. "If you don't do this, I will make sure no OB-GYN in this city will touch you when you go into labor."

I stared at him, my heart breaking into a million pieces.

To protect Iris, Ethan was threatening my life and the life of our unborn child.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. "Fine. I'll go."

At the hospital, the lobby was packed with reporters, camera flashes blinding the room.

Iris was clinging to Ethan's arm, looking like a frightened, innocent victim.

I walked up, took the microphone from a reporter, and spoke clearly into it:

"Why would anyone think I would forgive an ungrateful snake?"

"The rumors are absolutely true. Iris is a homewrecker."

"I sponsored her education and brought her out of poverty, and she repaid me by sleeping with my husband and bearing his bastard child."

The crowd gasped.

Iris's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Chloe... you kept stalking my husband, and I stayed quiet. You drugged him and got yourself pregnant, and I accepted it. What more do you want from me?"

She pulled a document from her bag—a legal marriage certificate.

It had Iris and Ethan's names on it.

"I am Ethan's legal wife."