Chapter 7
Chapter 7
With my phone smashed and the video seemingly destroyed, they grew bolder by the second. It was clear they were trying to set me up, no longer even trying to hide their intentions. But this time? I wasn't going to let them off the hook. Not after everything they'd done to me in the past life.
"Sorry, but I'm not taking the fall for any of this," I said, staring them down, not a shred of fear in my gaze.
"You can play your little games all you want, but if you try to frame me, you'd better be ready to face the patient's family. And as for resigning, well, I've already considered it. Working with people as cold-blooded as you makes me feel like I've sold my soul."
With that, I casually grabbed the backup phone I'd hidden in the corner and walked out. They thought smashing my phone would erase everything, but they had no idea I'd already uploaded the video to the cloud and had a backup device stashed away.
Once home, I went straight to work gathering evidence against William. Being his girlfriend gave me access to things that made the investigation a hell of a lot easier. After everything they'd put me through in my past life, there was no way I was letting them get away with it this time.
But I definitely underestimated them.
Just as I was about to file my case, I found myself at the center of a scandal that went viral overnight. A video titled "Heartless Doctor Kills Patient, Blames Innocent Intern" exploded across the internet. It accused me of exploiting interns, causing a patient's death, and then trying to blame it all on an intern.
Lucy's tearful accusations and footage of the grieving family were all over it. Overnight, I became the target of a public witch hunt.
"Scum like this has no business being a doctor. She should be thrown in jail."
"Jail is too good for her. She deserves to be torn to pieces."
"We all need to unite and make sure she doesn't get away with this. Justice for the family!"
I scrolled through the endless stream of hate, unable to do anything but laugh bitterly. I had gone from a respected doctor to the face of heartlessness and incompetence in the blink of an eye. It felt like I'd been painted as the villain of some twisted story.
Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, that afternoon, as I was about to head to the police station to file a report, a mob busted down my door and swarmed into my home. And leading the charge? None other than Lucy and William.
"Look at this!" William shouted, rallying the crowd as they grabbed hold of me. "This is the heartless doctor we've all been talking about!"
"I'm her boyfriend," he added with a smirk. "Not only is she a terrible doctor, but her personal life is a mess. She's a disgrace."
Lucy looked at me with tears in her eyes, playing the victim perfectly. "Tina, I respected you so much. Why would you do this to me? Why would you try to ruin me?"
I met her gaze with a cold stare. "You know damn well I didn't hurt anyone."
But before I could say more, the widow of the patient started wailing in despair. "She still won't admit it! Oh, my poor husband!" she cried.
I looked at her, utterly confused. "You know who really killed your husband. How can you do this? How can you sleep at night?"
Her face twisted with anger. "You killed him! You'll pay for this!"
As she lunged at me, I instinctively shoved her away, but that only made the crowd go wild. Someone shoved a phone in my face, recording every second while hurling insults.
"Look at her! She even dares to push the grieving family away!"
"Smash that like button! I'll take care of her for you!" someone yelled from the back of the crowd.
I locked eyes with the mob, my voice cutting through the chaos. "You better leave now. I've already called the police."
Just as I said the words, a slap landed across my face. The sting of it was sharp, but I didn't flinch.
"Look at her! She has the nerve to call the cops on us!" one of them sneered. "If she doesn't give the family an explanation today, I'll make sure she pays for it!"
William swaggered over to me with a smug grin. "Tina, what do you think the police are going to do for you? We have all the evidence. It's not too late to confess."
Lucy chimed in, her tone dripping with faux sympathy. "We're only doing this for your own good, Tina. Just admit it. The family deserves closure."
"For my own good?" I almost laughed in disbelief. "After everything you've done, now you want to play the good guys?"
"If I didn't do it, why should I confess?" I shot back, my voice steady despite the chaos.
The live streamers went wild, throwing insults my way.
"She still won't admit it? What a joke!"
"Someone in my family was treated by her too! She charged us two thousand bucks for tests!"
"Don't worry, I'm gonna smash everything in this house!" someone shouted, grabbing a bottle from my wine rack and smashing it on the floor.
"Everything in here was bought with her dirty money! I'm destroying it all today!"
The sound of breaking glass was like a signal, and suddenly the crowd was going berserk. They started smashing anything they could get their hands on. William held me in a tight grip, preventing me from stopping them.
My voice rang out, fury in every syllable. "If you're going to destroy my stuff, you'd better be prepared to pay for all of it."
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