Chapter 6

Natalie froze for a moment. In that instant, a few words flashed through her mind. However, she dismissed them, knowing that he would find out anyway. If that was the case, she might as well tell Oliver now. "Yes. Let's get a divorce." In the past, the very idea of "divorce" would have been unthinkable to her. She loved Oliver deeply, so how could she ever truly want a divorce? Even in the first few days after discovering the truth, she had imagined how painful it would be to say this word. However, when they finally left her lips, she found herself surprisingly calm. Even her breathing was steady. It seemed she truly no longer cared about Oliver. Yet, as soon as she spoke, he let out a derisive laugh. "What did you just say?" "I want a divorce. Since you don't love me, why torture each other?" she asked. "It's better to let go and live our own lives." "Natalie, what are you playing at? Can you really go through with a divorce?" Oliver was so confident that the woman before him was still the same fool who had loved him blindly, and that she would sulk for a while and then crawl back to him like she always had. "Enough. Don't throw a tantrum. Linda is in the ER. She needs a blood transfusion urgently, and your blood type matches hers. You need to donate." With that, he called over a doctor. Natalie's eyes widened. "What are you doing?" "It's just donating some blood. Nothing's going to happen." She was weak from surgery, barely able to walk. Another operation loomed, and he expected her to donate blood to Linda? "Oliver, are you insane? I—Ah!" She tried to pull away, but the doctor Oliver brought along grabbed her arm. Oliver looked at her coldly. "Linda got hurt because of you. Isn't it your responsibility? You're a doctor. It's your duty to save lives." "But I didn't hurt her!" Natalie shouted, furious. "She's not my patient either, so why should I donate?" However, it was her against all of them. There was no chance that she could stand up against them. The needle pierced her vein. Everything went black, and she lost consciousness. … When she woke, her entire body ached. Pain radiated through every fiber of her being as she sat up, noticing that night had fallen outside. Her arms were covered in bloody puncture wounds. Oliver hadn't even bothered to tend to them, so Natalie got out of bed to find a doctor. Passing the ward next door, she heard familiar laughter and chatter. Through the door crack, she saw Oliver feeding Linda oatmeal with a gentle expression, while Matthew eagerly fed her grapes. The two people she had once cared for were now attending to another woman. "Oliver, didn't Natalie have surgery?" Linda asked. "If you and Matthew stay here with me, she won't get upset, right?" "It's a minor procedure. She's a doctor. What's there to fear?" Oliver answered casually, still carefully feeding her, as if the person he spoke of didn't matter at all. Natalie found it bitterly ironic. She turned and left. … Natalie was, after all, a person the hospital held in high regard, so the surgery was performed personally by the hospital director, Frederick Thompson. With kidney donations from two families whose loved ones she had once saved, the operation went smoothly and was a success. "Dr. Schmidt, I hope you live only for yourself from now on." Saving others was a doctor's highest duty, but a person's own worth lay in living for themselves. Natalie understood. "I will never give myself to those who don't deserve it again." Whether it was Oliver or Matthew—she no longer cared.