A patient slapped me on my first duty.
The man who defended her… was my boyfriend.
And the moment I removed my mask, her whole world collapsed…
The sound of the heart monitor continued—“beep… beep…”—inside a small emergency room in Cebu City.
I slowly pulled my mask down, adjusted my gloves, and never took my eyes off the small arm of a child trembling from high fever.
It was supposed to be just a short medical exchange in a local hospital.
I never expected… that my first patient would destroy my entire world.
The needle touched the skin.
The child’s vein was too thin.
First attempt… failed.
I hadn’t even said “sorry”—
SLAP!
A loud slap hit my cheek. My ears rang.
“What kind of doctor are you?! If anything happens to my child, can you take responsibility?!”
The woman was hugging the child tightly, her eyes burning with rage.
“I’m telling you, my husband knows the hospital director! One word from him and you’re fired!”
I stepped back, my cheek burning.
Before I could recover—
“Hon… how is the baby?!”
A man’s voice came from behind me.
My heartbeat stopped.
I turned.
And my world collapsed.
Adrian Cruz—the man I loved for eight years in Manila—ran forward and hugged the woman.
“How are you? How is our child?”
He kissed the baby’s forehead, his eyes full of tenderness—
A tenderness… I no longer recognized.
“Adrian… I’m scared…”
The woman cried and pointed at me.
“She couldn’t even insert the needle! Our child was crying so hard!”
Adrian’s gaze turned sharp immediately.
He looked at me—he didn’t recognize me because of the mask.
“What kind of doctor are you?”
His voice was cold.
“It’s just a child, and you can’t even handle it?”
I didn’t speak.
I just looked at the child.
His face…
looked like a copy of Adrian.
“I’m talking to you!”
SLAP!
A second slap.
Harder.
My head turned to the side.
I clenched my hand.
I looked at him.
Our eyes met.
He froze.
“You…”
Just one second.
Then he looked away.
“I was mistaken.” He smiled coldly.
“You just look a bit like a janitor in my company.”
I smiled.
A silent smile.
So in his story… I was just a janitor.
“See? Just by her looks, she’s clearly from the province!”
“Adrian, we can’t let this slide!”
“She’s the mother of your child!”
“Replace the doctor!”
Adrian nodded.
“Fine. Focus on the child.”
He carried his son.
And left.
Without even looking back.
I watched all three of them…
Until blood touched my lip from biting it too hard.
Just two weeks ago—
He hugged me in Bonifacio Global City
and proposed:
“I will marry you.”
But now…
He has a wife.
A child.
And a family… I was never part of.
I took my phone.
“Dad.”
A voice immediately answered.
“Anika, what happened?”
I took a deep breath.
“Please check… does Adrian Cruz already have a family here in Cebu?”
Silence.
Two seconds.
Then his voice turned cold.
“Did he hurt you?”
“Freeze all accounts connected to his company.”
“Take back the penthouse in BGC.”
And slowly I said:
“I want to know… which family he has been funding with my money for the past three years.”
The next day.
I returned to the patient’s room.
The door was slightly open.
“He blew it, baby… come here…”
Adrian’s voice was full of affection.
The woman—Mikaela Santos—was sitting, peeling an apple.
“I’m so lucky to have you… no matter how busy you are in Manila, you always come home to us…”
I entered.
They didn’t recognize me.
“You again?!”
Mikaela frowned.
“Replace her! I don’t want this doctor!”
I didn’t respond.
I opened the file.
“Patient: Ethan Cruz, 3 years and 2 months old. Pneumonia with mild myocarditis.”
I looked at him.
“Does he have any history of heart disease?”
“No!” Mikaela answered quickly.
“He takes after his father, he’s strong!”
I looked at Adrian.
He avoided my gaze.
Mikaela smiled.
“My husband built everything on his own!”
“There was even an old ugly woman who wanted to sponsor him back then—”
“Let me ask one thing.”
I cut her off.
“That woman… was she the one who invested from the beginning?”
The air froze.
Adrian’s hand tightened.
“Mikaela, stop.”
“What? Are you scared?” she shouted.
“Didn’t you say you already left that woman?”
“Didn’t you say the company is yours now?!”
Each word felt like a knife.
A nurse suddenly entered.
“Family of Ethan Cruz! Payment is insufficient! Please top up immediately!”
“We have plenty of money!” Mikaela said.
“Adrian, pay it!”
He immediately took out a black card.
And left—almost running.
I watched him.
My eyes turned cold.
That card…
was under my name.
And I knew—
at that moment…
it no longer mattered.
Minutes later—
Shouting came from outside.
“Sorry sir, the card was declined.”
“Impossible!”
“The account has been frozen.”
Silence.
Then—
Fast footsteps returning.
The door burst open.
Adrian stood there.
Pale.
Panicking.
He looked at me.
This time—he didn’t look away.
“You…”
His voice trembled.
“Who are you?”
Slowly, I removed my mask.
I smiled.
“Tell me…” I stepped closer.
“Who supported you for eight years?”
Everything froze.
Mikaela looked up.
The child groaned from fever.
Adrian stepped back.
“Anika…?”
I looked at him.
“Now…” my voice turned cold.
“Let’s talk about what happened three years ago.”
The room fell silent.
Outside—
Slow footsteps echoed.
Heavy.
Slow.
Powerful.
The door slowly opened.
And a cold voice spoke—
“Adrian Cruz.”
“Explain to me… why my child’s money… was used to build another family?”
