Chapter 4

Doctor Ramirez, the orthopedic surgeon, was a man of few words and a grim expression.

He stood at the foot of Ava's hospital bed, reviewing her X-rays on a tablet.

Ethan stood beside him, looking tense.

"The comminuted fracture in the dominant hand is complex," Dr. Ramirez said, his tone flat. "Multiple fragments. Delicate surgery is required to preserve any meaningful function."

He swiped to another image. "The Achilles tendon... a partial tear, but significant. It will require careful repair. Even then, a full recovery of strength and flexibility is... unlikely. She will have a permanent limp."

Permanent. The word echoed in the sterile room.

Ava listened, detached. It was like they were discussing someone else.

"But you can fix it, right?" Ethan's voice was tight. "You're the best."

Dr. Ramirez looked at Ethan. "Surgery can be performed. The outcome depends on many factors. Rehabilitation will be long and arduous."

He then looked at Ava. "There is a condition."

Ava raised an eyebrow. A condition for medical treatment?

Ethan spoke before the doctor could. "Dr. Ramirez is also treating Chloe Ashton."

Ava's heart went cold. Chloe. Of course.

"Chloe has a... a sprained wrist," Ethan continued, his gaze avoiding Ava's. "She claims you assaulted her. Caused her injury."

A minor sprain. Ava remembered Chloe's dramatic screams, the feigned agony.

"Dr. Ramirez," Ethan said, turning back to the surgeon, "is under the impression that Miss Miller is... volatile."

He paused, then delivered the blow. "He will only perform the surgery on Ava if she issues a formal, public apology to Chloe for the assault. To clear the air. To show remorse."

Ava stared at Ethan, incredulous.

An apology? For Chloe's lies? For an attack Chloe herself orchestrated by destroying her mother's journals?

This was a new level of cruelty. To hold her healing hostage.

"No," Ava said, her voice quiet but firm.

Ethan's head snapped towards her. "Ava, don't be foolish. This is your hand. Your ability to walk."

"No," she repeated. "I will not apologize for something I didn't do. Especially not to her."

Dr. Ramirez looked uncomfortable. "Miss Miller, your cooperation would be beneficial."

"My cooperation?" Ava's voice was laced with disbelief. "You want me to lie? To humiliate myself so that Chloe can feel vindicated for her own malicious act?"

"Ava!" Ethan's voice was sharp. "This isn't the time for pride."

"Pride?" A bitter laugh escaped her. "This is about truth, Ethan. Something you and Chloe seem to have a very loose relationship with."

She looked at Dr. Ramirez. "If my surgery depends on me prostrating myself before that manipulative little liar, then I'd rather let my hand rot and never walk again."

The words hung in the air, stark and absolute.

Ethan's face was a mask of fury and frustration. Veins bulged in his neck.

"You are being stubborn to the point of self-destruction!" he hissed.

"Perhaps," Ava said, her gaze steady. "But I will not be a pawn in Chloe's games. Not anymore."

She turned her head away, looking towards the window, a silent dismissal.

Let them do their worst. She had already faced it.

She would rather die than give Chloe that victory.

Ethan swore under his breath and stormed out of the room, Dr. Ramirez following with a troubled sigh.

Ava closed her eyes. The pain in her hand and ankle throbbed, but a different kind of ache, a cold resolve, settled in her heart.

If this was their price, it was too high.