Chapter 4

Just as Evelyn' s last hope flickered out, the door to the room swung open again. Dr. Mark Johnson stood there, his face a thundercloud of authority. For a fleeting second, she felt a surge of relief. Mark would sort this out. He was the department head. He was logical. He would see through this circus.

But the relief vanished as soon as he spoke. His eyes swept over the scene-Evelyn disheveled and cornered, Brenda and Todd looking like avenging angels, and the wide-eyed interns. He didn't ask what happened. He had already chosen a side.

"What in God's name is going on here?" Mark' s voice boomed, but his glare was fixed solely on Evelyn.

"Mark, thank God," Brenda cried, rushing to him and grabbing his arm. The act was flawless. "It's her! This Dr. Reed! She was trying to... I don't know what she was doing! Uncle Arthur just exposed her, said she was his wife who abandoned him, and she went crazy!"

Todd nodded vigorously. "She attacked Brenda when she came in. Just flew at her. And she was saying crazy things about Mr. Harrison manipulating everyone."

Mark looked from their earnest, lying faces to Evelyn. He shook his head, a look of profound disgust settling on his features. The fact that they had been lovers, that he had known her for years, meant nothing. Public opinion, even the micro-public opinion of this room, had already swayed him. His career ambition was a stronger force than any personal loyalty.

"Evelyn," he said, his voice dangerously low. He walked toward her, his steps slow and deliberate. "I cannot believe you."

"Mark, they're lying," Evelyn pleaded, her voice hoarse. "Brenda attacked me. They broke my phone. Look at me."

He barely glanced at her torn hair or the red mark on her cheek. "I look at you and I see a disgrace to this profession."

He got closer, invading her personal space, his anger a palpable heat. "You took advantage of a dying man. You lied to everyone. To me."

Then, he did something she never would have imagined. He reached out and shoved her, hard, against the wall. Her head thudded against the plaster.

"You are a vile, greedy person," he spat, his face contorted with a fury that felt both personal and performative. It was the anger of a man who felt personally embarrassed by her scandal.

Pain radiated from the back of her head, but the emotional shock was worse. This was Mark. The man who had once brought her coffee every morning, who had held her when her own dog had died years ago. That man was gone, replaced by this cold, violent stranger.

"Check the marriage records," Evelyn choked out, desperate for any anchor of truth. "Call the county clerk. It will take five minutes to prove I'm not married to him. I've never been married to anyone."

It was a simple, logical request. An undeniable fact that would shatter their entire narrative.

But Brenda just laughed, a shrill, ugly sound.

"Oh, that's clever," she sneered. "They were never legally married. She was his common-law wife! She lived with him for years, took his money, and had him promise her everything. He told me all about it. He was going to put her in the will, but he changed it after she left."

It was a brilliant lie. It bypassed any official record, relying solely on the word of a dead man and his "grieving" family. It was unfalsifiable in the heat of the moment.

Mark's face hardened further. "Common-law. Of course. So you could keep it off the books."

The crowd of interns, who had been momentarily silenced by the violence, found their voices again. Their condemnation rained down on her.

"She planned this all along."

"What a sociopath."

"Get her out of here. She doesn't deserve to be a doctor."

"She should be in jail."

Evelyn felt like she was drowning. Every direction she turned, she was met with a wall of hatred. The truth didn't matter. Facts didn't matter. They had their story, and they would cling to it.

Mark grabbed her arm, his fingers digging into her skin.

"You're suspended, effective immediately," he said, his voice cold as steel. "Now, you are going to go to Mr. Harrison's bedside, and you are going to apologize for what you've done."

"Apologize?" Evelyn stared at him in disbelief. "Apologize for what? For being assaulted? For being framed?"

"You will apologize for abandoning him and causing this scene," Mark commanded. "You will kneel and you will beg his forgiveness. It's the least you can do."

He wanted her to kneel. He wanted her to perform a final act of submission, to validate their lie in front of everyone, cementing her guilt forever.

Something inside Evelyn, something that had been stretched thin by shock and betrayal, finally snapped.