I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 80

The hearing had been rescheduled again.

Pushed from 9 AM to 2 PM.

This was the second time the time had been shifted.

She was thoroughly confused. Why did this keep getting delayed?

However, the confusion only lasted for less than a minute before she closed the email and went back to writing her medical charts.

What Sienna didn't know was that to buy those four hours, Isaac had sat stubbornly in the office of the Director of the Ethics & Compliance Board for an entire morning.

After pulling it off, Isaac walked out of the office and stood in the hallway.

He fired off a text to Finn.

"I did everything I could. Tomorrow at 2 PM."

Finn replied with just two words.

"That's enough. Thanks."

-

The following day at 2 PM, the hearing commenced in the small conference room on the third floor of the administration building.

When Sienna pushed the door open, the room was already packed.

Hospital executives, Medical Affairs, the Ethics & Compliance Board, HR, and a few faces she didn't recognize.

The investigative committee occupied one end of the long table, while a single empty chair sat at the other end, reserved for her.

Isaac sat in the gallery, his expression heavy.

Director Winifred Waters from the Ethics & Compliance Board sat at the head of the table, a stack of documents spread out before her.

She adjusted her glasses, her tone an icy mask of sheer bureaucratic indifference.

"Dr. Sterling, this hearing has been convened to address a formal whistleblower complaint filed under a real name against you. The allegations claim that during your residency abroad, you committed academic fraud and stole another candidate's spot. The whistleblower has provided your application forms, transcripts, and an email from your overseas mentor. Do you have anything to say?"

Sienna stood tall, wearing her crisp white coat, her ID badge hanging straight on her chest.

"Who is the whistleblower?" she asked.

"According to protocol, the whistleblower's identity must be protected."

"Even if the email is problematic, what about your transcripts? The whistleblower claims your transcripts were altered."

Sienna pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and held it out.

"This is the contact information for my mentor, Professor Hans von Zale. You can call him right now, put it on speaker, and verify it on the spot."

No one reached out to take the phone.

Director Waters cleared her throat. "Dr. Sterling, we aren't here to verify. We are here to gather facts."

Sienna looked at her, her voice not raising in volume, but every word carrying a crushing weight.

"You receive a whistleblower complaint, and without verifying a single thing, you convene a hearing. You accuse me of academic fraud, and instead of contacting my mentor, you demand evidence from me. Is this what you call gathering facts?"

No one said a word.

The conference room door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

A young administrative assistant poked his head in, looking rather frantic.

"Director Waters, there's someone outside looking for you. He says he was Dr. Sterling's mentor during her residency abroad. His name is Hans."