The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 79

Clearly not expecting me to flat-out reject her, a flash of deep embarrassment crossed Zoey's face. She stammered nervously, "I'm... I'm so sorry, Selena. That was inconsiderate of me. You should... you should get some rest."

Without waiting for me to reply, the younger woman hugged the files tightly against her chest and practically sprinted down the hallway.

I quietly closed the door, my chest tight with a suffocating wave of bitter resentment.

On the surface, it looked like Zoey was just asking for a favor. But the reality was, she was merely a Neurosurgery intern who still had to address me as her senior. If she didn't have Ferris backing her up, there was absolutely no way she would have had the audacity to dump her workload onto me.

Under normal circumstances, I might have just let it slide and ignored them both. But right now, I felt like I was dying, so my tone had naturally been completely devoid of politeness.

What infuriated me the most was that, regardless of how much Ferris wanted to coddle Zoey, he had no right to make me—his actual legal wife—do her dirty work.

To put it bluntly, I was the rightful wife. Over the past three years, I had poured my heart and soul into him and his family. And he was in such a rush to let Zoey step right over me?

My head throbbed violently, but when I crawled back into bed, I just tossed and turned, entirely unable to sleep.

I glanced at the calendar on my phone and did the math. There were exactly forty-nine days left until my contract with Ferris expired.

In that split second, I suddenly felt like time was moving agonizingly slow.

I realized that the crushing weight of my disappointment ultimately stemmed from this invisible, suffocating title of 'Mrs. Sterling.'

Just as I was lost in my thoughts, the doorbell shrieked again. Frowning, I dragged myself out of bed and checked the peephole. I recoiled in shock.

Standing out in the hallway were Ferris and Zoey.

Thinking back to how I had just shut the girl down minutes ago, I instantly knew why they were here.

I took a breath and calmly opened the door.

The second our eyes met, I saw the absolute frost radiating from his gaze. I asked indifferently," Dr. Sterling, do you have business with me?"

"Is that so?" Ferris scoffed, his frigid eyes locked onto my face. He snapped viciously, "Dr. Yates should have evaluated her candidates more carefully. If you lack the physical stamina for the job, you belong back at the hospital doing grunt work. Why waste such a valuable educational opportunity on someone who can't handle it?"

He said it as if he were talking to Zoey, but I knew exactly what he was doing. He was attacking me.

He was accusing me of dropping the ball when it mattered most, of faking an illness just to get out of helping them.

My fingernails dug into my palms. I forced myself to stand tall and look him dead in the eye. My voice was eerily calm. "What exactly do you want me to do, Dr. Sterling?"

"You don't need to do a damn thing," he said, looking down at me as if I were dirt on his shoe. "When Dr. Yates arrives, I'll personally request a leave of absence on your behalf. I think it's best you head back to Port Capital to 'recover.'"

He turned on his heel. I knew exactly what this was—it was his final ultimatum.

He was right. Even a minor role like a data coordinator was something thousands of interns at Capital General would kill for, especially at a high-level summit alongside St. Jude's Medical Center. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

I gritted my teeth and pushed the words out. "Give me the files. I'll have them organized for you by morning."