The Surgeon's Sacred Flower Trap - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

I screamed into the phone, my voice raw with fury, but Ethan just played dumb—his tone dripping with fake innocence. The bastard was clearly paranoid I was recording him.
When my tirade finally ran out of steam, he cut in with infuriating calm: "Come by tomorrow. You'll get what you want." Then click—the line went dead.
Liam Sinclair was waiting when I got back. I relayed the conversation, but neither of us could pin down Holloway's angle. Was this damage control because he'd caught wind of our moves? Or some twisted new game?
Either way, I wasn't walking into his office alone. Liam would be right beside me.
The next day, Ethan greeted us with a smirk. "Let me guess—wires? Hidden cameras?"
Liam didn't flinch. "Guilty conscience talking. Spit out whatever bullshit you called us here for."
Ethan leaned back, fingers steepled. "I know you've been scheming. Just because my cosmetic proposal wasn't perfect, you're trying to torch my clinic's reputation—"
"This isn't about some fucking proposal!" I slammed my palms on his desk.
His smirk deepened. "Keep pushing me. We'll see who walks away with more scars."
The veiled threat hit like a punch. The video. My vision went red—I lunged, but Liam yanked me back. "We're done here," he said, voice like shaved ice. "Enjoy the show while it lasts."
Outside, I clawed at Liam's sleeve. "What if he leaks it?"
"Then he'd better pray we never find that footage online." Liam's eyes were arctic. "That background's his office. We'll own his clinic, his house, his goddamn shoelaces."
It helped—marginally.
Then I spotted her: the nurse who'd let Liam in last time. Our eyes locked—she flinched and looked away.
Before she could bolt, I seized her wrist and hauled her toward our car. "Is he threatening you too?"
"Let go! I don't know what you're—"
"Bullshit. You're either his victim or his accomplice." I shoved my phone in her face—a video of Ethan making out with someone in a car.
Her face drained of color.
The someone was her.