After The Divorce I Became Untouchable: The Rise Of Ghost Do

Chapter 6: Regret Begins

Denial was easier than admitting you'd thrown away a diamond while chasing glass.

Lina sat in Victor's penthouse living room. Champagne in hand, as she laughed at her phone screen.

The video had gone viral—Victor's humiliation at the medical forum. It was the new trend across every social media platform.

"It's obviously doctored," she said, taking another sip. "Special effects. Some jealous rival is trying to ruin you, babe."

Victor stood by the window, his back in her direction. He hadn't spoken in twenty minutes.

"Victor, darling,” she stood up and took a step forward. “you need to issue a statement. Sue them for defamation. This will blow over in a week."

Victor turned around, eyes shooting daggers of disdain."Shut up, Lina!"

She blinked.

"What?"

"I said shut up." Victor's voice was hollow. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Lina set down her glass, irritation flashing across her face. "Excuse me? I'm trying to help—"

"Help?" His brows furrowed, and Lina recoiled at the look in his eyes.

"You want to help? Then go back in time and tell me not to present that research. Tell me not to trust those consultants. Tell me not to—"

His phone rang, and he looked at the screen. His face went even paler.

"Who is it?" Lina asked.

Victor didn't answer. He just stared at the phone until it stopped ringing. Immediately it started again.

"Victor?"

"It's the hospital board," he whispered. "They're revoking my surgical privileges."

Lina laughed nervously. Wait… what?!”

Shock.

"They can't do that. Your family owns half the shares."

"My father just texted. They're not defending me." Victor fell back on the couch heavily.

"It's over, Lina.” His voice came in silent gasps. “Everything I built. Gone." The pain was evident in his eyes, but he had no luxury of shedding a tear.

Lina froze on her feet, her eyes steadied on Victor. Within 24-hours, everything was crashing into the gutters.

"Don't be dramatic. You're still the heir to the Han Group fortune.” She chipped in. “So what if you made a mistake? You'll recover."

Victor looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. "You really don't understand, do you?"

No comment…

But by morning, she understood the level of damage it had done to Victor's career.

The prestigious Han Medical Center lost thirty patients overnight. Cancellations flooded in. Investors pulled funding.

News outlets ran stories about the "fraud surgeon" who had stolen the Ghost Doctor's research.

And everywhere, on every platform, people were asking the same question…

Who is this Ghost Doctor?

Lina scrolled through her phone, coffee growing cold beside her.

She glanced and studied Article after article. Video after video. A footage from William Jerome’s surgery room. The testimony from survivors.

And then she saw it.

A grainy photo, taken from the back of the auditorium. A man walking away down the center aisle.

The caption read: "Ghost Doctor original identity undisclosed. Rumoured to be a man named Ivan Murphy. Whereabouts, unknown. Family, Unknown."

Lina stuttered. Her phone almost fell off her hand.

Ivan!

Ivan…

Her voice came in silent whisper the second time.

Her useless ex-husband. The worthless son-in-law. The man who couldn't even hold down a basic job.

That Ivan?

She grabbed her phone again, hands shaking. Searched for his name. Nothing came up, except the forum incident. No social media. No professional profiles. No history.

Like he didn't exist until six days ago.

"No," Lina whispered.

"No, this is impossible."

Her thoughts drifted back to the birthday party. The way Ivan had smiled.

The calmness when he signed the divorce papers. The five million dollar check torn to pieces.

She began to put the pieces together. Then came her bewilderment. With absolute certainty in his eyes, her breath hitched "You!”

"You faked it the whole time."

Immediately Victor emerged from the bedroom, looking like he hadn't slept. "What are you mumbling about?"

"Ivan," Lina said. "My ex-husband. He's... he's the Ghost Doctor."

Victor paused, then a bitter laugh. "That pathetic nobody? All because he showed up at the forum? Please. He's a fraud!"

"It's him. Look." She shoved her phone at Victor.

He stared at the two photos comparing. One was old, taken with burning fire behind him. Like a war zone.

And then the new picture in the forum. It was the same exact person, or hell of a resemblance. Victor stared for a long moment. Then his face went gray.

"That's... at the forum. This whole time, he had a secret identity? That would explain why he was so confident."

Lina swallowed hard.

"He was my husband for three years," Lina said, her voice rising. "Three years! And I never knew?"

"How could you not know?" Victor snapped.

"How could you not know you were presenting his research?" Lina fired back.

They glared at each other, the tension between them crackling like electricity.

Victor's phone rang again. He looked at it, then threw it across the room and it scattered against the wall.

"I need to think," he muttered, grabbing his jacket. "I'm going out."

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here." He slammed the door behind him.

Lina stood alone in the penthouse, surrounded by luxury she'd been so proud of days ago. Now it all felt hollow.

She picked up her phone with trembling fingers.

Found Ivan's contact. She never deleted it, though she had meant to.

Three years of marriage reduced to a name in her phone.

She called.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then a mechanical voice: "The number you are trying to reach is no longer in service."

Lina tried again. Same result.

Again. Again. Again.

Blocked.

He must've blocked her number, she concluded.

She stood there, phone pressed to her ear, listening to the empty tone.

For the first time since the divorce, something cold settled in her chest.

Not quite regretful.

Not yet.

When she returned to the Zhao family villa that afternoon, hoping for sympathy. Instead, she found chaos.

Her mother, Zhao Mei, was on the phone, her voice shrill. "I don't care what the contract says! We've been partners for ten years!"

She hung up and threw the phone on the couch.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Zhao Mei glared in her direction, and Lina took a step back at the fury in her eyes.

"What's wrong? The Chen Group just cancelled our contract. Three million in revenue, gone. Because of you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You divorced the Ghost Doctor!" Old Madam Zhao appeared from the study, her face twisted with anger. "Do you have any idea what you've done to this family?"

"I divorced a useless nobody," Lina protested. "How was I supposed to know—"

"Supposed to know?" Her grandmother's voice cracked like a whip. "You were married to him for three years! You should have known everything!"

"He never told me anything! He was always just... there. Quiet. Pathetic."

"Clearly not pathetic enough to save William Jerome," Zhao Mei snapped.

"Every news outlet in the country is talking about him. Do you know what connections that man has now? What doors he could've opened for our family?"

"And you threw him away," Old Madam Zhao said coldly. "For Victor Han. Who is now exposed as a fraud and dragging our family name through the mud."

Lina felt like the ground was shifting beneath her feet. "This isn't my fault."

"Get out of my sight!" Her grandmother yelled. "Before I say something I can't take back."

Lina didn't wait to think. Her feet scrambled to the staircase, and she fled to her room.

Her perfect new life was beginning to crumble around her like sand.

She sat on her bed, staring at her phone. At Ivan's blocked number.

She thought about the divorce party. The wine they'd poured on him. The slap. The mockery.

The torn check at her feet.

She exhaled deeply.

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

She answered... "Hello?"

"Ms. Zhao?" A woman's voice, cool and professional. "My name is Serena Vale. I represent several interests in Lakecity. I'd like to arrange a meeting regarding Ivan Murphy."

Lina's heart jumped. "You know where he is?"

"I know many things, Ms. Zhao. But this meeting isn't for you. I'm simply calling as a courtesy. Consider this your notice that the Ghost Doctor is no longer available for... personal outreach."

"Wait, I need to talk to him—"

"No," Serena said simply. "You don't. Goodbye, Ms. Zhao."

The line went dead.

Lina stared at her phone, that cold feeling in her chest spreading like ice water through her veins.

Her chest tightened, and fear settled in her eyes.