After the Divorce, I Became a Super Doctor

Chapter 002

Caelan stopped at the end of the road, his back to a house that no longer belonged to him in any sense of the word.

For four years he had believed that there were people waiting for him. That the sacrifice hadn't been for nothing. That when he came back, at least someone would still consider him family.

Turns out there was no one.

Serena had thrown him away like scrap paper. The Hale family had humiliated him. Preston, the younger brother who used to call his name with laughter, now looked at him like garbage.

His hands clenched tight until his knuckles went white.

Fine.

It wasn't their destruction he would demand. Not some cheap revenge that would satisfy him for a moment. He would rise. Far beyond their reach, until they were on their knees, regretting every insult they had thrown at Caelan Voss.

He swore it. There would come a day when they would beg at his feet to take them back.

Caelan looked down, his eyes settling on the ring on his finger. Old silver with the carving of a coiling dragon.

"Master," he murmured quietly. "You taught me combat, medicine, and ancient healing arts unknown to this world. You changed the way I see medicine from the very foundation." His thumb brushed the back of the ring. "I will use everything you gave me. I will reach the top. And we will meet again on the day of your freedom, one year from now."

The wind of Velmont blew softly, as if in answer.

Caelan straightened his shoulders and started walking.

---

Aurelian Hospital Velmont stood tall at the heart of the city, twenty-three floors of glass and steel, one of the finest hospitals in Velmont with a reputation that didn't need advertising. This was where Caelan had worked before everything fell apart. This was where his name had once been spoken with respect in those very hallways.

He pushed through the entrance and stepped into the lobby.

A young receptionist at the front desk looked up. "Good afternoon, how can I help you?"

"I'd like to speak with HR," said Caelan. "I'm here to apply for a doctor position."

Before the receptionist could respond, a voice from behind cut in.

"Caelan Voss?"

Caelan turned around.

A man stood a few steps away. Thin-framed glasses, white doctor's coat, hair combed perfectly, with a smile that looked friendly. But his eyes weren't smiling.

"Aldric," said Caelan flatly.

Aldric Shen. A cardiac specialist who had been in the same division as him. Always polite on the surface, but always keeping something underneath.

Aldric opened his mouth, then closed it again. His eyes swept over Caelan from head to toe, once, twice, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Is that... really you?" His voice went up half an octave. "So you're out?"

"Yes." Caelan gave a short nod. "And now I want to come back and work here."

One second of silence.

Then Aldric laughed. Not a small laugh, but loud enough that several heads in the lobby turned.

"Come back to work?" Aldric repeated the words like they were the best joke he had ever heard. "Caelan, are you serious? You nearly killed someone, went to prison, and now you show up here asking to be a doctor?" He shook his head, still smiling wide. "Who exactly is going to let you treat them? Who isn't going to be afraid lying in front of a man like you?"

Caelan didn't answer.

Aldric continued, his voice lower but sharper. "You haven't touched a stethoscope in four years. For four years those hands haven't touched anything but iron bars." He glanced at Caelan's hands with an amused expression. "Did you think medicine waited for you? The world has moved forward, Caelan. While you were left far behind."

In the lobby, a few visitors, nurses, and junior doctors stood not far away, watching and whispering.

Aldric was enjoying every second of it.

"Four years ago," Aldric thought to himself, "every compliment was always yours. Patients asked for you. The division head praised you. Even Serena Hale, the most popular actress and singer in Velmont, chose you. Your life was disgustingly perfect. But now? Serena is with Harrison Blake, everyone in this city knows that. Your name isn't worth anything anymore, you bastard."

"You should just leave." Aldric pointed toward the door with his chin. "Before I humiliate you further in front of everyone. This hospital has a reputation to protect, and you are no longer part of that reputation."

Caelan still stood without moving, taking it all in without blinking.

But before he could say a word...

The main doors of Aurelian Hospital Velmont burst open hard.

A young man ran in, gasping for breath, his face pale as paper. Behind him, two people carried an emergency stretcher.

"Please!" His voice cut across the lobby. "Please, save my father! Whoever can save him, I swear I will grant anything they ask. Anything!"

The lobby that had been quiet a moment ago erupted into motion.

But what made everyone go still for one second longer wasn't the cry itself. It was the face of the young man.

Whispers spread fast among the staff.

That's Dorian Ashford. The only son of the Ashford family.

The Ashford family, one of the three great dynasties that held up the economy of Velmont. And the man lying on that stretcher, pale-faced, breathing weak and irregular, was Victor Ashford. The head of the family himself.

Caelan watched the stretcher pass in front of him, his eyes narrowing slowly.