From Humiliated Son-In-Law to The World’s Greatest Doctor

5 - The Beginning of Sweet Revenge

Margo's expression changed as soon as she got a reaction from Derek that she hadn't expected.

The atmosphere around them shifted to awkward. She looked at her ex-husband with a slight tremble in her eyes, caught off guard and unsure of how to react.

Derek let out a soft chuckle, making her frown in even greater confusion.

“Just kidding, Margo. Why are you taking it so seriously?”

Margo chuckled along, though the awkwardness still lingered and she couldn’t quite shake it off.

“Want to talk for a bit?” Derek glanced at the watch on his wrist. “I have some time before I start work.”

She seemed to think for a moment before finally nodding.

“Good.”

Derek gave her a charming smile.

For a split second, Margo felt as if time around her had come to a brief stop. She realized it had been a very long time since she had last seen Derek’s smile. The same smile that had once made her fall in love with him.

And now, it made something strangely unfamiliar creep through her heart.

She followed him as he walked toward the nurses’ station near the entrance to his practice room.

“Hey, Liv. What a beautiful day! Give me ten minutes before you bring the patient in. I have a guest.”

“Alright, Doctor.”

Derek took a step but then stopped and glanced back at the nurse.

“I like your new hairstyle, by the way. It suits you better.”

Then he simply walked into his room, leaving the nurse behind as she blushed shyly and tucked a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear.

Margo watched the whole thing in disbelief. She could hardly recognize Derek from the way he had completely changed, going from his usual reserved self to someone flirtatious.

“Please, have a seat.”

Margo closed the door behind her and sat in the patient’s chair across from Derek.

“It’s been a long time. It feels strange running into you here by chance.”

“Yeah… I didn’t expect it either. How have you been, Derek?”

“Me?” Derek flashed a wide smile and spread his arms. “As you can see, I’m doing just fine. Just a little tired from having to work and film all day. I don’t even have time to make my own coffee.”

Then he laughed at his own joke.

“Sometimes, it makes me miss those days when I used to make coffee for you and your parents every morning. I was as good as a barista back then.”

For a moment, Margo almost thought Derek was genuinely joking about the coffee. Until he brought up the daily task he used to have, and she realized he wasn’t joking at all. He was making fun of her.

“How about you? How have you been, Margo? What are you doing here? Are you sick?”

“Um, no… it's just—” Margo hesitated before answering, “It was just a routine checkup.”

There was no further explanation from her, which made Derek think that Margo simply didn’t want to tell him about it.

So he just smiled and nodded in understanding.

“All right. Just tell me if you need anything. I’ll definitely help you if I can.”

Margo’s smile widened. “Thanks, Derek.”

÷÷÷

After finishing his last patient of the day, Derek thought of Margo and slipped into a daze without even realizing it.

There were too many distressing memories between them that they had never been able to resolve, especially since their divorce had ended on bad terms.

When he searched his own heart, he also realized that he no longer had any feelings for her.

Derek knew very well that all he had left in his heart now was the hurt and pain caused by being humiliated and thrown away by the people he had once loved dearly.

Especially the major incident that had happened to his mother, which made it impossible for him to forgive them.

But he was driven by curiosity about Margo’s condition, since there were only two doctors’ offices in this area. And one of them belonged to Dr. Smith, an oncologist.

Seeing her waiting there, he guessed that Margo was seeing Dr. Smith, which made him worry that his ex-wife might be dealing with something serious.

For a moment, Derek picked up the phone on his desk to call Dr. Smith’s office. 

But he put the phone back down.

Derek tried hard to convince himself that he couldn’t abuse his access just to satisfy his curiosity. Especially since Margo had clearly not wanted to answer when he asked what she was doing here earlier.

They no longer had any relationship with each other. And there were boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed, even if he was worried.

His phone rang shortly afterward, displaying his assistant’s name.

“Yes, John?”

“Mr. Joseph Dorsey has agreed to the lease agreement. I’ll meet him this afternoon to sign the documents. So we can start filming every Saturday beginning this week.”

“That’s good. How much does he want as a down payment?”

“For the six-month lease, he wants 50% paid upfront, with the remaining balance due by the end of this month at the latest.”

“Pay the entire amount at once.”

“Sorry?”

“If he still insists on an additional f*e as a guarantee against property damage, just agree to it.”

“Are you sure, Mr. Maynard? He’s already asking for a high rental f*e for a restaurant that is old and empty. Your notary also managed to convince him not to charge any additional f*es beyond the rent. Besides, we’re only going to use a small corner of the place.”

“We still need space for the cameras and a few crew members. So we won’t be using just the corner. And, since you mentioned that, I think the agreement needs to be revised as well. Let him keep the restaurant open while we’re filming. He doesn’t need to clear the place out.”

“Mr. Maynard… I’m going to ask you one more time. Are you sure?”

“I just thought that if there are customers who happen to come and watch our filming, that’ll be a free promotion for our content.”

“I’m not sure anyone will actually come to watch. That place is really empty every time I go there. Sometimes there aren’t any customers at all, even during mealtimes.”

“So is it really going bankrupt? I remember that place used to be very popular. ” Derek sighed. “How many branches do they still have? Have you looked into it?”

“There’s only one left in Oaktown. The other eight branches went out of business. After the main investor pulled out the investment, the smaller investors followed. I think that’s when they started shutting the branches one by one.”

Derek had once been the restaurant’s main investor, providing most of the funding that allowed the business to grow into a chain with nine large branches. He was the one who brought in several investors he knew and encouraged them to invest in the business.

But after he left Oaktown following his divorce and pulled all of his investment out, he stopped paying attention to what was happening with the business, including the trouble involving the other investors.

“Well, no customers actually make things easier. We won’t have to spend too much time editing out the noise.”

“If that’s the case, should we request permission to renovate the part we’ll be using for filming? It might be worth the money we’ll spend.”

“No need, John. Leave it as it is. I like their old-fashioned interior. Besides, their place is still perfectly presentable on camera.”

This time, it was John who let out a long sigh.

“All right, then. I’ll coordinate with your notary again and finalize the lease agreement as soon as possible.”