The Ordinary Doctor’s Revenge

CHAPTER 2

Harsh sunlight pierced through the window curtains, striking Ethan’s eyes.

He groaned, pressing his palm against his throbbing forehead. His brain felt like it was being crushed in a vise. A bitter taste hung in his mouth, and every muscle in his body felt weak.

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself staring at the ceiling of a hotel suite.

He shifted, and the rustle of luxurious sheets brushed against his skin. Underneath the duvet, he was completely naked.

Beside him, the bed was a tangled mess—pillows scattered on the floor, sheets twisted and bunched at the foot of the mattress, and the strong smell of sweat and sex hanging in the air.

Ethan’s heart sank straight into his gut.

He tried to piece together the night before, but his memories were a blur of bar lights, alcohol burning down his throat, and the painful realization that his fifteen-year marriage had been a lie.

After that?

Blank. Total blackout.

“Did I pick up someone at the bar?” His chest twisted in panic. “Did I bring a stranger back to a hotel?”

If he had…then he was a cheater too. How did that make him any better than Chloe?

He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t the same because he had found out she betrayed him, and their marriage had been dead the moment he saw the paper. So what he did now didn’t matter.

It was a weak justification, a desperate attempt to convince himself that he hadn't done anything wrong. But it was all he had to keep himself from drowning in self-disgust.

He tried to sit up, but the moment his head left the pillow, a sharp migraine spiked behind his eyes.

“Ugh…”

He gritted his teeth, collapsing backward with a sharp gasp.

Just then, the sound of running water stopped.

The bathroom door clicked open, and a cloud of fragrant steam spilled into the bedroom.

Ethan froze.

Stepping out of the bathroom was Chloe. She was wearing a plush robe, her damp hair pinned loosely behind her ears, her skin glowing with a fresh, youthful flush.

“What the hell?” he cursed under his breath.

Had she tracked him down? Had she caught him red-handed in a hotel room after he spent the night with another woman?

A wave of bitter irony crashed over him.

Sixteen years. Chloe had played him for a fool, raised another man’s kid under his roof, and he had never suspected a thing.

But the one night he got blind drunk and screwed up, she caught him instantly?

He swallowed hard, his throat dry as bone, waiting for the screaming match. Waiting for her to hurl accusations at him.

Instead, Chloe looked over at the bed and smiled—a soft, fond smile.

“You’re finally awake,” she said softly.

She quickly walked over to the nightstand, where a steaming bowl of broth sat waiting, and set it down beside him.

“You drank far too much last night, Ethan,” she said, her voice carrying a light, teasing reproach. “And then you kept me up until almost dawn. Of course you feel terrible today. You’re forty years old now—you can’t go around pushing yourself like a twenty-year-old college kid.”

Ethan stared at her, utterly bewildered.

There was no rage in her eyes. No suspicion.

She sat on the edge of the mattress, leaned over, and gently wrapped her hands around his arm, helping him prop himself up against the headboard.

“How…how did I get here?” he asked, his voice rough as sandpaper. “And how did you get here?”

Faint, distorted images from the night before flashed in his head.

He remembered the cold night air. Sitting inside a car. An underground parking garage. The scent of a woman…

But he had thought it was one of Chloe’s secret properties.

“You texted me last night and told me to come,” Chloe said, tilting her head with an amused expression. “I honestly didn’t expect you to be so wasted. And once I got inside…”

She paused, her cheeks flushing a delicate pink as her eyes curved into a sultry smile.

“You went wild,” she murmured, leaning closer until her breath warmed his ear. “You actually scared the hell out of me. You didn’t hold back at all.”

She pulled back, looking at him with a warm, satisfied glow.

“If you ever want to try something like that again, at least warn me first. Give me time to prepare. Otherwise, you’re really going to break me.”

Ethan’s head spun.

He reached out with a trembling hand, snagging his phone off the nightstand. He unlocked the screen and went straight to his messaging app.

There, right at the top of his chat with Chloe, was a sent text message from 11:42 PM:

‘I’ve been drinking. I don’t want to go home tonight. It’s been forever since we’ve done it in a hotel. Come over. I want to relive the old days.’

Ethan stared at the text, his breath catching in his throat.

He couldn’t remember sending it or remember her coming into the room. He couldn’t remember touching her.

He had been so drunk that he could barely stand. How could he have coordinated a hotel rendezvous and spent hours sleeping with her?

It made no sense.

He forced a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

Twenty minutes later, Ethan was dressed and washed up.

At the front desk, he handed over the keycards to settle the bill. That was when he noticed something strange on the receipt.

The room had been registered under his name and national ID, and the total f*e, along with a security deposit, had been paid upfront.

“Excuse me,” Ethan said, leaning across the counter toward the receptionist. “Could I take a quick look at your security footage from last night? I lost something when I came in.”

The receptionist gave him an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, sir. We can’t share CCTV footage due to guest privacy policies.”

“Just a glance at the entrance,” Ethan pressed. “I just need to see who brought me through the lobby.”

The receptionist hesitated, looking at her screen before looking back at him.

“I can’t show you the video, sir, but I can check the night shift notes. It says here that a young lady checked you in, paid the deposit in cash, and helped you to the elevator.”

“What did she look like?”

“The note just mentions that she had short, dyed-blond hair and was wearing an oversized jacket.”

Ethan’s blood ran cold.

Short blond hair?

Chloe had long, flowing, jet-black hair that almost reached her waist.

Before he could process the sheer absurdity of it, Chloe walked over, her designer sunglasses already shielding her face from potential paparazzi. She slipped her arm through his.

“What’s taking so long, honey?” she asked. “Come on, let’s go. I booked a room at that quiet place you like.”

His mind raced. Who was the woman with the short blond hair? Who checked him into this room?

They arrived at an upscale hidden restaurant tucked away in an alley. Chloe had reserved a private room behind the doors, ensuring total privacy from fans and reporters.

When the food arrived, a waiter placed a steaming platter of fresh oysters on ice in the center of the table, alongside several refined side dishes.

Chloe picked up a lemon, squeezed it over an oyster, and nudged the plate toward him with a playful smile.

“Eat,” she urged. “You need to replenish your energy after last night. You gave me a night I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

Ethan looked down at the oysters, a knot tightening in his stomach. He didn’t have an appetite.

He pulled out his phone to check the message he had sent last night. He stared at those words until they blurred.

He knew himself. Even dead drunk, even out of his mind with rage, he would never have typed those words to her.

Not after reading the paternity test.

Not after realizing his whole life was built on a lie.

Across the table, Chloe took a delicate bite of her food, looking as radiant and graceful as ever.

Even after sixteen years together, she was still beautiful. The kind of woman who turned every head in any room she walked into.

If he hadn’t opened that lab envelope yesterday, he would have spent the rest of his life worshipping the ground she walked on.

That realization sent a wave of raw, burning bitterness straight through his chest.

“Chloe,” Ethan said quietly, his voice breaking the silence.

She looked up, her dark eyes gleaming softly.

“Hmm?”

“You’re beautiful,” he said, staring directly into her eyes. “You’re famous. Powerful. Men must throw themselves at you everywhere you go.”

Chloe chuckled softly, dabbing the corner of her mouth with a cloth napkin.

“Of course they do, darling. It comes with the territory.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

The silence in the room stretched thin, heavy enough to snap.

“Have you ever cheated on me?”

Chloe froze for a fraction of a second, her napkin pausing mid-air.

Then, she let out a melodic laugh, looking at him as if he had just said something endlessly charming.

“What’s all this about?” she asked, shaking her head lightly. “Since when did my confident doctor become so insecure?”

She reached across the table, her smooth fingers resting gently over the back of his hand.

“You’re underestimating yourself, Ethan,” she murmured softly, her eyes locked onto his. “And more importantly…you’re underestimating me.”

Ethan didn’t smile. He didn’t move.

Slowly, deliberately, he pulled his hand out from beneath hers. He reached deep into his inside pocket, his fingers wrapping around the folded paper he had carried with him all night.

He pulled it out.

He slapped the white document onto the table, sliding it right into the space between her plate and her glass.

The dark, stamped letters faced her directly:

NO BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP.

Ethan leaned forward, his eyes filled with sixteen years of hurt and betrayal. His voice dropped to a low whisper.

“Then explain this.”