Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
E than’s heart fell to the bottom of his feet. His entire body froze and he couldn’t move. The only proof that he didn’t die on the spot from those cutting words was the erratic pounding of his heart.
He was 19 all over again. The summer he’d gone to Korea to find his father. The rejection then had hurt, and it had returned tenfold. But now he was no longer a na?ve teenager on the cusp of manhood. This was something he should have prepared himself for.
Though the combination of nausea, rage and despair, rumbled within his stomach, he forced himself to keep his emotions under control. His years of training as a top surgeon came in handy in that moment.
“And this document says that?”
The smirk returned. She lifted her tea cup again, and took a sip. “More or less.”
“Dr. Han, if you need time to go over this document with your own legal counsel feel free to do so, but we feel 10 million is an appropriate figure to start with. Madam is willing to give you a week, otherwise, you’ll be presented with a new contract with half the compensation. For each week you stall, the offer will be halved until it’s completely taken off the table. At which time, we will pursue our own legal action against you for harassment,” Kevin explained.
“I’m sure this wouldn’t look good to the medical board,’ Soo-ah added.
It took an insane amount of patience not to stand up and flip the table over. Ethan took a deep calming breath before responding. “Is that a threat?”
She lifted her left hand and examined perfect manicured nails, seeming to wave her gigantic diamond in his face. “Threats are for people who have neither the power nor backing to see things through. When it comes to protecting my family’s reputation, I will go to any lengths to make our problems disappear.”
Ethan pushed away from the table and stood up. “It seems we’re at a stalemate because I don’t take kindly to people coming after my livelihood. You can take this contract, and shove it up your ass.” He marched toward the exit without looking back, but was halted when Soo-ah spook.
“How vulgar. I guess that’s to be expected when you’re not raised correctly. You’re just like your tacky mother.”
Ethan clenched his fists. He didn’t consider himself a violent man, but he wanted to grab this bitch by the hair and slam her head against a wall. She was so lucky he didn’t hit women. It occurred to him she was deliberately trying to goad him and she’d nearly succeeded by bringing up his mother.
“You know, Soo-ah, there’s a saying we have in America, that money can’t buy class. And clearly you’re the embodiment of those words. Having met you, I’d say my father’s taste in women has downgraded significantly after my mother. Have the day you deserve.”
Soo-ah’s mouth gapped open like a fish on a hook and her face turned beet red.
This time without stopping, Ethan forcefully yanked the door open and stomped out the room.
Fuck that woman.
He was halfway to his car when Kevin called out to him. “Dr. Han! Dr. Han!”
Ethan wanted to keep walking but the frantic sound of the person behind him, made him pause. He turned on his heel only to see Kevin, frantic and red faced, with the documents he’d left behind in hand.
“Please, I just need a moment of your time.”
Ethan narrowed his gaze and stared down at the man despite only having a couple of inches on him. “I think everything that was needed to be said has been. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
When he attempted to turn around, Kevin placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder to stop him. “Look, Dr. Han. I understand things got a little contentious back there but?—”
“And it will get even more contentious if you don’t remove your hand.” Ethan stared pointedly at Kevin’s hand that still rested on his shoulder.
The other man had the good grace to blush. He backed away. “I meant no offense. I’m only trying my best to represent my client’s best interests.”
“So, you mean to tell me, it’s in your client’s best interests to bully me into signing a document I don’t agree with, and if I don’t my career is threatened? I don’t know what kind of law firm you work for but making those kinds of threats sounds illegal and the sort of thing that could get you in trouble with the Bar Association.”
Kevin held up his hands. “I can understand how you can find Mrs. Kim’s words upsetting, but if you would take a moment to see things from her perspective maybe we could reach an understanding. Also, I could perhaps convince her to raise the compensation by another 5 million. Think about it. You could retire early and live a life of leisure.”
Ethan clenched his fists at his sides and inhaled deeply. The longer he stood in this man’s presence, the more annoyed he grew. He never gave a damn about his father’s money. He only wanted the chance to get to know him. But if Jung Kang- chul wanted nothing to do with him, then so be it. But he’d be damned if he took their bribe money just to assuage their guilt.
“Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Mr. Yoon , I will not be looking over that document because I have no intention of signing it now or in the future. So please don’t contact me anymore.”
“Look, I understand you make a good living but this is a lot of money.”
“Fuck off!” Ethan turned and this time ignored the other man when he called after him.
When he slid into his car, he released a heavy breath and placed his head against the steering wheel.
The dream of meeting his father was well and truly over. He doubted Soo-ah would make such a move without approval from the family. Besides, if his father wanted to get in contact with him, Ethan wasn’t hard to find. Ethan was certain his existence was known so if in 38 years he made no effort to contact him then that was his answer.
Even with that knowledge, it didn’t stop the burning in his chest that made it difficult to breathe. The pain of rejection seared the deepest part of his soul. His mother had warned him and maybe that would have saved him the heartache had he listened, but at least he had his answer.
“This day can’t possibly get any worse,” he muttered to himself.
He pressed the start button on his car just as the blue tooth signaled that he had a call. The dashboard displayed his business partner’s phone number.
Frank was on call this week at the hospital and sometimes called to consult him on a matter even though he had been one of Ethan’s mentor. It was refreshing to work with someone who was confident in their skill set but was also willing to listen to someone who was more familiar with newer techniques and studies in their field.
But if it wasn’t a consultation it was possibly to cover for him, which didn’t happen often but it was a possibility. Ethan hoped it was the former rather than the latter because he didn’t have the mental capacity to go into the hospital right now.
He pressed the answer button on his dashboard screen. “Hey Frank what’s up?”
His greeting was met with a heavy sigh. “Are you sitting down?”
“I’m in my car but I’m sitting in a parking lot. Is everything alright? You sound tired.”
“It’s been one of those days. I was helping out in the E.R. because they needed all hands on deck. There was a collision on the road involving an 18 wheeler so there were several injuries.”
“From the sound of your voice, there were a few casualties.” In their profession, losing a patient was always a possibility but no matter how many times it happened, one never really got used to it, at least he didn’t.
Frank who had been practicing for nearly 30 years, was one of the most compassionate men Ethan knew, and took each loss personally even after all this time.
“Yes, a couple, but that’s not what I was calling you about. Last night a young woman was rushed to the hospital after being hit by an oncoming vehicle. She was dead on arrival by the time the ambulance brought her in. I was just coming out of surgery when they wheeled her in. I only got a brief glance at the body but I recognized her right away.”
Ethan’s heart sped up. For reasons he couldn’t fathom, he instantly knew who it was. He didn’t know how but it was like someone was squeezing his insides. “Tell me.”
“It was Amina.”
Ethan slumped in his seat. She had left her position as office manager two years ago but there wasn’t a day when he didn’t think about her and wonder how she was doing. “Fuck…she was hit by a car?”
“I spoke with the M.E. and it appears the cause of death was internal bleeding as a result of the car accident but he noted there were several cuts and contusions all over her body that didn’t quite sink up with just being hit by a vehicle. Some of her bruises were several days old.”
“Was that sorry excuse for a husband with her?”
“As far as I know, she came alone in the ambulance. I don’t know if he was at the hospital or not. I wasn’t involved. Honestly, I shouldn’t be discussing this with you but I thought you might want to know since she used to work for us. And…I know you were fond of her.”
Ethan placed his hand against his chest. He opened his mouth to respond but he choked on his words.
Amina was gone?
From the moment she’d come in for the job interview, he noticed an attractive woman with warm brown skin and big eyes. Her smile revealed the deepest, most adorable dimples he’d ever seen. The instant attraction he felt toward her took him by surprise because he generally kept things professional with everyone in the office.
Her qualifications and friendly personality was enough to get Frank to agree to hire her as their new office manager. Amina seemed to get along with everyone in the office and her work was exemplary. Whenever he’d see her, she’d greet him with a smile but it was the same smile she gave to everyone else.
He wanted that smile to be just for him. Ethan found himself debating whether he should break protocol and ask her out, causally at first to feel his way around.
Frank picked up on this and would constantly tease him about his crush. But by the time Ethan made up his mind, to find out if Amina was open to dating him, he learned she had a boyfriend.
He took that as a sign from the universe that it wasn’t meant to be. But as time progressed, he noticed a change in Amina. She stopped smiling as much and started dressing differently. She even wore her hair in a more conservative style.
When she passed out invitations to her wedding, Ethan wanted to decline but some part of him had to see her get married so that he could close the book on that chapter of his life. However, on the day of the event, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t want to see her smiling at and dedicating the rest of her life to another man. Instead he made an excuse not to attend and sent an elaborate gift.
At the end of the day, it was just a crush, and he didn’t have the courage to make a move when he had the chance.
When she returned to work, after her honeymoon, he noticed Amina had become even more withdrawn. She seemed constantly on edge, jumping at the slightest sound. She started to wear heavy makeup and he swore he’d seen bruises on her wrists once.
During his internship when he had a stint working in the ER, he’d learned the signs of domestic abuse and Amina seemed to be displaying a bunch of them. He noticed she was taking personal calls more often on her cell phone to the point where he had to bring it up to her.
The calls stopped, but then the husband began to randomly visit the office as if to check up on Amina to make sure she was where she said she was.
Ethan wanted to punch that asshole in the face but he was helpless to do anything about it. The last time the husband showed up, Ethan had made the fatal mistake of confronting him.
Ethan stood by the checkout desk to confirm his afternoon schedule with the new receptionist who for some reason couldn’t figure out the system even though she had been there for a month. Things had been chaotic around the office since Paisley resigned.
“Susan, could you please verify that that you have Mrs. Peterson scheduled four weeks for her follow up appointment? I don’t want any mix ups with this patient.”
Susan turned bright red. “I’m so sorry, Dr. Han. I don’t understand why Mr. Meeks wasn’t in the system but I will make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“We were fortunate that I was able to squeeze him in because I happened to be in the office, but it’s imperative that you double check before you sign out of the patient’s chart.”
Susan’s eyes welled with tears and she sniffed. “I’m so sorry Dr. Han.”
Ethan took a slow breath. He didn’t think he was being too harsh with her but whenever he, Frank or Amina pointed out an error, the waterworks started with Susan. He was beginning to think she wasn’t a good fit for the office.
“This isn’t worth getting upset over. If you need more help with familiarizing yourself with the system, please see Amina.”
“Can’t one of the nurses show me, she always seems distracted and I feel like I’m bothering her.”
Ethan couldn’t dispute that Amina had indeed seemed distracted lately but he wouldn’t admit that out loud to anyone else. “There’s no one who knows the system better than Amina. Ask her when she has some free time and I’m sure she’ll be happy to help you.”
“Seems to me like you’re giving Amina extra work. No wonder she comes home so tired all the time,” a man’s voice said from behind him.
That asshole.
Amina’s husband seemed to pop up at the office more often than Ethan cared to count. Ethan was only in the office a few times a week because he was at the hospital otherwise, but it seemed like whenever he was here, so was this guy.
He took a deep measured breath before turning to face the other man who’s slipped into the office without anyone noticing.
“Good afternoon, I take it you’re here to see Amina.” Ethan didn’t bother to conceal the contempt in his voice because he knew this man was harming Amina in some way. Whenever Ethan saw them together, Amina would looked extremely uneasy to the point of flinching when Mark would make the slightest movement.
He wanted to punch this motherfucker in the face so bad but Ethan realized it would only make the situation worse for Amina.
“Why else would I be here? Could you go tell, Amina I’m here. I’m going to take her out to lunch.”
“Does she know that? Dr. Carter and I had lunch plans for the office today and it’s my understanding that Amina is joining us.”
“Well, I guess Amina won’t be participating because I’m here now. She’s not answering her phone. Go fetch her for me.”
Ethan balled his fists at his sides. All it would take would be one punch and he was certain this fucker would fold. Men who abused women were usually the type of cowards who wouldn’t challenge another man.
“First of all, if she’s not answering her phone, it probably means she’s busy and doesn’t have time to speak with you. Second, that’s not how you ask someone. I’m not a dog.”
The other man’s eyes widened briefly before his lips titled into a shit-eating grin. “Oh, my bad. I thought you people liked dogs. I meant no offense.”
This wasn’t the first time, Ethan had been hurled that offensive insult but coupled with the fact that this bastard was harming Amina made something within him snap.
“What the hell did you just say?”
Ethan advanced and just like the coward, Ethan knew he was, Mark held his hands up in supplication.
“Whoa, man. I didn’t realize you couldn’t take a joke.”
“What part was supposed to be funny?”
“Hey, I can go get Amina for you,” Susan interrupted.
“Dr. Han, I placed that order at Lucky’s, so the food should be here in a half hour.”
Ethan turned to see Amina walking down the hall toward him. She halted when her gaze connected to her husband’s. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened.
“Ugh, Mark…what are you doing here? I-I wasn’t expecting you.”
Ethan’s protective instinct kicked in and he moved closer to Amina, placing his body in between her and her husband’s.
Mark glared at him and then at Amina. “Is there a problem with me dropping by to see my wife?”
Amina maneuvered her way around Ethan and hurried to Mark. “Of course not. I just didn’t think you would stop by the office today. Is there something you needed?”
“Get your purse. I’m taking you to lunch.” Though he spoke to Amina, his wary gaze remained on Ethan.
“I-I’m organizing lunch for the office. I can’t today.”
“So what you’re saying is you’d rather work than to go to lunch with your husband?”
“Of course not, but I have an obligation and I don’t want to back out of it.”
Ethan wanted to intervene but he had a feeling that whatever he said would make things worse for Amina.
Mark shot Ethan a glare before turning his angry gaze to his wife. “Bet. I’ll you at home.” He stormed off to the exit.
“Mark wait!” Amina chased after him, catching up at the door. “I’ll go with you, just let me talk to Dr. Han first to see if I can make arrangements for someone else to handle the order.”
Ethan shouldn’t have let her walk out the door that day.
It was the last time he’d seen her alive, because she called the office shortly after she left, and said she wasn’t feeling well. The next day Amina called in to say that she had a family emergency and could no longer work there.
“Ethan, are you still there?” Frank asked.
He’d zoned out for a moment, recalling the last time he’d seen Amina. He remembered the frantic way she’d tried to appease a man who would never be satisfied. The way her voice trembled when she spoke to her husband. The way her hands shook. How her lips trembled.
He saw the pure terror.
“That bastard killed her.”