I Won't Settle for Less Anymore

Victoria asked to meet me at the rooftop garden of Redwood General Hospital. It was a staff lounge area—open and airy, with a sweeping view of the Estain skyline.

She looked fragile, almost pitiful, as she explained that the data loss had been an accident.

"Leah, I swear I didn't mean to. I just wanted to check on your research progress so I could help you request more funding from the board. I must have pressed the wrong key by mistake…"

As she spoke, her eyes reddened, tears pooling in them.

"I know you and Ethan have been together since you were in the med school. How could I possibly have those kinds of intentions? Please, don't make this a big deal. My dad just had heart surgery. He can't handle any stress right now…"

Her tears finally fell.

I relented and reached out to hold her. "Victoria, don't cry. I get it. It could've been an accident—"

The moment I reached out, she suddenly grabbed my hand, pulled hard, and threw herself backward.

"Ah!"

Her scream drew the attention of several nurses taking a break in the garden.

Victoria sat on the ground, clutching her arm while crying uncontrollably.

I stood frozen.

"What happened?" The nurses rushed over.

"I'm fine… It's nothing…" Victoria said weakly. "I just lost my balance."

But a flicker of triumphant provocation flashed in her eyes as she looked at me.

Within minutes, Ethan arrived after being notified by one of the nurses. The moment he saw Victoria sitting on the ground, he rushed to her side.

"What happened?" He crouched down to examine her arm.

"Did Leah push her?" one nurse whispered. "I saw them arguing, and then Victoria fell."

"I didn't!" I protested immediately. "She grabbed me and—"

"Leah," Ethan cut me off. There was disappointment in his voice as he continued, "Tell me the truth. We can talk this out."

"That is the truth! She pulled my hand and fell on purpose!"

"Leah, her arm is already bruised." His tone turned colder. "Why did you do this? Is it because of the research data?"

He didn't believe me. He believed Victoria.

My head was spinning, and my whole world came crashing down.

"Ethan, Victoria didn't delete my data by accident! She did it on purpose! She wanted to steal my research for her friend." I couldn't hold back my suspicions any longer.

Ethan let out a long sigh, disappointment written all over his face. "Leah, listen, I get that you're stressed, but you can't go around accusing people like this. That's not you."

He told me that just a few days ago, Victoria had come to him first, saying she felt like I was hostile toward her.

And to avoid interfering with my relationship with Ethan, Seth had even offered to excuse himself from any board decisions regarding Ethan's promotion.

"Mr. Hartfield asked me if there was some misunderstanding between you two," Ethan said, his voice sharp with accusation.

"Victoria even said that if she's making you uncomfortable, she'd request a transfer to the Oscein branch. Leah, did you say something behind Victoria's back? Is that why she wants to leave?"

I had no words to argue.

The way Ethan saw it, Victoria and Seth's "compromise" was goodwill, but my pointing out Victoria's scheming was jealousy and slander.

He didn't believe me.

In the end, Victoria only suffered a minor scrape on her arm, but that incident changed the way Ethan looked at me forever.

In his eyes, I became the petty, jealous woman who couldn't tolerate others, and Victoria became the gracious, innocent victim.

I wasn't willing to accept it. I tried everything to prove my innocence and make Ethan see Victoria for who she really was.

But she was too cunning.

Instead of exposing her, I kept getting played, again and again.