Chapter 32 : Take The Blame
What was even more terrifying was that this was not the first time something like this had happened. It was just that the previous incidents were not serious enough to make headlines.
That night, Nigel knocked on Allison's door again. This time, he came alone. His expression looked exhausted, and the excitement from a few hours ago was completely gone. He had no other choice but to come to Allison.
Sitting on a small stool in her room, Nigel rested his head in his hands and sighed. “Allison, the hospital Dad built is in trouble.”
When the hospital was making money, it was all thanks to Nigel. Now that there was a problem, he suddenly brought up their father to play the emotional card.
Allison scoffed internally. She already knew what he was going to say next.
She asked without looking at him, “What happened?”
Nigel let out a sigh. “The nurse forgot to clear the air out of the contrast agent before injecting it, which caused the patient’s heart to stop.”
Allison sneered. “That nurse was Sherrie, wasn’t it?”
Nigel’s brows furrowed tightly. He was unhappy with Allison’s attitude, but he could not refute her. If it had been anyone else, he could have just thrown them under the bus and handled it. But it was Sherrie. Sherrie did not have a medical license. Not even a proper intern permit. At best, she was just a hospital volunteer.
If this got out, it would not just affect the hospital. It would ruin Sherrie’s future. So no matter what it took, he had to protect her.
Seeing his silence, Allison felt her heart twist with anger. She gritted her teeth and said, “Letting Sherrie into the operating room was pure negligence!”
Nigel retorted impatiently, “What’s the point of saying this now? Do you know how hard it is to train a doctor? Once Sherrie finishes her studies, I’ll have a reliable right-hand person. Everyone is doing their part for the Rogers family, except you. You do nothing but complain about everything!”
Allison’s disappointment deepened. “Did Dad train you the same way? By risking lives?”
She thought back to their childhood. All three siblings had been taught medical knowledge. Nigel had always been bold. Once, he had tried practicing on a patient just by following diagrams in a textbook.
Their Dad had caught him and beaten him severely, then hung him from a tree in the yard. He had told them that human life was sacred, and that they could not treat patients who trusted them like playthings.
Even after that punishment, Nigel still wanted to practice on someone. So Allison had offered up her own arm and let him use her as a test subject for free.
Nigel had no sense of restraint. He had even pierced through her veins once. Instead of feeling bad, he had laughed and said that if he could not be a doctor, he could always become a tailor.
Every time he practiced on her, her arm would be bruised for days. Once, he even used the wrong medication, causing her to fall into a coma for seven days.
And yet, back then, she had really believed it was worth it. Allison let out a laugh filled with self-mockery. Nigel must have remembered it too, because his face flushed red. He lowered his head and looked away while his fingernails pressed hard into his palms.
Even if he felt guilty, he still had to say what he came for. “Ally, take the blame for Sherrie.”
Nigel looked up and said, as if it were completely reasonable, “Toby can’t afford to leave his research abroad. You don’t want him to come back just to deal with this, do you?”
Nigel watched Allison's reaction carefully. He was certain she would throw a tantrum, just like she always did whenever the family tried to push responsibility onto her. She would shout, cry, and fight back, showing how irresponsible she was.
But to his surprise, Allison did not react at all. She did not make a scene. Her expression did not even change. It was as if she had expected this to happen.
What Nigel did not realize was that Allison was no longer the same person who would simply let things pass.
Allison stared at him directly and said, “I’ll take the blame, but I want it officially published in the newspaper, with my full identity.”
“That’s impossible!” Nigel immediately objected. “Sherrie is using your identity. If you go public, it will confirm that she’s been impersonating you!”
So he wanted all the benefits without facing any real consequences. Allison said, “This is also for the hospital’s sake. If you want the apology to be taken seriously, it has to be done properly. Otherwise, how do you plan to silence public opinion?”
So that was her reasoning. Nigel knew Allison was not that smart.
He said, “I’ve already come up with an excuse for you. We’ll say you barged into the operating room and disrupted the procedure. You have a documented history of mental illness, so you won’t be held responsible or sent to jail. Taking the blame won’t affect you at all.”
Allison’s fingers trembled uncontrollably.
Her eyes turned cold as they landed on Nigel's, and once again, she saw how vicious he was.
She took a few seconds to calm herself, but even she could hear the slight tremor in her voice when she talked again. “Even if I were mentally ill, I’d still need a name, wouldn’t I? What identity am I supposed to use to take the public’s blame?”
Nigel frowned deeply. His heart missed a beat, and he felt a sudden chill. “You don’t have to make it sound so terrible. I’ll say you’re a poor orphan from the mountains our family had adopted. As long as we make your story tragic enough, the public won’t criticize you.”
Was he planning to switch Sherrie’s background with hers now? Allison was the one being forced to take the blame, yet he acted as if he were doing it for her own good.
Allison almost wanted to applaud his hypocrisy.
Nigel knew she would not agree so easily, so he raised the stakes. “As long as you help the family get through this crisis, I won’t force you to get married. You can stay at home for as long as you want.”
Allison let out a mocking laugh. “Whether I get married or not isn’t up to you.”
Nigel stared at Allison in shock, as if he had never expected her to defy him. In the past, she always did as he said. As long as it was for the family, she never refused.