?Chapter 1420:


    Maia leaned closer to Rosanna, whoy unconscious and barely breathing, and a slow sigh escaped her as her chest tightened for a moment.


    She recalled how Rosanna had been perfectly fine when carried out of the banquet hall, and she could not understand how everything had fallen apart so quickly. Still, Maia knew Rosanna well enough to believe that anyone who had attacked her this severely must have had a reason. Perhaps Rosanna had pushed them to a breaking point.


    The constant trouble between them had grown exhausting, because every quarrel with Rosanna only chipped away at Maia’s own dignity. She had given Rosanna chance after chance to act with decency, and each one had been thrown aside. She had offered patience again and again, yet Rosanna had answered it with schemes, humiliation, and plots that had nearly destroyed her.


    Should she save Rosanna?


    She faced the truth inly — helping someone as cruel as Rosanna would only be another act of harm toward herself. Mercy, she believed, should never be handed to people who refused to value it.


    Because of that, Maia intended to look away, even as the gentler part of her nature wrestled with the thought.


    At that moment, a nearby nurse raised her voice in a rush. “Dr. Watson! Please take a look at this patient!”


    A brief pause ran through Maia as she weighed what to do. Those hurried words nudged her forward. She was a doctor, and Rosannay before her as a patient. Maia knew she was no saint — forgiving someone who had hurt her so deeply did note without a fight. Even so, she refused to let personal resentment interfere with the nurse’s work or bring shame to the hospital and to Carsen’s position.


    In that moment, Maia’s thoughts moved through many concerns, none of them for Rosanna’s benefit. She decided she would assess the condition first. As for the treatment that followed, another doctor could take over. It was better to give her time to patients who truly deserved her care.


    Before she couldy a hand on her, however, Rosanna’s tightly shut eyelids began to tremble. A heartbeatter, her swollen eyes snapped open, clouded with haze, pain, and bewilderment. Her wandering gaze drifted across the chaotic corridor until itnded sharply on Maia’s face.


    A broken groan escaped her — the sound of something lodged in her throat, strangling every word before it could fully form. Her one working hand began to shake with such force that her fingers curled inward, and she pointed at Maia with a spite that seemed to burn. Her lips trembled as if fighting to say more.


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    “Do not be rmed,” the nurse said quickly. “This is Dr. Watson. She is here to examine you.”


    Those words snapped something awake inside Rosanna.


    “Maia! Watson!” she shouted.


    Her voice scraped the air like a saw through old wood, yet it carried enough force for everyone nearby to hear. “You came here to mock me, didn’t you?”


    The nurse blinked, startled. Maia remained where she stood, her faceposed, watching as Rosanna’s expression twisted with hatred. To Maia, Rosanna was someone so consumed by bitterness that even mercy could not reach her.


    “Please stay calm,” the nurse said carefully, trying to steady her. “She is one of the doctors here. Her purpose is to treat you.”


    “Treat… me?” A rough, brokenugh scraped from Rosanna’s throat.


    A momentter, she threw every ounce of strength she had into her hand. A sharp crack split the air. The blow struck the nurse’s cheek with vicious force. The nurse staggered in shock, her sses shifting sideways, the skin on her cheek blooming red.


    Rosanna lost her bnce from the effort and crashed off the gurney, hitting the cold tile floor with a dull thud. The pain burned so fiercely that she curled inward, yet her mouth continued to spit curses. “Maia Watson! You vicious snake! You heartless wretch! Rot in hell! Everything happened because of you. I’ll haunt you even after death!”


    Every insult struck like venom from a bared fang. The nurse pressed her cheek with trembling hands. “You…”


    Maia raised a hand to stop her, and her eyes turned cold.


    There was a limit to how farpassion could reach. Showing mercy never meant surrendering to cruelty. Even if Maia lived with kindness, no one could force her to save a person who rejected treatment and attacked others without restraint. Rosanna had made her own choice. She had turned away from the help offered to her.


    “Get another doctor and a different nurse to take over,” Maia said evenly. She nced at the time, then spoke with quiet detachment. “This patient has formally declined my examination. I am ending my shift.”


    The nurse stared at her with wide eyes, uncertain whether Maia was protecting her — or herself. If Maia refused a patient, consequences would follow. Hospital authorities would not ignore it, and disciplinary action could range from a reprimand to a suspension.


    Maia turned to the nurse and spoke gently. “Let me know if your cheek still hurts.”


    “I’ll be fine, Dr. Watson,” the nurse said, steadying her voice, though her eyes shimmered.


    “Put ice on it. It will keep the swelling down.” Maia’s gaze shifted onest time to Rosanna, crumpled on the floor. After a quiet pause, she delivered her decision without hesitation. “I won’t treat her. I’ve chosen to leave this job.”


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