Ying Ze was halfway down the hallway, the staccato of her heels bouncing off the pastel blue walls when a voice rang out, “A visitor at this time?”

Yet another doctor on the nightshift. His weary, slightly nasally voice hinted to his lack of sleep. It reminded Ying Ze of her own exhausted state. She hadn’t rested well in weeks, and though the products smeared over her face costed more than a month’s rent for a large apartment, her eyebags continued to burrow deeper into her skin.

Her left stocking chose that moment to slide down her slender leg, sinking to her ankle. Ying Ze pursed her lips. She bent down to adjust it as the two men continued to converse.

“She’s here for the patient from ward E,” replied the doctor she’d spoken to earlier. “The elderly woman who went into a cardiac arrest during her treatment.”

“That one? The patient’s family told us to refuse all visitors. You’re going to get yourself into trouble.”

“This is a special case. Best if you keep your hands off of it. I’ll let the director know about it later, but I believe it won’t be a problem. I’m certain he’d agree with my decision.”

“I’m not covering for you if he doesn’t. Don’t complain when he ends up forcing you to throw the letter. This residency might not be good enough for you, but it is for me.”

“I didn’t expect anything from you.” The nasally sounding man scoffed in retaliation, and the argument ceased.

Ying Ze smoothed out her rumpled silk stockings and resumed her walk. It was a small mercy they resolved the problem among themselves. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone, not after the debacle that occurred earlier in the evening.

Though half of the company board was made up of family members, they showed less consideration to her than vultures presented with fresh carcasses. If Shi Wei hadn’t been exceptionally lenient toward them when he was alive, they long would have been cast onto the streets, back into the middle-income bracket where they belonged. Ying Ze regretted letting her son talk her out of it.

Near the end of the hallway, Ying Ze found the room she’d been searching for. She gave the door a once over. Her secretary wouldn’t be foolish enough to pass her mistaken information. This should be where that woman was staying.

“Bao Jin Mu.” Ying Ze raised her hand, settling it on the door handle. The metal felt cold and biting. “Despite what I swore that day, that our paths would never cross again… I still ended up coming to visit.”

It was ironic that Bao Jin Mu, despite being older than her children, had outlived almost all of them. She banished the thought before her mood could worsen and pressed down on the handle.

“Look at her. Those heels, that outfit. I can virtually smell how much money she’s throwing at people every day.”

Ying Ze paused before the door could fully open.

What an unacceptable attitude, even for a public hospital for the masses. Chattering monkeys like him were one useless opinion away from ruining the reputation of their places of work.

Ying Ze considered retracing her steps back to identify the owner of the nasally voice. While the power of the Han family remained in her hands, she ought to do this shabby hospital a favour. But was it worth expending her energy to root out random human garbage when she had so little left?

The man, apparently unsatisfied by his gossip mongering, continued to speak. “I’ll have to lick a stadium full of boots if I want to climb high enough to parade around with that kind of confidence. Hey, do you think I–”

“Shut your mouth!” A nurse, who passed Ying Ze at that moment, balked at the harsh sound. She missed a step and caught herself on the nearby wall. “If you want to ruin your own career, do it when I’m not around so you won’t drag me down with you.”

The outrageous fellow replied in a voice that was only marginally softer than his previous. “Calm down, I didn’t insult her. Those were compliments. It shouldn’t matter if she hears me. And hey, if she’s mad about it, I’ll fix it with an apology. It worked for the other VIPs I handled before.”

“You’re a moron to compare head of the Han family to those small fry.”

“Are you telling me she’s– why the hell didn’t you say she was Han Ying Ze?!”

“I didn’t think you’d run your mouth. You better start praying your career won’t be torpedoed. Better yet, you should– hey! Come back here!”

“Madam Han!” The shout was echoed by panicked footsteps. Ying Ze kept her hand on the handle as she smoothly spun around to receive him. The man came to a stop in front of her. “Madam Han,” he addressed her once he stopped panting, his harried voice thick with the kind of desperation she was intimately familiar with.

“Get on with it,” she said.

“I… I’m not sure if you heard what I was saying, but if you had, I thought it would be prudent of me to apologize. I meant no disrespect, I’ve been told my–”

Ying Ze tuned out his rambling. His comments were displeasing enough, having to endure his flimsy reasons for his terrible conduct was further ruining her mood. She offset her building frustration by observing him, and what she saw rankled her.

Contrary to the other doctor who had allowed her to proceed without a fuss, this man’s appearance matched his problematic personality.

The lens in his glasses were smudged and his hair was unkempt despite being subjected to copious amounts of gel. The dinky fluorescent lights reflecting off his head made her wish for her outdoor shades, and from the way he ran his hands through his hair, Ying Ze had deduced the source of his greasy fingers.

The only saving grace of the man before her was his mediocre looks. Handsome by lesser standards, but not enough to impress her. Not that she would allow something as whimsical as beauty to excuse his shoddy behaviour.

“Madam Han, I hope you’ll accept my apology,” the man finished. He looked at her with sufficient amounts of uncertainty and fear. Ying Ze was gratified to find that those emotions were genuine. There was no mistaking his willing subservience.

“Hearing you speak earlier, I was beginning to question if my family had fallen out of favour. But with this, you’ve shown that you are still aware I remain deserving of your respect.” There was nothing more tasteless than an individual who believed they were exempt from social obligations. Ying Ze’s face darkened. “Now get out of my sight before I change my mind.”

Ying Ze didn’t bother to watch him scurry back from where he came. With a silent huff, she pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

A strong blast of cold air greeted her, but it was sight of multiple whirring machines and the withered figure swathed in white sheets that chilled her to the bone.

“Old friend… you look worse than I expected.” Ying Ze walked up to the woman she’d once considered her friend. “You are thinner than I thought you would be. Shocking, when I recall how you were never able to turn down food when it was offered. And I always made sure it was offered.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Ying Ze noted with dismay that even Bao Jin Mu’s hair was a far cry from what it’d been in the past. Maintaining a head full of curls was always an obsession for the older woman. If Ying Ze didn’t know the reason behind Jin Mu’s studious effort to maintain her hairstyle, which was to remind herself that she had control over her own fate, it would be easy to brush it off as the vanity of a typical struggling middle aged woman.

Ying Ze lightly brushed her hand over the woollen blanket. “Is this the best the hospital has to offer? Even if you’re comatose, giving you something of such poor quality is unforgivable.”

She shook her head. “Jin Mu, this is the outcome of choosing Mei Ling over me. If you were awake, you would tell of how regretful you feel about your situation.”

Jin Mu did not stir. The countless tubes and drips attached to her remained silent in their work to keep her suspended between life and death. The heart support device stationed beside Jin Mu’s bed continued to show a steady beat.

Ying Ze gripped the bedframe. “Jin Mu, do you remember what I told you when Mei Ling was entrusted to you? I said the child of that seductress would bring about the fall of the Han family. And look what has happened. I was correct, I have always been.”

Her manicured nails dug into her palm. “Shu Mei Ling grew into a woman as wretched and destructive as her mother. If you hadn’t insisted on taking her away, if I hadn’t cared for you as much as I did… everything would have turned out the way it was supposed to.”

Jin Mu’s peaceful, slumbering expression made Ying Ze’s chest tighten. As Ying Ze stared at her untroubled face, the anger drained out of her until there was nothing left but bone deep exhaustion. Ying Ze slumped into the bedside seat.

“Perhaps I should have tried to kill Mei Ling instead of pushing it onto you,” she mused. “Even if it made Shi Wei loathe me, I would still have had you, Ah-Ning and Ah-Ge. My inaction has allowed me to remain in his heart, but...”

Decades had passed since she’d married into the Hans. Coming from the illustrious and scholarly family she did, everyone knew Ying Ze was the best fit for Shi Wei.

Beauty, wealth and status, Ying Ze had been his equal. A man of great ambition would need an similarly great woman, and their respective families had staked the future upon their shoulders. It was a gamble that paid off, handsomely.

Arranged marriages were common, but the near perfect synergy Ying Ze had attained with Shi Wei was something no one had foreseen. Once tied in union, they propelled themselves and everyone related to them to insurmountable heights within a single generation.

Ying Ze leaned over the bed to adjust Jin Mu’s blanket. “As someone who has been by my side since I became Shi Wei’s wife, I cannot help but wonder if you predicted that I would fall so deeply for him.” Ying Ze stroked Jin Mu’s head. “If you did, I wish you would have stopped me. Then perhaps, we could have reached a better outcome. Now look at us.”

The comatose woman did not stir, and Ying Ze did not expect her to. Part of the reason she’d dashed the remnants of her pride to come here was the severity of Jin Mu’s condition.

For years after Jin Mu cut ties with her, Ying Ze wondered if keeping tabs on her friend had been worth the headache. It seemed that in the end, her inability to let go of people she cared about saw it fit to bless her, instead of dealing yet another devastating blow.

“Out of everyone he had to sleep with, it had to be a maid. My position, stolen by a lowly wretch whose only worthwhile trait was her body. I recall how you reacted when you found out, old friend.” Ying Ze chuckled. “To this day, thinking about it brings me joy no one else but my children have brought.”

Ying Ze rubbed her throat. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken this much. Screaming herself hoarse when she was unable to track down the criminals responsible for hurting Ling Ge did not count. Her throat hadn’t fully recovered after that incident a month ago.

Ying Ze retreated from the patient’s bed when she heard the low whine of the door being pulled open. Her time for vulnerability had come to an end. It was good she’d been stopped, however. Ying Ze was at a loss for words when it came to the next matter involving the man in front of her.

Jin Mu’s son pointed at her. “You-!”

Ying Ze dipped her head. “I did not think you would come. It is pitiful that we’ve met again, but if this was pre-destined, it is out of our hands.” Chin raised, she met his furious gaze straight on. “Were you satisfied by the renumeration I provided, Bao Jin Ma?”

“Who let you in here?” Jin Ma clenched his fist. “Get out. GET OUT!”

“I don’t plan on staying much longer.” When Ying Ze stood, Jin Ma shoved her back into her seat. She glared at him as the pain in her bottom flared. “I can have your arms ripped off if I wanted to, you understand? Rein in your anger before I have someone do it for you.”

“Then I’ll go straight to the press and reveal what you forced me to do,” Jin Ma spat.

“Forced?” A breath of quiet laughter escaped Ying Ze. “Bao Jin Ma, perhaps receiving such a large sum of money has stunned you into forgetting what happened.”

Jin Ma didn’t back down when the finely dressed woman placed herself toe to toe against him. Her thin lipped smile intimidated less than his daggerlike glare, and if an outsider were made to guess who would top the other, Jin Ma would be chosen due to his large build. However, what they would not predict was Ying Ze’s fatally cutting words.

“I gave you two options, and you chose,” Ying Ze said. “You received enough money to never work another day in your life.” She glanced at the figure on the bed. “It’s hardly my problem your decision had unintended consequences.”

“If I’d known what you had in store for Mei, I wouldn’t have done it.” Jin Ma gritted his teeth as he pulled at his hair. “All you told me was to bring her to the bank for a talk.”

“And talk we would have had that stupid girl not gotten herself killed by armed robbers. You must have seen the news. It’s absurd to hold me responsible for the actions of criminals.”

Jin Ma’s laugh was hoarse. “So it was just a coincidence the bank you told me to bring her to no matter what got broken into by robbers? With Mei as the only casualty despite you being there with her?”

“As I told the investigators, and as I will tell you once more, I wasn’t present when the altercation occurred,” Ying Ze said. “Let the matter rest. One criminal died during their attempt to escape and the other was apprehended. It has yet to make it on the news, but the man they caught has already confessed to the crime. The trial will be made public in the following months or so.”

Jin Ma sneered. “I assume he’s not charged for being on your bankroll?”

“He’ll be punished for murdering my daughter,” Ying Ze said. “Ideally, he would be tortured within an inch of his life for hurting a member of the Han family, but the outcry from human rights activists would be too troublesome to deal with. With one count of manslaughter, the law will follow through with his judgement. Execution.”

“Your puppet’s going to lose his life while you continue to live freely despite planning the whole thing.” Jin Ma turned to look at his mother. “What a joke.”

“If you have a guilty conscience, then return the money.”

He thrust his hand at the bed. “How am I going to save my mother without it? I can’t let her die.” He shouldered Ying Ze out of his way and stopped at Jin Mu’s bedside. “I’m the only one who’s taking care of her now, but because of Mei…” His shoulders trembled.

Ying Ze crossed her arms. She had never understood why her old friend favoured Mei Ling over her own blood child. But looking at Jin Ma, the resemblance between him and his father was striking. Both thought they were something they weren’t, and both were adept at setting the things they loved on fire.

“You don’t seem to understand why that impertinent girl occupied your mother’s heart.” Ying Ze looked over her shoulder, one hand on the handle of the door. “My advice is too late to be useful, but I believe it is still worth taking note of. Bao Jin Ma, had Mei Ling been in your place, even the promise of billions wouldn’t have made her budge an inch.”

Something heavy crashed against the door once Ying Ze shut it behind her.

“Is everything alright, Madam Han? I heard yelling.” There was a doctor stationed outside. She recognized him as the one who had allowed her to proceed without a fuss, the smarter of the two from earlier. “I tried to prevent him from entering, but he was insistent he visit immediately. Did he force you out? I’d be honoured to step in if you need any assistance.”

Ying Ze raised a hand, silencing the anxious man. “I am the one who said some upsetting things. I have done what I need to do, so there’s no need to disturb him again.”

“I see.”

Ying Ze continued, “The man inside won’t say anything of my presence here, and I’m sure you know the same is expected from you. Make sure your colleague does the same. I would detest if you were removed from this hospital.”

The man cleared his throat. “I understand. Shall I see you out?”

“I’ll allow it.” She prepared to follow him as he took the lead.

“Madam Han.” he turned suddenly, showing Ying Ze his bashful smile. “I neglected to say this earlier, but I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter. I can’t imagine the pain you must be feeling. She must be in a better place now, watching over you and your family.”

The doctor nodded as he expelled his useless condolences. His compassionate expression made Ying Ze pause to stew over her reply. Then, finally…

“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll see myself out.”

Ignoring his shocked queries, she left him behind and briskly strode down the hallway. Han Ying Ze did not need anyone’s condolences. Not from her own family, and certainly not from a barely qualified stranger with only a medical license to his name.