The plane landed in Shanghai three hours later.

Ethan Zhou was taken directly from the airport to Shanghai Number One Hospital.

His condition had suddenly worsened during the flight.

By the time the Zhou family reached the private surgical floor, twelve specialists were already waiting.

But the operating room remained empty.

Ethan’s father slammed his hand against the table.

“Where is the Ghost Surgeon?”

The butler swallowed.

“She… didn’t come.”

“What do you mean she didn’t come?”

“She returned the three million.”

The room went silent.

Ethan’s mother turned pale.

“Why?”

The butler remembered my final words.

Ask the cabin manager.

He immediately called the airline.

Twenty minutes later, the cabin manager who had thrown me off the plane was still laughing with her coworkers when her supervisor rushed toward her.

“Did you remove a woman from Flight 817 this morning?”

“Yes.”

“Name?”

“I don’t remember.”

The supervisor shoved a passenger manifest into her hands.

“Look.”

Her finger moved down the page.

Then stopped.

My name.

Dr. Evelyn Carter.

The supervisor’s face had already gone white.

“The Zhou family says she was the specialist traveling to Shanghai to operate on Young Master Zhou.”

The cabin manager laughed nervously.

“Impossible. That woman?”

Then the supervisor showed her a confidential travel verification sent by the hospital.

Consulting surgeon: Dr. Evelyn Carter.

Below it was the medical alias known throughout the industry.

Ghost Surgeon.

The phone slipped from her hand.

“No…”

The supervisor grabbed her arm.

“What exactly happened?”

She couldn’t answer.

Because she suddenly remembered the broken bottle.

The powder beneath her shoe.

And my words:

Remember my face.

At the hospital, the situation became worse.

One surgeon approached Ethan’s father.

“Chairman Zhou, we can attempt the procedure.”

“Then do it.”

The doctor hesitated.

“But Dr. Carter designed the surgical plan. More importantly, she was bringing a customized postoperative medication.”

Ethan’s mother whispered:

“Where is it?”

Nobody answered.

The butler finally admitted the truth.

“The airline employee destroyed it.”

Ethan’s father slowly turned toward him.

“And you?”

The butler lowered his head.

“I called Dr. Carter afterward.”

“What did you say?”

Silence.

“What did you say?”

“I told her that if she didn’t arrive tonight, the Zhou family would make sure she could no longer work in medicine.”

The chairman stared at him as if he had never seen him before.

“You threatened the only doctor capable of saving my son?”

Meanwhile, I was already on my way home.

My teacher, Professor Hayes, called.

“Evelyn, the Zhou family contacted me.”

“Then you know.”

“They’re asking you to reconsider.”

“No.”

“Because of the airline?”

“Because of everything.”

I looked through the car window.

“They treated me as disposable before knowing my identity. Then their butler threatened my career before allowing me to explain.”

Professor Hayes was silent.

Finally, he said:

“That’s your decision.”

I thought the matter was finished.

It wasn’t.

That evening, a video appeared online.

The cabin manager had uploaded the recording herself before learning who I was.

Her caption read:

Passenger throws tantrum after refusing airline compensation.

But the video didn’t show what she expected.

It showed me repeatedly asking for written confirmation that I had been removed because of overbooking.

It showed security dragging me away.

And most importantly, another passenger had recorded the moment she kicked my suitcase.

The bottle shattered clearly on camera.

Within hours, the story exploded.

Then the airline released a statement claiming I had “voluntarily surrendered my seat.”

That was their second mistake.

Because another passenger uploaded the full recording.

In it, the cabin manager could clearly be heard saying:

“Get off now. Young Master Zhou’s life is more important than whatever you’re doing.”

The internet went silent for about five minutes.

Then someone discovered who I was.

Not the Ghost Surgeon identity.

That remained confidential.

But they discovered I was a physician.

Suddenly the question everywhere became:

What if the passenger they removed had been traveling for a medical emergency too?

At midnight, someone knocked on my door.

Professor Hayes was standing outside.

Behind him was an elderly man in a dark suit.

Ethan’s father.

Chairman Zhou bowed.

Deeply.

“Dr. Carter.”

I didn’t invite him inside.

“My son may not survive tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

His face tightened.

“I came personally to apologize.”

“For your employees?”

“The butler has been dismissed.”

“He wasn’t the reason I was removed.”

“The airline’s management is investigating everyone involved.”

“That still doesn’t restore the medicine.”

His expression collapsed.

“How long would it take to make another dose?”

“Twenty-one days.”

He closed his eyes.

Ethan might not have twenty-one days.

Then Professor Hayes quietly interrupted.

“Evelyn, there’s something you need to know.”

I looked at him.

“The bottle that was destroyed wasn’t the only sample.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“The hospital laboratory retained a preliminary batch from your trials.”

My heart jumped.

“That batch wasn’t stable.”

“It wasn’t then.”

He handed me a report.

“They improved the preservation protocol.”

I read the numbers.

For the first time that day, I hesitated.

Chairman Zhou saw it.

“Please.”

I closed the report.

“If I operate, it won’t be because your family is powerful.”

He nodded immediately.

“And there will be conditions.”

“Anything.”

“The airline employee who removed me will not be punished because I demand it. The investigation follows evidence.”

“Yes.”

“Your family will issue no threats against any medical professional again.”

“Yes.”

“And your son needs to understand exactly why his surgery was almost canceled.”

Chairman Zhou lowered his head.

“He will.”

I was about to answer when my phone rang.

The hospital.

I picked up.

“Dr. Carter, we have a problem.”

“What happened?”

“The backup medication is missing.”

My expression changed.

“Missing?”

“It was removed from secured storage forty minutes ago.”

Professor Hayes went pale.

Only five people knew that backup batch existed.

Then the hospital administrator added:

“And security footage shows who took it.”

A photograph arrived.

I opened it.

Chairman Zhou leaned closer.

His face instantly changed.

The person leaving the laboratory wasn’t an airline employee.

It wasn’t the butler.

It was one of the twelve surgeons currently waiting beside Ethan Zhou’s operating room.

And suddenly I understood that someone wasn’t merely hoping the Ghost Surgeon would fail to arrive.

Someone inside the hospital had been preparing for Ethan Zhou to never leave that operating room alive.