I Won't Settle for Less Anymore

On the night before Match Day, it's 2:17 am when I find myself staring at the screenshot on my phone. For a long while, my heart refuses to calm down at all. Ethan Blake: "Let's have a bet, guys. If Leah doesn't get a spot at Redwood General Hospital tomorrow, this will mark the end of our relationship. The starting bet is two thousand dollars. Is anyone following up on this bet?" Already, more than a dozen people have responded to the message with various emojis. Someone even comments, "Count me in!" I feel my nails digging into my palms. "The end of our relationship", he says. To think that Ethan actually used this phrase. We've been dating for four years. This is the very same man who once told me that he wanted to marry me. Is it this easy for him to end a relationship? I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down. There are still other medical interns in the staff room with me. I mustn't lose my composure around them. I know that Ethan is waiting for me to react how I did in the previous times. I'd either spam his phone with missed calls, beg him to delete the message while crying, or apologize to him in an extremely humble manner. But now… Now, I'm really done with this relationship. Chapter 1 I quietly saved the screenshot, then turned off my phone. From that moment on, I stopped paying attention to Ethan Blake. Instead, I focused on noon tomorrow—the moment medical students across the country would log into the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) system. Three days later, Mark Powell, one of Ethan's colleagues and a resident doctor at Redwood General Hospital, messaged me. "Leah, Ethan's been waiting for you to reach out. The day after tomorrow is his celebration for being promoted to attending physician. Come by. You two can make up." As I stared at the message, a mocking smile tugged at my lips. Make up? Why must I always be the one to give in? I replied with only one line, "Sorry, I can't make it." And I truly couldn't. The day after tomorrow, I was going to be on a flight to Fedria. Northview University's affiliate hospital, Northview Memorial Hospital, was waiting for me to report for its residency program. As Ethan wished, we would never see each other again. … Seven days earlier, Ethan had allowed Victoria Hartfield, his first love and the hospital board chairman's daughter, to sabotage the most important research project of my life. ​When I discovered what Victoria did, I completely broke down. She'd secretly deleted eight months of my experimental data. Even worse, she leaked my research framework to her best friend, who was also applying for the same residency program. "Do you even understand what she did?" My voice trembled. "She deleted my research data! My eight months of work! My paper and application for the residency program are all ruined!" Ethan didn't think it was a big deal. He even set down his cup of coffee with a hint of impatience. "Come on, Leah. It's just some data. Victoria was in a bad mood that day. Her dad's been pressuring her about marriage. You should try to understand the pressure she's under. You have backups, right? Just reorganize everything." He said it so casually, as if my future were nothing more than a toy he could knead in his hands. My voice shook with incredulous rage. "She was in a bad mood, so she gets to destroy someone else's research? Ethan, that's academic misconduct! I can report this to the school!" "I said it was a misunderstanding!" He shot to his feet, towering over me. Irritation was plain in his eyes. "It's just a minor issue. Now that you know, just fix it. You always overreact." He paused, his voice turning colder. "Leah, if you keep being this aggressive, I'll have to reconsider our relationship." That was a familiar threat. Ethan knew I couldn't leave him. Every time we argued, he dangled a breakup over my head. Every time, I compromised. And every time, I despised myself for being so weak. Before Victoria showed up, Ethan and I had been steady. I was a full-scholarship student at Hawford Medical School. He'd been my supervising physician during my third-year clinical rotation. My mother, a single parent, passed away from cancer while I was in college. The medical debt nearly forced me to give up medical school altogether. Ethan was the one who helped me apply for financial aid so I could continue my education. From there, our mentor-student relationship evolved into something more. But ever since Victoria entered the picture, she'd been the source of constant arguments between us. This was the ninth fight we'd had because of her. After the first eight, Ethan had always resorted to threatening a breakup. And spineless as I was, I'd always been the one to back down. This time was no different. He was certain I would compromise again because I loved him. After issuing his threat, Ethan waited for me to give him an out and apologize first. But this time… Chapter 2 Just now, as I watched Ethan criticize me impatiently while smiling down at a text from Victoria, something inside me went cold. Suddenly, none of it felt worth it anymore. I didn't feel an urge to apologize. I just sat there in stony silence. Ethan waited for a moment. When it became clear that I wasn't going to admit fault, he clicked his tongue in annoyance, grabbed his phone, and walked out of the hospital cafeteria. I sat alone, staring blankly at my laptop screen. I had no idea how long I'd been frozen there when my phone buzzed. I'd received a voice message. After some hesitation, I tapped to play it. Victoria's sweet voice filled my ears. "Ethan, is Leah mad because of my mistake? Why don't you call her and ask her to come over? I'll apologize to her in person." Ethan's impatient voice cut in. "No need! Let her sulk if she wants to. I'm not her babysitter. I don't have to keep coddling her." "Oh, Ethan, don't say that. Women need to be coddled. If you talk like that, you'll just push Leah farther away." Victoria sounded gentle and thoughtful, like some understanding little angel. Ethan snorted. "I don't have time to coddle her. She can be mad if she wants. Honestly, if she hadn't helped me with that impossible case analysis back then, I wouldn't even be dating a broke student like her. She's so sensitive and cries over everything. I've been done with it for years." At that moment, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out. It hurt. It really hurt. "Seriously, Leah's just way too fragile. I've never met someone so emotional." That was Mark's voice. "Tell me about it. Every time I threaten to break up, she cries and apologizes first. I'm tired of it! Honestly, she'd be doing me a favor by ignoring me. That way, I can finally be rid of her for good." Mark laughed. "Be rid of Leah? No way. She's so clingy. I bet if you don't go back tonight, she'll be crying and apologizing at your door tomorrow." "Alright! Let's make a bet. The loser buys dinner!" The recording ended. I sat in the corner of the cafeteria, gripping my phone so hard that my nails dug into my palm, but I barely felt it. So that was how Ethan saw me. For four years, he'd thought of me as a burden. Everything he'd ever done for me was just because I'd helped him out once. Finally, the dam broke. Tears streamed down my face. I covered my mouth, trying not to make a sound. I thought to myself, "Leah Hayes, you're really pathetic." Chapter 3 That night, Ethan didn't come back to our apartment in BackBay. I didn't call him endlessly or demand to know where he was like I would have done before. I just sat on the bed, listening to that recording over and over. Every time I played it, my heart broke a little more. After Mom died of cancer, I thought I'd found a new anchor—Ethan. He was the youngest candidate for attending physician at Redwood General Hospital and a star lecturer at Hawford Medical School. It had been four years. Four years of supporting each other through everything. Ethan had genuinely cared for me. During clinical rotations, whenever senior doctors made things difficult, he was always the first to stand up for me. He remembered what kind of coffee I liked on night shifts, and he would order takeout for me after I pulled 36-hour shifts. We were inseparable, like two halves of a whole. Because of that, people envied us, calling us the "power couple of medicine". After four years of being so close, I'd grown used to Ethan being a part of my life. I thought I couldn't live without him. I'd imagined our future together. We would be at the same top hospital, complete our residencies side by side, get married, have kids, and build a warm home together. I believed there was nothing that could ever come between us. But that peace ended the day Victoria returned to Estain. She came back when I was in my fourth year of med school. Her father, Seth Hartfield, was the chairman of Redwood General Hospital's board. Her mother, Diana Rosales, was a renowned plastic surgeon. Victoria had finished a master's in public health at Boskary and returned to take a hospital operations role under Seth. She and Ethan had been engaged once, but they broke up when she went abroad. Now that she was back, she made it clear that she wanted him again. The first time Victoria showed up in front of me, I felt the threat immediately. Poised like a princess, she was in a Chanel suit, Louboutins clicking under her feet. Meanwhile, I was in wrinkled scrubs, my hair in a messy ponytail, with dark circles from sleepless nights. "So, you're Leah?" Victoria sized me up. "Ethan mentioned you. Thank you for taking care of him all these years." Her tone was polite but distant, as if I were nothing more than a passing presence in Ethan's life. "But now I'm back." She smiled and continued, "Ethan needs someone who can support him in social circles and help build his career. You get what I mean, right?" At that moment, the gap between us hit me like a punch to the gut. I was a broke student scraping by on scholarships and grants. Victoria, meanwhile, was a high-born heiress, raised in the lap of luxury. I thought Ethan would stand by me and tell Victoria that we were together, but he didn't. He simply said, "Victoria, Leah is a very important… friend of mine." Friend. He used that word. Not girlfriend, not partner—friend. From that day forward, Victoria began to set her plan in motion. She "accidentally" booked two concert tickets and invited Ethan. She mentioned his research projects at board meetings to get him more resources. She even hosted weekend gatherings for doctors and left me out. Gradually, Ethan started spending more time with Victoria. "Her dad's the board chairman," he explained. "I need to maintain that connection. It's important for my career. Besides, Victoria's in the medical field too. We have a lot in common. Don't overthink it. It's just work." Every time, I chose to believe him. Every time, I convinced myself it was temporary. Until the day I discovered that months of my research data had vanished. Chapter 4 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. Chapter 5 My lab key went "missing", and I lost a critical experimental window because of it. When the security footage was reviewed, Victoria just so happened to have captured someone lingering near my locker, subtly implying I'd misplaced it myself. The night prior to my presentation at an important academic conference, my laptop suddenly crashed. Every single PowerPoint file was corrupted. Victoria generously offered to lend me her laptop. The next day, I discovered she'd already forwarded my research highlights to her best friend. I was no match for someone as calculating as Victoria. Her schemes were meticulous, with layer upon layer. No matter how I tried to explain, Ethan always chose to believe her. One day, I found out Victoria had stolen the only necklace Mom left me. It was a cheap silver chain. Victoria had thrown it into a biohazard waste bin at the hospital. It was the last gift Mom bought for me as a Nurses' Day present with her final paycheck. It was the only thing I had left of her in this world. I lost control. I stormed toward Victoria and slapped her across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the corridor. Victoria covered her cheek, tears flooding her eyes instantly. Ethan, who'd just walked out of surgery, saw everything. He rushed forward and stood protectively in front of Victoria, glaring at me. "Leah, have you lost your mind?" "It was her! She threw away my mom's necklace!" My voice broke as I pointed at Victoria. "That was the only—" "Enough!" Ethan cut me off. "Leah, I'm truly disappointed in you." He helped Victoria away and left me standing alone in the hallway. That was the moment my heart shattered completely. After that, Ethan brought up breaking up again and again because of Victoria. And I backed down every time to make peace. I wanted to find flaws in Victoria's mask and make Ethan see who she really was, but she was too good at pretending. When she learned that Ethan and I had agreed to try to stay at Redwood General Hospital together, she even tried to sabotage my residency application. While I was on a night shift, she used her master key to enter my office and attempted to alter my submitted Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) application. Fortunately, a nurse on duty saw her before she could cause irreparable damage. Victoria was shameless. In private, she used every dirty trick imaginable against me. But in public, she was flawless. She would cry delicately at the slightest provocation, mention Seth's heart condition, and talk about how much she'd sacrificed for Ethan's career. I didn't know whether Ethan had truly fallen for her or whether he was simply leveraging her connections. All I knew was that he hurt me again and again for her sake. And I humiliated myself again and again trying to win him back. I couldn't bear to leave him. For four years, Ethan had guided and supported me. He'd become an irreplaceable part of my life. Tearing myself away from him felt like ripping out my own heart. So whenever he turned cold and threatened to leave me because of Victoria, I retreated and apologized. But this time, after hearing the impatience and indifference in his voice on that recording, I finally realized how pathetic I'd become. It turned out that Ethan's distrust in me wasn't because Victoria was clever. It was because he'd already grown tired of me. He wanted to get rid of me. That was why he always stood on the opposite side. That night, I sat alone in my room and played the recording over and over again. Eventually, my tears dried, and my heart went numb. Fine, then. I would give Ethan exactly what he wanted. I was done backing down and begging for him to stay with me. As for the research project they destroyed, I wasn't going to save it anymore. I picked up the phone and called Dr. Adam Vance, the residency director at Northview Memorial Hospital in Fedria, who'd once offered me a position. "Dr. Vance, I've made up my mind. I accept your offer to join Northview Memorial Hospital's internal medicine residency program." Relief warmed his voice. "That's great, Leah. Given your circumstances, we'll provide you with a generous living stipend. You won't need to worry about financial pressure." I opened my inbox and sent a formal acceptance email to Northview Memorial Hospital. Then, I withdrew my application to Redwood General Hospital. When it was done, I lay back on my bed. That night, I slept peacefully. I didn't stay up late worrying about why Ethan wasn't home, nor did I bother calling to ask where he was. The shackles that held me for four years had finally been cast off. Chapter 6 The next morning, I scrolled through Instagram and saw Victoria's story. "Had to take care of a certain doctor who drank too much last night. I'm exhausted!" The picture showed her in her BeaconHill mansion bedroom, with Ethan in just a white T-shirt, sleeping on her bed. He'd actually gone to Victoria's house and stayed the night. He'd even slept in her bed. It hurt. I felt like my heart was being cut with a dull knife. But it was better than before. Maybe it was because my heart was already hollow that it stopped hurting as much. I got up, washed up, changed my clothes, and headed out to the store to buy some storage boxes and tape. As I carried my bags inside, I opened the door and immediately heard Victoria's soft laughter. In the living room, Victoria and Ethan were sitting side by side on the couch, both holding a tablet, looking at something. At the sound of the door, they turned to look. Ethan glanced at me, then quickly looked away with complete indifference. The way he looked at me was as though he was looking at a stranger. But Victoria stood up and walked toward me with a gentle smile. "Leah, welcome back. You bought so much stuff. Do you need help carrying it?" As she said that, she reached out to take my things, but I moved my hands away. The next moment… "Ah!" Victoria lost her balance and "fell" to the floor. It was the same old trick again. Ethan shot up and rushed to her. As he helped her up, he glared at me with fury. "Leah, what are you doing? Why did you push Victoria?" "I didn't." My voice was calm. "You're still denying it? If you didn't push her, why would she fall?" Ethan's gaze was full of anger and accusation. "Is this because I went out with her last night? Because I stayed at her place after drinking too much? If you're mad, take it out on me, not her!" I hadn't even touched Victoria. She just fell on her own. I looked at Ethan and suddenly felt it was all so ridiculous. "If you don't believe me, you can check the security footage," I said quietly. Hearing me suggest we watch the footage, Victoria, who'd been silently teary-eyed, finally spoke. "It's not Leah's fault. I just lost my balance. It hurts…" Her voice was weak and innocent, like a hurt little animal. Ethan's face went rigid the moment he realized he'd wrongly accused me. Yet, the apology never came. He just helped Victoria while looking at her with a face full of concern. "You've scraped your knee. Let me take care of it." I saw the smug, triumphant glint in Victoria's eyes. I turned away, grabbed my things, and went upstairs. Victoria probably thought I would lose my mind, cry, or break down like before. That was the old me. The new me wouldn't make those same mistakes anymore. Chapter 7 I didn't go back downstairs. I stayed quietly in my room, packing up everything Ethan had given me over the past four years. I placed them all into a box. Medical textbooks, a stethoscope, a watch, the lab coat with my name stitched on the tag… Every piece carried a memory. Every piece once made me believe we would last forever. How ridiculous. At dinnertime, my roommate, Emma Whitley, came upstairs to call me. Victoria still hadn't left and was busy in the kitchen. When she passed by me carrying a bowl of steaming clam chowder, I instinctively stood up and stepped aside. It was a reflex I'd developed after being set up by Victoria again and again. But this time, she'd already predicted my move. The moment I stood, I collided straight into her. "Ah!" Victoria screamed. Most of the scalding soup spilled onto her, though some splashed onto my arm as well. She burst into tears. Her voice was full of pain and grievance as she said, "Leah, I was just bringing you some soup. How could you…" She'd learned. When framing me for pushing her in the living room failed, she'd staged an "accidental" collision instead. I had no way to defend myself. Ethan looked at me with open disappointment. His gaze was filled with disgust as he shoved me hard. I lost my balance and slammed my back into the edge of the dining table. The pain shot through me. Yet Ethan didn't spare me a single glance. He rushed to tend to Victoria's burns, never once looking my way. He didn't notice that hot soup had splashed onto my arm as well, leaving angry red burn marks. He didn't notice that he'd shoved me so roughly that my back had hit the table edge. It hurt so much that I could barely stand. The burn throbbed, but it hurt far less than the pain in my heart. After a while, Ethan came out, supporting Victoria, who'd had burn cream applied. He coldly ordered, "Apologize." I raised my head and met his eyes. Four years of depending on each other and being together day and night. Yet, I couldn't find a single trace of tenderness in Ethan's eyes. All that remained was disgust and cold indifference. He warned me, enunciating word by word, "Victoria is being forgiving and letting this go. All you need to do is apologize, and we'll move on." I stayed silent for a long time. "What if I say no?" "Leah, are you really going to blow this up?" Ethan's tone sharpened. "If you don't want to break up, you'd better apologize." He once promised he would be with me for life. Now, he used breaking up as a weapon. He was certain I couldn't leave him and that I would give in. But this time, he was wrong. I looked straight into his eyes and said slowly, "I won't apologize. Do whatever you want." Ethan's face turned dark with rage. He grabbed Victoria and stormed out of the apartment. I left soon after. My arm hurt badly from the burns. I called an Uber and went to the ER at Estain Medical Center. The ER doctor treated my burns and bruises, prescribed topical medication, and gave me care instructions. On the way back, I got a call from Emma. "Leah, did you and Ethan fight again? He just took Victoria and a group of doctors to that rooftop bar to celebrate his promotion." She sounded furious. "And did you see Ethan's post on Instagram? He said he's thinking about ending the relationship. 100 likes and it's over. It's already at 99." My chest tightened. He was doing this again. Chapter 8 I opened Ethan's Instagram profile and saw the post right away. "Thinking about ending my relationship. 100 likes and it's over." It already had 99 likes. Scrolling back, I saw that he'd posted the same kind of thing several times before. It was always the same rule. 100 likes meant a breakup. Every time he did this in the past, I panicked. I would cry and call him right away, begging him not to leave me. I would apologize without dignity, take all the blame, and plead for forgiveness. Each time, I was no better than a dog wagging its tail for mercy. And each time, after I apologized, Ethan would archive the post and say coldly, "Fine. I'll let it go this time." Every time, I swore it would be the last. But every time, I gave in again. This time, though, after seeing the post, I didn't spiral into a panic or call Ethan and beg for a reconciliation like I used to. I stared at the photo instead. It was taken at a popular rooftop bar in Estain. City lights glittered under the night sky. A group of young doctors stood together, raising their glasses in celebration. Ethan and Victoria stood at the center. Their hands were tightly clasped. The night looked beautiful and perfect. My eyes stung. I heard Ethan's old promise echo in my head. "Leah, once we can both work at the Redwood General Hospital, I'll take you to the best restaurant and tell everyone we're together." But he'd already given that celebration to Victoria. I looked at the post for a long time. Then, I raised my hand and tapped "like". The breakup post finally reached 100 likes. There was no future for Ethan and me anymore. This was goodbye. I took a screenshot and closed the app. I didn't feel the pain I'd imagined. Instead, I felt lighter, like a weight I'd carried for four years had finally been set down. Back at the apartment, I stayed up most of the night packing. I boxed up all the gifts Ethan had given me over the years. There were several boxes in total. Now that we'd broken up, keeping them felt wrong. Before I left, I planned to return everything to Ethan. I placed a note on the top box. "Ethan, these are the gifts you gave me over the years. I'm returning them to you." As I finished writing, the tears finally fell. I was finally free.