Chapter 65

Cora POV

The operating room smelled of antiseptic and tension.

My hands were steady, but my heart wasn’t.

“Scalpel,” I said calmly, holding out my hand.

The nurse placed it there without hesitation. Around me stood people who had once whispered my name like a curse—people who believed I didn’t deserve to be here. Now they watched me closely, not with hostility, but with something far more dangerous.

Expectation.

The patient on the table was young. Too young. A ...