Chapter 3

I lost my balance and fell hard onto the ground. My waist slammed into a steel chair at the side, and it hurt so much that I broke out in a cold sweat.

Rebecca suddenly looked a little worried when she saw the pain on my face. "What's wrong with you, Hayden?"

When Simon noticed this, he suddenly went crazy. "This is all my fault. All I wanted was for Rebecca to bring me some medication to save my life because I was feeling terrible. I have no idea what I did wrong. All I want is to continue living. Why did you get so many people to put up this act, Hayden? Why do you want me dead?

"I checked with my doctor on the way here, and he told me there isn't any patient here with cerebral haemorrhage. You just wanted us at the hospital so that Mrs. Chilton could yell at me for being the third party in your marriage, but the truth is, I only see Rebecca as my sister.

"Please let me off, Hayden! If you continue forcing me like this, I will die!"

With that, Simon turned to run out the door.

Rebecca was distracted by him, and she ran after Simon to hug him gently in her arms. "Don't worry, Simon. Hayden can never bully you with me around. Let's go!"

The nurse next to us rolled her eyes and passed Rebecca the consent form. "Wait a minute. Please sign this."

Rebecca did not even glance at the form. She quickly signed the papers and left with Simon. Whatever her actions were did not concern me because the most important thing was to save my mother-in-law.

I led the donor toward the surgery room while still in pain, and when we reached the corridor, the nurse rushed over to me. "The patient is in critical condition. We need to go give her blood now!"

Fear enveloped me, and when the donor witnessed the emergency, he knew right away that Simon was lying. He pulled up his sleeve and made to follow the nurse. "I'm ready. You can take my blood right now!"

However, it was still too late. The doors to the surgery room opened, and Jack walked out the door to shake his head apologetically at us. "I'm so sorry. The patient was not in a healthy condition to begin with, and we weren't able to resuscitate her. We've done our best."

I fell on my knees while gripping my phone, unable to say another word.

My mother-in-law's body was wheeled out, and Jack stood at the side to sign the death certificate. My eyes were filled with tears as I stared at the white cloth over her body. That was when it truly hit me that the benevolent old lady who always cared for me would never wake up again. I failed to save her life even after getting reborn.

After I was done with handling all procedures, I sat outside the morgue, waiting for my father-in-law. That was when my phone rang. Rebecca had unblocked my number and was being aloof with me. "Why isn't my mother picking up her phone, Hayden? Ask her how I should make chicken noodle soup."

I wiped away my tears and said coldly, "The surgery was a failure. Mom's gone."

"Are you still putting on this act? How annoying can you be?!" Rebecca could no longer hold back her temper, and she yelled at me.

"Don't you dare cross the line with me, Hayden!" She hung up after that.

I took a picture of the morgue and sent it to her. [You should come over right now if you want to see Mom one last time.]

However, my message was ignored.

…

The next day, I went home, exhausted, before dawn, with my mother-in-law's funeral portrait and documents. When Rebecca heard me coming home, she walked out of the room. She frowned when she saw me.

Before any one of us said anything, she saw the portrait and saw that I was wearing black, which enraged her. She walked up to me and slapped me hard. "You're pushing it, Hayden. How could you order a funeral portrait of my mother just for your little performance? My family doesn't need a traitor like you. Get out!"

Rebecca pushed me out the door, and I hit my waist against the railing of the stairs, causing me intense pain. I inhaled sharply and fell right down the stairs when I lost my footing.