Chapter 3

At the hospital, Megan warmly took my hand as soon as she saw me. "Evie, thank you so much for giving me the company. I promise that the company's assets will double within a year under my management! Then, you can just sit back and wait for the dividends!"

She pretended to be affectionate, but from an angle where no one else could see, her eyes glinted with cold mockery, silently declaring her victory.

"Yes, with Meg managing it, you can just relax and wait for the money. If you've got nothing better to do, then just go travel. Go on vacations, you know? You and Kenneth should hurry up and have a baby, too," Mom said, holding mine and Megan's hand in each of hers, looking emotional.

"You sisters should have been this united ages ago. It's all your fault, Evelina. As the older one, you never knew how to give in to your younger sister. From now on, you mustn't bully her anymore."

"Yes, it was all my fault in the past. To make up for it, I plan to hand over all my investment accounts to Meg to manage, too."

"What?" Alaric seized my wrist suddenly, his eyes narrowed with suspicion and confusion.

"What exactly are you playing at? First the company, and now your assets? Those are worth tens of millions of dollars! Are you really giving them away?" Kenneth asked, his face clouded with bewilderment.

How strange of them. In the past, whenever Megan wanted something of mine and I refused, they berated me for not knowing how to care for my sister, for not setting a good example as the elder one, and for being selfish and only thinking of myself.

Now that I was voluntarily giving everything up, all of them suspected I was plotting something. Wasn't this exactly what they had wanted?

"Evie, yesterday, Rick told us he was reborn. He claimed that you had faked your illness, stolen the Moonviolet serum, driven Meg out of the house, and caused her to die in a car crash. But looking at things now, it seems he was just talking nonsense.

"You're clearly much more sensible than before. You even learned to give in to your sister. I'm really happy for you. Your mom and I are feeling so much at ease now that you aren't bullying Meg anymore."

I stayed silent.

"Dad, Mom, you won't be feeling at ease for long. Megan can play the victim at home and win all your sympathy and favoritism, but out in the world, no one will be buying her act," I thought.

Suddenly, a metallic tang surged up my throat. Before I could swallow it back, I coughed violently, and bright red blood covered my palm.

"You must be suffering from an irritated throat. Here, have some water."

Mom quickly handed me a glass of water.

I forced a casual tone. "Mom, Dad, would you be sad if I died?"

The air in the room seemed to freeze over instantly.

A flash of irritation crossed Dad's face. "Is playing the pity card your new way of seeking attention?

"Evelina, our family's bloodline is strong. When your wolf awakened at 18 years old, it was the strongest in the pack besides the Alpha's and Beta's. You can't possibly die from a little blood in your cough. Your wolf can heal it in an instant! Don't ever pull such a stunt again."

I fought hard to keep the tears from falling.

My wolf was already dead. After contracting Wolf-Soul Decay syndrome, my wolf had grown weaker day by day, causing my organs to slowly fail, and it would also eventually lead to my death.

"Dad, you have to believe Evie has changed for the better. The selfish, attention-seeking Evelina who used to fake fainting to get attention is gone. Evie is sensible and kind now."

Though it appeared that Megan was defending me, she was actually subtly reminding everyone of my past flaws and how someone like me was inherently untrustworthy.

"That's enough. The past is the past. If you ever bully your sister again, Evie, don't blame me for kicking you out of the family."

Dad shot me one last disappointed look before turning to peel an apple for Megan.

Mom sighed too, then went back to carefully reviewing the post-surgery instructions.

As for Kenneth, he gave me a meaningful glance before heading off to speak with the attending physician about the recovery plan.

Alaric just stared at me, clearly puzzled by how drastically I had changed.

"Rick…" I said, doing all I could to hold back the tremor in my voice. "If there's nothing else, I'll be heading out now."

"Wait up!"

He caught up with me in the corridor and grabbed my arm. His eyes were full of scrutiny and something more complicated.

"Why are you doing this? The company, the investment accounts, and even your fiance… Those were the things you valued more than your own life! In your previous life, you said you'd never give them up unless you died."

"Yes, Alaric. You're right. I'm doing all this because I'm about to die," I thought.

But what was the point of saying all this? Telling them wouldn't change the fact that I was dying.

"Rick, can you come and shell these hazelnuts for me?"

Before I could answer, Megan's voice broke his train of thought.

Alaric hesitated, glancing back at me every few steps as he walked away. His eyes were full of a certain sense of struggle and confusion.

I wished he would turn around and press me for an answer. But in the end, he didn't.