Chapter 3

I was fine after falling into the pool. Talia, however, ended up in the hospital that very night.

According to the doctors, she had a congenital blood disorder that had suddenly worsened. She needed a hematopoietic stem cell transplant as soon as possible.

As luck would have it, I was the only person in the entire family who was a match.

The Silva family gathered around my hospital bed, each wearing an expression more solemn than the last.

Matheus appealed to the bonds of blood. Victoria reminded me of the eighteen years she had spent raising Talia. My three older brothers took turns reminding me that Talia had been there for them for eighteen years.

After listening to all of them, I arrived at one simple conclusion. She had taken my place. Therefore, I owed her half a life.

No wonder the wealthy played by different rules. Even their accounting was more extravagant than everyone else’s.

Byron handed me the consent form. “We’re only taking a portion. It won’t put your life at risk.”

He was the second son of the Silva family and the director of this private hospital. He certainly had plenty of authority. As for his medical ethics, that remained to be seen.

I flipped open the consent form just as the Grim Reaper’s voice rang in my head.

“Significant blood loss may accelerate the deterioration of your host vessel.”

It might cause death? How was that any different from a guaranteed death sentence?

I signed on the spot. My pen nearly set the paper on fire.

Victoria clasped my hand with reddened eyes. “Bianca, thank you for being willing to save your sister.”

“Don’t mention it.”

‘Take as much as you need. Really, don’t treat me like an outsider.’

Halfway through the procedure, the doctors noticed that my body temperature was steadily dropping.

“Dr. Silva, something’s wrong with her condition. We need to stop.”

I immediately opened my eyes. “Don’t stop.”

The doctor froze for a moment.

However, Byron watched me through the glass for a moment before speaking. “Talia needs a large amount for this transplant.”

“She fell from the twenty-eighth floor and was perfectly fine. Her ability to recover is better than an ordinary person’s. Continue.”

I was this close to weeping with gratitude. After all these days in the Silva family, Byron and I had finally reached a consensus.

The doctor continued extracting stem cells for another half hour. The cracks on my charm continued to spread.

“Reincarnation progress: 45%.”

My fingers trembled with excitement. I was almost there, two more tubes were all it took.

I was determined to finally get this whole reincarnation business taken care of today.

However, Byron suddenly called a halt. “That’s enough.”

I turned to look at him. “How is that enough?”

The worst thing one could do was quit halfway through.

He frowned. “Do you really have to make yourself look more considerate than Talia at a time like this?”

I closed my eyes, unwilling to speak. Our sibling bond had officially come to an end.

After the procedure, I was transferred to an observation room. Having received my stem cells, Talia looked noticeably healthier.

She waited until no one was around, then wheeled herself over to my bed.

“Do you think saving me will make our brothers think you’re a good person?”

I shook my head. I just thought this hospital had some impressive equipment.

It even had a real-time display of my progress toward death. I had an excellent user experience.

When Talia saw that I was not responding, she simply pulled out my IV line and wheeled me into the underground cell storage facility.

The cold room door locked behind me. A blast of minus-thirty-degree air quickly enveloped my body.

Through the glass, she stared at me coldly. “Stay in there and think about what you’ve done.”

I nearly threw myself at her and kissed her. As expected of the person I had chosen for the job.

Byron handled the bloodletting while she handled the freezing. With teamwork like theirs, everything ran smoothly.

I found an empty storage chamber, climbed inside, and even lowered the temperature by another five degrees myself.

“Reincarnation progress: 60%.

“70%.”

Just as the progress bar hit seventy-nine percent, the cold room door suddenly swung open.

The Silva family stormed in with their bodyguards.

Talia immediately clutched her chest and collapsed into James’s arms.

“I came to look for Bianca, but the door suddenly locked. I was so scared…”

James scooped her up and carried her out, Byron checked her for signs of frostbite and Harriet hurried to call a doctor.

It was not until they were long gone that someone finally remembered there was still another person in the cold room.

By the time the bodyguards carried me out, I was staring at my frozen progress bar, so furious I could practically feel my corpse spots surfacing.

When I actually needed saving, no one came, yet when I did not need saving, they arrived faster than ever.

Having biological older brothers really did nothing but slow down my reincarnation.