Chapter 4

Hannah stood behind them, still looking at me with the same innocent expression.

But I could've sworn there was something mocking in her eyes.

No matter what I said, Ethan and Margaret refused to believe that Hannah had deliberately unfastened Noah's safety restraint.

Watching the two of them defend her so fiercely left me feeling helpless.

And suddenly, another possibility occurred to me.

Could Hannah's decision to murder our entire family have something to do with the way we'd spoiled her?

Had years of excessive pampering somehow twisted her into this?

With that thought in mind, I insisted on taking Hannah to a therapist the next day.

But the results were the exact opposite of what I'd expected.

Hannah was perfectly fine.

I, on the other hand, showed signs of severe anxiety.

I stared at the results in disbelief.

Hannah was fine?

How was that possible?

Ethan came over and gave my shoulder a reassuring pat.

“Now you believe there's nothing wrong with Hannah, right?

“Claire, you're just wound too tight. Your anxiety is making you assume the worst about everything.”

He softened his voice.

“Try to relax. Once Hannah's done with the college entrance exam, we'll all take a proper vacation together.”

After handing Hannah a glass of water, Margaret came over too.

“Exactly, Claire. You've seen the results yourself. Stop putting everyone through this.”

She sighed.

“If all this ends up affecting Hannah right before the exam, I won't care what score she gets. She'll always be my precious granddaughter. But you're the one who's going to regret it.”

Listening to Ethan and Margaret, I finally began to doubt myself.

Was I really just overwhelmed with anxiety because Hannah's college entrance exam was coming up?

Had everything from my previous life, Hannah murdering our whole family, my death, even my rebirth, all been some kind of delusion caused by stress?

I shook my head and looked over at Hannah.

And saw her smiling at me.

A smug, almost demonic smile.

My heart lurched.

“Ethan! Margaret! Look at her!”

They immediately turned.

But when I looked back at Hannah, she was simply sipping her water like the sweet, obedient girl she'd always been.

When she noticed me staring, she even asked gently,

“Mom, what's wrong? Do you want some water?”

I could hardly believe my own eyes.

Ethan and Margaret exchanged a look.

Then they came to the same conclusion.

“This is exactly what we're talking about. You're too anxious because Hannah's college entrance exam is coming up.”

After hearing the same thing from them over and over again, I finally had no choice but to accept that maybe I really was the problem.

That evening, we went home.

Margaret carefully made Hannah a nourishing soup.

Noah cracked jokes at the dinner table.

Everything felt ordinary.

Warm.

Like any other happy family dinner.

I looked at the sweet profile of my daughter sitting beside us.

And the more I watched her, the more I began to wonder if everything from my previous life, even my rebirth itself, had really been nothing more than something my anxious mind had invented.

Of course.

My daughter was so sweet and well-behaved.

How could she possibly be a monster who would murder her entire family?

I kept repeating that to myself.

And little by little, I actually started to feel better.

But for some reason, a small shadow of unease remained buried deep inside me.

That night, just before bed, I instinctively opened the camera feed in Hannah's room again.

What I saw made my blood run cold.