Chapter 1 Chapter 1

When I opened my eyes again, I saw my father-in-law, George Lane, lying on the floor. Since I was young, I would faint when I saw blood, so I wanted to give my husband, Brian Lane, a call. I unlocked my phone, but the image of Brain hacking me with a cleaver appeared in my mind. It was as if I could feel the pain again. My finger hovered on the phone screen before I stopped myself from calling Brian. Instead, I gave his cousin, Camden Lane, a call. He answered right away. “Brian, quick, come back home. George fell down, and there is a lot of blood. What should I do? I’m terrified of blood. Come back, quick!” I pretended that I had dialed the wrong number and talked in a way that it sounded like I was sobbing. “Don’t panic, I’m coming over now.” Camden lived very close, just a ten-minute walk away. As expected, within five minutes, he was already knocking on the door. I immediately opened the door. I feigned surprise when I saw him. “Camden? Didn’t I call Brian?” He did not offer any explanation. He went straight to George, picked him up, and ran out while ordering me to follow him. When we reached the hospital, Camden’s clothes were already covered in George’s blood. “Who’s the patient’s immediate family member? The patient’s condition is critical, so we need his immediate family member to sign a consent form!” The nurse rushed out from the emergency room with a consent form in her hand. “I’m his daughter-in-law, I can do it.”“No, we need an immediate family member for this.” She then glanced at Camden. “I’m his nephew,” Camden said. The nurse frowned. “Where are his other family members?”“Miss, you may start the surgery. I’ll contact his son.” The nurse went back into the emergency room with the consent form. I took out my phone and called Brian before Camden. He did not pick up my call. I tried again, but he hung up on me the second time. When I tried again for the third time, I put Brian on speaker so his annoyed voice would echo through the corridor. “Can you stop? Are you dying? Why are you bombarding me with calls?” He sounded as cold and distant as he was in my last life. My eyes turned cold when I recalled the images of how he killed me in my last life. However, I had no choice but to act. “Brian, your father just fell down and is bleeding profusely. The hospital requires his immediate family member to sign the consent form for surgery. Can you quickly come over to Peace Hospital?” Brian yelled at me after hearing that. “Just send him to the hospital! Why are you calling me? I’m not a doctor. You know that I’m with Dawn Richards, so that’s why you’re calling me, right? I’m telling you this won’t work on me! Are you useless? Can’t you survive without me?” After he said that, I heard a woman crying next to him. “Brian, I’m scared…” Without waiting for me to respond, Brian hung up on me. Everyone looked at me in sympathy. I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. I smiled bitterly. Camden was furious. He started pacing back and forth before the hospital ward with his arms crossed. He soon said, “Call him again! I don’t believe that a woman would be more important to him than his own father!” I did the same thing in my last life. However, back then, I was hiding in the stairwell while making my call. This time, everyone at the scene were my witnesses. Upon hearing Camden’s suggestion, I made another call in front of everyone. Unexpectedly, Brian declined my call. When I tried calling again, I realized that he had already blocked my number. I looked anxious with tears streaming helplessly down my cheeks, but on the inside, I was secretly relieved. I collapsed on the corridor chair.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Camden ran his hand through his hair and cursed loudly. Then, he took out his phone and gave Brian a call with trembling hands. I looked up gratefully at him. Brian answered the call, and Camden immediately scolded him. “Brian, I don’t care where you are or what you’re doing, come to Peace Hospital right now!” It was noisy over Brian’s side, as if he was in a crowded place. “Camden? Lindsay Parker is insane. She actually managed to convince you to lie to me! Forget about Lindsay, why are you conspiring with her? I really have urgent things to attend to now and don’t have time for this nonsense! I can’t believe she got you too. Can’t she be more independent? I need to go, bye!” Camden was about to say more when Brian hung up on him without any hesitation. Camden stared at his phone, then started to spam Brian with more calls. However, he only heard the robotic voice of voicemail. In the end, Brian also blocked Camden’s number. I was crying with my face pressed into my palms. In truth, I was afraid that the others may accidentally see my smile. The nurse stationed at the counter sighed. She felt helpless, but passed her phone to me. “You can use my phone to call him. It’s a person’s life on the line.” I took the phone and looked at her gratefully. Brian answered the call right away, but when he heard my voice, he started yelling at me. “What the hell do you want for me? If you want to die, be my guest! Can’t you survive without me? I feel disgusted when I hear your voice! I’m going to divorce you when I go back. I really can’t stand you anymore!” He hung up right after. Everyone who had extended their sympathy toward me were angry. “He’s such a useless son! His father is in a critical condition, and he’s busy with his mistress!”“What a disgrace to men! Trash!” Regardless of how difficult the situation was, a person would stomach it on their own if there was no one there to see it. However, when someone showed their care, it would be hard for the person to hold back the emotions. Tears streamed down my eyes and the corners of my lips turned downwards. I wiped the tears away. A woman that had witnessed the entire encounter passed me a tissue and a name card. It was from a divorce lawyer named Eleanor Newman. I wiped my tears with the tissue and slid the name card into my pocket. After a long wait, the surgery was over. The doctor walked out of the surgical room and took off his mask. He shook his head toward Camden and I. “He was too old, and he had lost a lot of blood. We tried our best.” After saying that, he walked past us. Brian should have been the one to deal with George’s funeral arrangements, but Camden refused to contact him. “He failed as a son and isn’t worthy of being George’s son! I feel so sorry for George. He poured out his heart and soul to take care of Brian when he was growing up, but he got nothing in return!” Camden was extremely furious. He was the most educated and capable member of the Lane family, so no one dared to object to his decision. Camden and I contacted the funeral services. I thought Brian would not show up at all, but he appeared in the end. It was the day of George’s burial. We were about to head toward the burial spot when we heard Brian’s roar. “Lindsay, get out here! Who asked you to do this? In order to force me to return, you conspired with the rest of the family? What nonsense!” When I saw Brian, an overwhelming fear stemming from my last life overpowered me. I started shaking while holding George’s photo. Tears started streaming down my face uncontrollably. “Enough! We called you non-stop back then, but what did you say? You were with your lover and weren’t willing to listen to us! Who are you putting this show up for now that you’re back? Get lost! You’re no longer a member of the Lane family! Get out!” This was the first time I saw Camden this angry. “Camden, what did Lindsay say to brainwash you like this? No, I’m going to talk to my dad. How could he let Lindsay do this?” After saying that, Brian called out to George and started searching for him. Camden shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He carefully placed George’s urn on a table and walked toward Brian. He then grabbed Brian and dragged him toward George’s urn.