Before I arrived, Lauren had just finished a video call with Gina, just to make sure her mother would keep me around a little longer and not bother her while she was out with Isaac.

Watching Gina pace around like a cat on a hot tin roof, I deliberately jogged back, panting for breath.

"Mom, Lauren's coworkers say she's not working late today, and she won't pick up my calls either!"

A flash of guilt crossed Gina's face, but she still covered for Lauren. "She probably got called out somewhere. If you can't reach her, just try again in a bit."

Just then, Lauren's uncle, Patrick Martinez, along with Hannah's in-laws, arrived at the hospital.

When Patrick saw me, his expression instantly hardened. "Where's Lauren? Isn't she an obstetrician? What are you doing here, just standing around? Why haven't you called her over yet?"

Patrick was my late father-in-law's older brother. After his death, Patrick had taken charge of all Martinez family matters, big and small.

In my last life, when the doctor announced Hannah's death, I was still in shock when Patrick slapped me twice across the face. "You're Hannah's brother-in-law! You're supposed to look after her as family! How could you just let her die?!"

This time, I was not going to give him the chance.

I gave a bitter smile and said, "Patrick, I can't reach Lauren. She told me this morning she would be working late, but when I went looking for her, her coworkers said she never came to the hospital today. She won't even answer my calls."

Gina opened her mouth slightly but ultimately said nothing.

"Are you stupid? If she's not picking up, keep calling! You're pathetic!" snapped Patrick.

I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed one call after another. Finally, on the tenth attempt, the call connected.

I immediately put it on speakerphone. "Honey..."

"Are you out of your mind?! Why do you keep calling me? I told you I'm working late! I'm very busy, so don't bother me!"

"Honey, Hannah just fell, and she's bleeding badly. She's still in the operating room right now... You're not even at the hospital. Where are you?"

There was a pause on the other end. Then, a man's sarcastic voice came through.

"Wow! Charles doesn't trust you, huh? He went all the way to the hospital to check on you? Lauren, your coworkers won't get the wrong idea, will they?

"Charles, come on, man... If you've got something to say, talk to your wife straight up. Don't go around cursing her sister just because you're jealous. That's twisted."

"No, that's not true... Lauren, I'm serious! Hannah's really in surgery, you can even..."

"Enough! If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. How could Hannah fall at her in-laws' place? Stop being so dramatic. You're jealous again, huh? You just had to show up at my workplace to make a scene? If this mess costs me my year-end evaluation, I swear I won't forgive you!"

Before I could say anything else, she hung up.

The area outside the operating room, which had been filled with whispered conversations, fell silent.

I gave a bitter smile and feigned hurt.

Gina avoided my gaze, and Patrick's face twitched with guilt, though he said nothing. Meanwhile, Hannah's in-laws looked at me with disgust, exchanging heavy sighs.

Just then, the operating room doors burst open.

A nurse rushed out with an anxious look on her face and said, "The patient has an amniotic fluid embolism! You're Dr. Martinez's family... Can someone contact her right away?"

My eyes flickered slightly. Everything was unfolding just as it had in my past life.

Gina's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. Patrick could no longer pretend to be calm and quickly called Lauren.

He muttered, under his breath, "It's fine... Everything is going to be fine... Lauren is the best obstetrician, and she's saved several patients with amniotic fluid embolisms before. She'll definitely save Hannah!"

The golden window to treat an amniotic fluid embolism lasted barely 15 minutes. It was literally doctors racing against death itself.

Over the past three years, Lauren had saved five patients with amniotic fluid embolism and had failed only once. Due to this success rate, she rose and became the head obstetrician at Mercy Hospital for Women.

When Patrick's call was connected, he desperately rambled, "Lauren, get to the hospital now! Hannah has an amniotic fluid embolism, and only you can save her!"

There were sounds of kids laughing and shouting on the other end of the line, glasses clinking, and adults chatting in the background.

"Uncle Patrick, did you lose your mind too? Are you seriously playing along with Charles' crazy act? Enough is enough! I spend every single day of the year taking care of him. I just wanted one peaceful day to myself, and you can't even let me have that?

"Isaac and I don't have anything going on. His family just came back to visit, and I'm having dinner with them. So please stop calling me!"

Patrick panicked. "Lauren, I'm not lying! Hannah is in a dire state. She has an amniotic fluid embolism, and only you can save her now! I'm begging you–please come back, or you'll regret it!"

"I'd only regret it if I went back!" Lauren's voice came out emotionless.

Hearing Lauren's voice, Gina broke down and grabbed the phone, sobbing, "Lauren, Patrick isn't lying to you! Hannah really is in trouble! Even if you don't believe Charles or Patrick, you'll believe me, won't you? Come back right now!"

I sighed inwardly. To me, Gina was not a good person. After all, she knew Lauren was cheating, but she still helped in hiding it. Nonetheless, to Hannah, she was a good mother.

"Lauren, did you hear that? Your own mother wouldn't lie to you! Why aren't you coming back?" Patrick practically shouted in frustration.

"Mom, you..." Lauren's voice wavered with hesitation.

"Ahh! My eye! My eye!"

A man's pained cry rang out, accompanied by an adult scolding a child.

"How could you shoot a marble at your uncle's face like that?"

Suddenly, Lauren's concerned voice came through the phone. "Isaac, does it hurt? Don't move. I'm a doctor, let me take a look!"

Then, her voice turned urgent yet ice-cold as she spoke into the phone. "Mom, stop fooling around. Even if what you're saying is true, it doesn't matter. I've had quite a bit to drink and can't drive. I can't make it back."

With that, she hung up.

The phone slipped from Gina's hands and hit the floor with a sharp crack. Then, she dropped to her knees, her head hitting the ground as she lay there motionless.

Patrick sank beside her, tears streaming down his face. "What happened to her? How could she become like this? How can she ignore her family for some man? She's a demon!"

I helped Gina to her feet and saw the red mark swelling on her forehead from where she had hit the ground. I almost pitied her. Almost.

Still, I could not feel sorry for her. After all, in my past life, she had played her part in driving me to my death.

I did not know how much time had passed when the operating room doors opened again.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

Hannah and her baby were both gone. Gina seemed like a shell of herself, refusing to eat or drink, only clutching Hannah's clothes and crying.

Patrick was furious and repeated the entire hospital ordeal to every relative, cursing Lauren as a monster.

When Hannah's in-laws learned about the news, they broke down sobbing. Jacob rushed back from out of town that same day. The moment he saw his dead wife and son, his face twisted in anguish, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

Jacob refused to accept that Hannah was gone. He had only been on a business trip for three days. Before the trip, they had talked about their future together and imagined the life they would build as a family of three.

When he learned the truth from his parents, he wiped his tears and quietly arranged the funeral with me.

No one thought to inform Lauren, especially after finding out that she had been at a hotel across from the hospital, having dinner with Isaac and his family. She did not even bother to check if the news was true.

Even Gina lost faith in her.

Of course, I would never let Lauren miss something this important. The day before Hannah's burial, I made sure someone told her.

It drizzled that morning. I stood beside my car, holding an umbrella, watching people carry Hannah's casket out from the funeral home. In my past life, this was the day Jacob had hacked me to death with a knife, my blood mixing with the rainwater to create a red carpet for Hannah.

Before the casket even made it through the doorway, Lauren's car screeched to a halt. She stormed out, running toward me furiously.

I stared at her blankly. I did not even manage to say anything yet when she slapped my face hard.

She glared at the memorial photo I was holding and hissed, "You rat! You did all this just to trick me into coming back?"

I fell to the ground. The photo frame slipped from my hands and landed in the mud, covering half of Hannah's face. Only her cold eyes were visible, quietly staring at Lauren as if watching everything unfold.

Lauren's eyes turned bloodshot, filled with fury, or maybe fear. She looked nothing like the gentle, poised doctor she once was, more like a madwoman losing control. "You animal! I'll make you pay for lying to me, for cursing Hannah! I'll beat you to death!"

I did not fight back, letting Lauren punch and kick me while I stared at Hannah's photo.

'Look closely, Hannah. Remember who your real enemy is. When you get to the other side and complain to the powers that be, don't accuse the wrong person.'

"Enough! What are you doing?!"

People inside the funeral home heard the commotion and rushed out.

Patrick shoved Lauren away and shouted through his tears, "You monster! Hannah could've been saved! We called you so many times... Gina was practically on her knees begging you! Just because that rat said one thing, you refused to save her! You killed Hannah, and now you dare show up at her funeral to cause a scene? What do you want?!"

Lauren stumbled backward a few steps, fear showing through her forced composure. "Uncle Patrick, what are you talking about? How could Hannah be dead? He's lying! You're all lying! Are you just pitying him because he's sick, and that's why you're playing along with his lies?"

I curled up, letting the rain pour down my face.

So, Lauren had known I was sick at this point.

"You're all lying to me! I want to see Hannah!" Lauren shouted as she tried to rush into the funeral home. "Hannah! Hannah!"

However, she froze the next moment.

The black casket, carried by eight men, was slowly lifted out the door.