When I finally opened my eyes again, I was back at the scene of the car crash.

Cold sweat ran down my forehead, and my abdomen felt as though it were being torn apart by an unseen force.

The burning, unbearable pain dragged me from the nightmare of my past life.

Dragging my weary body across the floor, I crawled toward the phone just out of reach.

The impulse to call my husband, my emergency contact and doctor, gnawed at me, but I pushed it aside.

With trembling hands, I dialed emergency services.

Each second stretched like an eternity, my heart sinking in despair as I waited, helpless until the ambulance finally arrived.

Just like in my past life, they brought me to the hospital where Aiden worked.

I watched him tenderly cradling Lorelei in his arms, examining her injuries with meticulous care.

It wasn’t until after discussing her condition with the other doctors that he finally acknowledged mine.

The doctor treating me had no warmth in his gaze, only cold disdain as he snapped at me.

“Sister-in-law, Lorelei just arrived, and you followed right behind. Was it really necessary to put on such a convincing act?”

I felt as though my insides were rearranging themselves, blood slipping from between my legs.

Still, he ignored me, leaving me to tremble in agony.

I reached out with what little strength I had left, grabbing a passing nurse’s arm, tears streaming down my face as I begged for help.

But the doctor stepped in, halting her in her tracks.

“Aiden said she’s a skilled actress. Let her have her way. There’s no need to examine her.”

I watched helplessly as the nurse walked away, my last shred of hope crumbling into dust.

Inside me, the child kicked violently as if begging for my help.

But there was nothing I could do to stop her from being torn from my body.

In my past life, after the crash, I had immediately called Aiden, pleading for him to operate on me.

His incredible skills had saved me.

But in doing so, he had missed Lorelei’s call for help, and she had died as a result.

Aiden had whispered to me, soft and comforting, that it wasn’t my fault, and he had become even more attentive to my every need.

But on the day of my delivery, he had used the excuse of accompanying me to send all the medical staff away.

Then, with cold precision, he pulled out a knife he had hidden, stabbing me over and over again, thirty times in total.

Blood had poured from me as his expression turned more and more twisted, his gaze dark with madness.

“Lorelei was pure and kind, but your jealousy killed her. Why wasn’t it you who died, Corinne?”

In his twisted devotion, he had sealed both our fates, bringing my child and me to a tragic end.

The heavens, in their mercy, had given me another chance at life.

This time, all I wanted was to stay as far from him as humanly possible.

But I hadn’t anticipated that he would publicly slander me in front of his colleagues, cutting off any chance I had to seek help from anyone else.

Every inch of my body felt like it had been crushed under an immense weight.

With clenched teeth, I summoned every ounce of strength I had left and screamed, “Someone, please save me!”

Finally, another doctor appeared at my side. He barely spared me a glance before looking me over with a sneer.

“You sure know how to put on a show. Where’d you get those blood bags? Must’ve cost you a pretty penny.”

“Stop wasting medical resources. Some people actually need help. How shameless, doing all this for a man. Just pack up and leave. Aiden doesn’t have time for you.”

After his words were finished, he kicked the hospital bed with ruthless force.

The pain from my wound pulling deep within me sent waves of agony through my body as if my bones were being pulled apart, one by one. A strained groan slipped from my lips.

I had known Aiden didn’t care for me, but I never imagined the level of disdain his colleagues would hold for me.

My body felt like it was disintegrating, piece by piece. Staring into the empty void, I waited for death to claim me.

Everyone around me was too absorbed in their tasks, unaware of how my breaths had become shallow and labored.

Just as I clung to the edge of consciousness, I heard someone cry out for help on my behalf.

“She’s losing too much blood! Her face is wrong; please, someone help her! Don’t let her die!”

But instead of receiving aid, mocking voices responded.

“Why hasn’t she given up yet? We already told her Aiden is with Lorelei. If she’s so capable, why doesn’t she call him herself? Why bother acting like this for us?”

The whispers of onlookers swirled around me, sharp and cutting.

Under the weight of their cruel comments, Aiden was finally summoned by his colleagues.

But what I met wasn’t care or concern; it was a slap across my face. Twice.

“Corinne, I’ve had enough of you!” His voice was cold, as though every word cut through my very soul. “You might not care about your reputation, but I still care about mine!”

“What were you thinking, staging that accident? Are you scared now? If you want to die, go somewhere else! Don’t bring your bad luck to me!”

Even now, he still thought I was the mastermind behind the crash, convinced it was some twisted scheme to win his attention.

Tears streamed down my face as I shook my head frantically, trying to deny his accusations, but my voice failed me.

The child in my womb had gone eerily still. My throat, raw and hoarse, could only produce weak, desperate sounds. Despair gnawed at me, and with the last bit of strength I could summon, I pointed to my stomach, silently begging him to save us for the sake of the child.

But instead of the compassion I had desperately hoped for, Aiden's hand came down harshly on my belly, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"The baby is fine!" he spat, his words sharp as daggers. "Lorelei already told me she saw you talking to the driver. Now that it’s all out in the open, you're playing the victim? I don’t have time for your games. Lorelei isn’t well right now."

With a final, dismissive glance, he turned on his heel and stormed away.

A wave of alarm rippled through the crowd.

"There’s so much blood on the bed!"

"She’s lost too much; the baby can’t be saved."

"Push her out of here! How shameless can she be? Does she think this will make us feel sorry for her? Poor Aiden is stuck with someone like her. What terrible luck!"

A bitter smile tugged at my lips, but it was more of a grimace as my consciousness began to fragment, slipping further from my grasp.

As my eyes fluttered closed, memories of a night five years ago, the night of that fateful banquet, washed over me.

Back then, I had been nothing more than an intern, reluctantly coaxed into drinking far too much by my supervisor.

When I finally realized the danger I was in, I tried to break free, but the grip on me was unyielding.

Dragged into a room, panic rising in my chest, Aiden appeared, wielding a stick like a warrior. He drove the man away, saving me from the fire that threatened to consume me. At that moment, he was like an angel descending from the heavens, and without realizing it, he carved a place for himself deep within my heart.

The following morning, I woke to find he had stayed by my side, guarding me through the night.

Through our conversation, I learned just the basics about him, enough to make me feel even more indebted.

In gratitude, I found myself drawn to him more and more.

One day, he surprised me by picking me up after work. For the first time, it felt as though this untouchable man might just be softening before my eyes.

I seized the chance, pouring everything I had into making him smile.

I cooked for him, baked cakes from scratch, and stayed by his side during those late-night shifts.

For two months, every moment was a chance to show him how much I cared.

And in the end, I won him over, the icy walls around his heart slowly crumbling beneath the warmth I gave him.

I truly believed my sincerity had touched him, that we’d walk through life’s stages hand in hand, embracing the happiness we both deserved.

But instead, I found myself standing on the precipice of despair.

Once we were together, I was always the one reaching out, the one who put in the effort. His responses were scarce, and more often than not, he declined my invitations.

I made excuses for him, convincing myself that "doctors have demanding, exhausting jobs."

As his girlfriend, I believed I should be more understanding and more considerate. The more guilty I felt, the harder I tried to care for him.

But everything came crashing down on our first wedding anniversary.

A stranger added me as a friend, and from there, everything began to unravel, exposing just how naïve and foolish I had been.

Lorelei sent me a video, a cruel show of victory.

In that video, Aiden appeared as a gentle, loving version of himself I had never seen, his eyes shining with affection I thought was reserved for me.

It turned out that his so-called "busyness" was just a convenient excuse. For a single call from his childhood sweetheart, he would drop everything, no matter the distance, to be by her side.

Their childhood bond was something I, a mere stranger in his life, could never hope to match.

All I could do was cry in silence, my heart shattered, too afraid to confront him with the truth.

In my previous life, when Lorelei passed away, Aiden stayed by my side, never leaving. At that moment, I believed he had finally turned his attention back to our family, recognizing my worth.

He even designed a dreamy children’s room for our little one, pouring his love into every detail.

Every meal was carefully planned, each dish prepared by his own hands—his love seemed overwhelming, blinding me to the truth.

But on the day I gave birth, the truth finally shattered the illusion.

He had built a prison of love, raising me high on the wings of affection, only to bring me crashing down, his final act of vengeance for the woman he truly loved.

To see me fall from grace was his sweetest revenge.

“Such a shame, such a young life lost. Her husband’s a doctor, too; how could he not have seen the signs? What will she do now…”

“Shh, don’t speak anymore.”

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a double hospital room, the weight of it all sinking in.

A relative from the neighboring bed came over, her eyes soft with concern.

“You’re finally awake. How do you feel? Should I call your husband? Honestly, how could he be so busy? You were in such a dangerous state, and yet he wasn’t by your side.”

I couldn’t stop myself from glancing down at my now-flat abdomen, the emptiness of it all overwhelming. Tears fell as if they had been waiting for the chance to escape.

“The baby couldn’t be saved. If only…”

My voice broke, and I shuddered slightly. “Maybe it’s better this way. At least the child won’t have to suffer because of me.”

The woman sensed my sorrow and stammered, trying to offer comfort.

“Right now, you need to focus on taking care of yourself. Don’t dwell on it too much.”

Many had pointed out to him that something was wrong with me, but he remained convinced it was just another one of my schemes.

Precious time, time that could have saved us both, had slipped away.

Seeing my expression, the woman’s face flushed with indignation.

“Doctors these days, aren’t they supposed to be angels in white? But all I see are butchers!”

“If I hadn’t raised a ruckus and begged them to check on you, you probably wouldn’t have made it. It would’ve been a double tragedy.”

“And your husband, how could he stand by and let you die, even if couples argue? He’s a doctor, for heaven’s sake!”

“I saw countless videos of the scene online. Public opinion is in an uproar.”

Her voice grew more heated with each word, and I could almost see her rushing to the nurses’ station to unleash her fury.

I swallowed the storm rising in my chest and, with a heart heavy as a stone, whispered, “He doesn’t love me. To him, my death would be a release.”

My words seemed to hit her like a slap, and her expression faltered.

She hesitated, then tried to offer what comfort she could, urging me to divorce him once I was out of the hospital and even promising to help me for the next few days.

I smiled faintly and politely declined.

I picked up my phone in silence, my heart sinking as I scrolled through the news.

The fractured relationships between medical staff and patients have always made headlines, but today, the situation has crossed a line.

As a doctor, saving lives was their sworn duty. Yet, they had stood by, letting a patient slip away.

The vivid red bloodstains on the floor were a stark reminder of the horror.

Someone had uploaded the entire video to the comment section.

The fury was instant and unrelenting.

People demanded answers. How could a doctor fail to recognize the peril of a pregnant woman in distress? Where was their sense of professionalism?