Smack!

A sharp slap rang from outside the door.

James' cold voice came in from outside the door.

“Your young lady has waited eight years for this surgery. Can’t she spare just a few more minutes? Last month, the hospital admitted a girl suffering from menstrual cramps so severe that she tried to jump off a building! This is a matter of life and death! Wanda can't wait any longer!"

The young nurse burst into tears. “But the young lady can't wait either! The donated heart will become inactivated after a while and there will be no way to transplant it again. Besides, the transplant doctors can't treat menstrual cramps. What's wrong with keeping them here for the young lady's surgery...?”

Suddenly, James grabbed the nurse by the hair and slammed her against the operating room door. Gritting his teeth, he roared fiercely, “Who the hell do you think you are, meddling like this? Stop calling her ‘Young Lady’ in front of me. This hospital will bear the Hawthorn name sooner or later!”

James's words sent a chill down my spine. So, it seemed he had been thinking about this for a while now …

Back then, when he was just an average resident, it was my parents who propelled him to where he is today.

The bone-chilling chill spread from my back to my whole body and then my legs went weak and I fell straight to the floor.

The loud thud drew the attention of the people outside. The operating room door was yanked open from the outside and James rushed inside anxiously.

His gaze immediately landed on my phone, which was still lit up from the message I'd just sent to my parents. The screen was still on their reply page.

He glanced at the brief “Okay” and flashed a wary, anxious smile. "Mabel, what did you tell your parents? Didn't we agree, we won't tell your parents about today's surgery so that they wouldn't be worried?"

My hand stiffened as I snatched the phone back as quickly as possible.

“I didn't tell them. I just messaged to say I had a meeting. I was worried they'd call during my surgery and no one would answer.”

James exhaled in relief, scooped me up in his arms and whispered in my ear, “Look at you. If you need your phone, just call me. You're about to have surgery. If you hurt yourself, I'd be heartbroken.”

In my previous life, my desperate resistance only earned his cold indifference. This time, I wouldn't be so foolish.

Fighting back my nausea, I replied to James, "James, when will my surgery start? My anesthesiologist left in a hurry after administering half the injection. Did something happen?"

James held my hand and explained gently with tender eyes, "There was a major car accident in the city center just now and a lot of critically ill patients were brought to the emergency center, but don't worry, it won't delay our operation. I'll arrange for the doctor to come over.’

I grabbed James's sleeve. “Alright, James, I trust you. I've made up my mind. If my surgery is successful, I'll have Mom and Dad hand this hospital over to you.”

A flicker of excitement and complex emotion shone in James's eyes. He paused for a few seconds, kissed my forehead and left with a smile.

A few minutes later, a doctor in a white coat came in.

I looked at him and immediately a sense of relief came over me. Perhaps my words had made a difference, or maybe he was worried about the message I’d sent to my parents, but either way, in this life, he finally sent an expert.

I looked at the heart beside me—the one I’d waited eight years for—and breathed a sigh of relief. I had finally passed the first hurdle of my rebirth.

But I never imagined that trouble would still find its way...

Halfway through the surgery, a jet of crimson blood spurted out from my chest cavity.

The professor's face immediately turned deathly pale. He nervously swallowed repeatedly, called a nurse and whispered urgently, “Go! Get Director Hawthorn here! Bring the last remaining dose of that hemostatic medicine! It's a matter of life and death! Hurry!”

That hemostatic medicine was a secret formula passed down in our Jameson Family and there was one left in our generation. The medicine could pull back from the brink of death in critical moments.

A few minutes later, James rushed in from the outside with the medicine in his hand.

The professor rushed over to take it from him, but he shoved him aside.

“Professor Donovan, this is a lifesaving medicine! Mabel's ECG readings are all within normal range—is it really necessary to use such potent medication?”

Professor Donovan's voice trembled with urgency. "Director Hawthorn, the readings appear normal only because of the equipment! The young lady just suffered massive hemorrhaging! Hand over the medicine now! If we delay, she won't survive!”

James leaned forward and glanced at me. "If there is a severe hemorrhage, just get blood from the blood bank! You only think about this medicine when trouble hits—what good are you then?”

"I had called the blood bank, but it takes time to get the blood. Young lady can't wait any longer!"

James still did not move.

Professor Donovan did not want to argue anymore. He stepped forward to snatch the medicine from James's hand, but at that moment, a young nurse rushed in and grabbed James's hand.

"Director Hawthorn, something happened! Miss Gilmore cut her wrist because of the unbearable pain …"

Before she could finish, James flung Professor Donovan's hand away and stormed out of the operating room.

Before leaving, he glared at Professor Donovan and barked, “I'm taking this medicine to save Wanda's life. You figure out a solution here. If anything goes wrong, I'll punish you."

Professor Donovan was so furious that he paced back and forth in the operating room.

Outside, a young nurse picked up her phone and held it before him. “Director Hawthorn is so biased! That Gilmore girl only cut her wrist with a nail-sized gash. Why should she get that medicine instead of our young lady?”

I listened to the chaos unfolding in the operating room through a haze. But compared to the physical agony of open-heart surgery, the pain in my heart now felt ten thousand times worse.

Fortunately, Professor Donovan had years of experience and connections in the medical field. In addition, my father had always treated him well during his time at the hospital, so he did everything he could for me. After about ten minutes, the blood from the blood bank finally arrived.

When the surgery neared the end, Professor Donovan held me, who was now awake, with tears in his eyes. "Miss, this is all Uncle Donovan can do for you. Since the surgery was interrupted midway and the blood transfusion was delayed, there will likely be many serious complications after the surgery. You must not get too emotional, or your life will still be in danger."

I watched him breathe a sigh of relief.

“It's okay. At least the heart is replaced. Life will be easier than before...”

Yes, this time around, after being reborn, at least I had survived. After all, the heart I had waited eight long years for was too precious to lose.

All the way from the operating room to the ward, the entire hospital felt eerily silent—there wasn’t a single person around. Patients on every floor called out for the doctor over and over again, but no one answered.

Professor Donovan, who was pushing my bed, shook his head and sighed repeatedly.

"What a shame!"

It seemed the hospital’s hundreds of doctors were all still up on the top floor, busy tending to Wanda.

I called over the young nurse beside me and gave her instructions.

She nodded in agreement before quickly turning around and leaving.

Go ahead and enjoy yourselves. This couple's good time won't last much longer anyway.

No sooner had I returned to my ward than the door kicked open from the outside. When the overpowering perfume hit my nose, it told me that it wasn't James.

The next second, Wanda appeared at my bedside in a hospital gown. She grabbed my collar and glared at me through clenched teeth.

"I hear your surgery went smoothly, huh? I stood on the rooftop and James still arranged for a professor to be your surgeon! How dare you, a sick woman like you deserve such care from him!"

I recalled Professor Donovan's warning to avoid getting emotional, so I just pushed her away and turned around.

"It has nothing to do with you whether I am worthy or not. You and I don't have any grudges, so you don't have to say these sarcastic remarks."

The words had barely left my mouth when Wanda yanked my hair and forced me to face her. This movement tore my surgical wound and sent a piercing pain through me.

My pained groan excited her. She grabbed my chin, her eyes burning with hatred as she glared at me.

“Who said we have no grudge? Eight years ago, if you hadn't used your family connections to force James into marrying you, he and I would have been together long ago! Eight years—over two thousand days—and every single one, I cursed you to die early!”

A sharp stab of pain pierced my heart and I immediately suppressed the rage surging within, trying to calm myself.

"Wanda, you don't have to hate me anymore. You're only having your period, but James called every doctor in the hospital. I know what matters most now. Rest assured, once I'm fully recovered, I'll divorce him immediately. You two will be together soon enough.”

A sharp, mocking laugh came from above my head.

"Divorce? That's not enough! I want you dead!"

The words barely left her mouth before Wanda ripped open her hospital gown. In an instant, fresh love bites on her chest and neck appeared before my eyes.

She looked at me, frozen on the hospital bed and flashed a smug smile. Then she choked my throat.

"Did you see these? Do you know that in the past eight years, James was passionately tangled with me every night when you were heartbroken and crying out in pain? He also made a recording of your wailing voice to heighten our passion …"

"Originally, James planned to throw the heart that was transplanted into you into the trash after it died. I don’t know what trick you used, you bitch, but the surgery actually worked!”

"But it doesn't matter. James said your illness is most susceptible to anger—one wrong move and you'll die of rage. We'll wear you down first, then your parents. Then your entire family fortune and this hospital will be ours! So tell me — is divorce enough?”

Suddenly, when the thought of eight years of me staying alone at home, while enduring excruciating pain and clutching photos of James, flooded my mind, a sharp pang shot through my heart.

But before my hand could land on her face, James burst through the door and kicked my wrist. Then pulled Wanda into his arms.

Wanda, looking as wronged as a little rabbit, cowered in James's embrace.

Before I could say a word, she beat me to it.

"James, I just thought Mabel would be bored after her surgery, so I came to keep her company. But the moment I walked in, she accused me of taking away the doctor and tried to hit me...”

Just as I was about to explain, James lunged forward and slapped me across the face. "Mabel Jameson, why do you always have to bully Wanda? I was the one who called the doctors away. Take it out on me if you have a problem!"

“I've got scores to settle with you too! That bitch told me everything about your schemes! Let me tell you, James, stop dreaming. This is my family's hospital. You're nothing but a lowly lackey working for us for the rest of your life!”

‘If you behave yourself, I’ll spare your life. Otherwise, you…"

James exchanged a swift glance with Wanda, then lunged forward to grab my throat.

"Otherwise, what? Let me tell you, I sent your parents abroad long ago. Since you’ve blown our cover, fine. Today, you die!"

As he tightened his grip, James turned and shouted at Wanda, "Wanda, come here and help me! Our golden days are finally here!"

No sooner had he said the words, my parents rushed in, followed by a bunch of people.