While preparing for the SATs at the library, my brother is accidentally shot and injured, causing him to bleed profusely.

I pass by this scene but turn a blind eye and quicken my pace to leave.

This is because in my previous life, when I saw him, I rushed him to the hospital in a panic. He had intracranial hemorrhaging, and he urgently needed surgery.

I quickly called my mom, the top neurosurgeon in the city, begging her to come to the hospital as soon as possible.

However, she thought I was jealous that she had taken my adopted sister to the beach instead of spending time with me. She also believed I had fabricated the story about my brother's injury, and thus refused to return.

By the time my dad and the rest of the family hurried to the hospital, it was too late for rescue efforts—my brother had passed away.

The whole family blamed me for his death. They were convinced that I had deliberately misled my mom and delayed his critical treatment.

When my mom returned from out of town, she lost her composure and pushed me down the stairs, watching coldly as I bled to death.

After opening my eyes again, I had returned to the day my brother was shot at the library.

I stood at the library entrance for a few seconds, looking at the bright red color blooming before my eyes.

It looked exactly like the blood that had flowed in my previous life, when Mom pushed me down the stairs and the back of my head hit the ground.

Countless images instantly flashed through my mind.

The noise of the hospital corridor, Mom's icy gaze, Dad's furious roar, and the terrible feeling of weightlessness when I fell…

Desperate, I quickly turned around and ran in the opposite direction. I hailed a taxi and got in.

As I sat in the back seat, my body still wouldn't stop trembling.

Cynthia Bale's parents died saving my brother during an earthquake, leaving her an orphan. My parents felt they owed them an immense debt of gratitude, so they brought Cynthia into our home.

From then on, Cynthia became the princess of the family, while I became the useless, unwanted one. Even my brother, Alex Bale—who had always cared for me—was only nice to Cynthia.

No matter what I did or said, it was always viewed as wrong in their eyes.

In my previous life, I desperately tried to explain that I wanted to save Alex and that Mom misunderstood me, but they simply didn't believe me.

They even thought Alex getting shot was a malicious scheme I had deliberately planned.

It was such an absurd notion, yet they believed it deeply and without doubt.

Then in this life, I would never meddle in another's affairs again.

After all, Alex knew about Cynthia getting people to bully me at school, but he turned a blind eye to it.

…

I pushed open the front door, and I heard Dad happily talking to himself.

"These prawns are huge. Cynthia will definitely like them. When she gets back, let's make some chicken soup for her. She's gotten so thin lately, and she needs nourishment."

It wasn't until I reached the dining room doorway that Dad looked up and saw me. The smile on his face instantly vanished, and his expression turned stern.

"Cindy Bale, I told you to buy some crabs. Why did you take so long? Look at the time! Where have you been fooling around? If they're not fresh, eating them will cause diarrhea! Don't you have any sense of propriety?"

Dad launched into a tirade as he criticized me relentlessly.

I stood at the door, still holding the bag of crabs and feeling its heavy weight.

I lowered my head and said softly, "There was some heavy traffic…"

"Heavy traffic? Were you the only one in the entire city of Hathford to encounter a traffic jam? You're so petty, getting upset over a little bit of criticism and becoming as tight-lipped as a clam. You're not at all as sensible or considerate as Cynthia."

Ever since Cynthia came to live with us, these kinds of remarks had never stopped.

They would compare every one of my actions or emotions to Cynthia's, and always eventually conclude that I was inferior to her.

I looked up at Dad, whose face was filled with obvious disappointment. I clenched the bag in my hand and dug my nails deep into my palm.

A sharp ringtone sounded. It was Dad's phone ringing on the counter.

"Hello? Oh, it's Ms. White from the library. Hello, how can I…"

Dad's tone was light, thinking the teacher was calling about something related to Cynthia.

"What? Shot? The library? Alex?"

Dad ended the call, saying, "Alex had an incident at the library. The teacher said we need to get there immediately."

I pretended to know nothing, following Dad as we rushed out of the house and sped all the way to the hospital downtown.

This hospital was all too familiar to me. Mom was a famous doctor here—a top surgeon in the neurosurgery department.

Family members crowded around the operating room entrance. My paternal grandparents, my maternal grandparents—everyone was there.

My maternal grandma—Grandma Bessie—wiped her tears and pointed at me. Her voice was choked with sobs.

"How dare you show your face here! Something this terrible happened to Alex, but where were you?"

My maternal grandpa said nothing, but his gaze toward me was also full of disappointment and blame.

Grandpa Lewis, my paternal grandpa, held onto his wife's arm. He also stared at me reproachfully.

"Exactly! Why didn't you go with Alex to the library? It's so dangerous for him to be out alone!"

Dad stood to the side, his gaze also filled with blame toward me.

I felt like a target getting pierced by countless arrows. In this life, I chose to step back and avoid it, yet I still became the target of everyone's criticism.

Sure enough, no matter what I did, it was always wrong in their eyes.

I lowered my head and whispered in my defense, "I didn't know Alex would have an accident. Let me go get Mom. She's working overtime right now…"

Upon hearing me suggest finding Mom, Dad's eyes showed a flicker of panic.

He quickly grabbed my arm and said, "Your mother is busy. Don't disturb her."

She was probably busy accompanying Cynthia in Hathford, gathering pearls to make a necklace.

In my previous life, it was at this point I found out that Mom had specifically taken time off to go to Hathford to accompany Cynthia on a trip. The whole family knew she wasn't in the city, but they kept it from me.

Grandma Carol—my paternal grandma—shot Dad a disapproving look. "Can anything be more important than Alex's surgery? Hurry up and call Miranda! Tell her to come immediately!"

"That's right!" Grandma Bessie chimed in from the side. "It's such a big matter, so what could be more important than this? Call her quickly!"

I pretended to be anxious as I took my phone out to make the call. But after more than ten calls in a row, no one answered.

"What's going on with Miranda? Alex is in this state, yet she's not even answering her phone!"

Grandma Carol grew more anxious, and her tone showed her dissatisfaction with Mom.

Dad quickly tried to smooth things over. "Mom, she might be in surgery. You know that once she enters the operating room, she can't focus on anything else."

However, the moment his words fell, the call connected.

"Didn't I tell you before? Don't bother me if it's not important! Cindy, are you mad? Don't you know I'm busy here?" Mom snapped.

I gripped the phone tightly and replied weakly, "Mom, Alex was shot. He's at your hospital. You need to come quickly…"

Before I could finish, she cut me off with a scornful laugh. "Shot? Don't jinx Alex with such nonsense! He's perfectly fine, studying at the library. How could he possibly have been shot? If he doesn't do well on his exam, it'll be because you jinxed him!"

Mom simply didn't believe me. It was exactly the same as what I'd heard in my previous life.

"Mom, it's true! Alex really was shot! He's right outside the operating room of your hospital! There's so much blood…"

The anxious Grandma Bessie, who stood beside me, also shouted into the phone, "It's true! Miranda, come quickly!"

Mom's tone instantly turned cold, carrying obvious displeasure. "Mom, Cindy is being immature and spewing nonsense, and you're joining in too?

"Whatever! I don't have time to argue about this. I'm busy with work, so I'm hanging up now."

The call ended abruptly after that.

"What could she be busy with that it's more important than Alex's life? She's gone completely insane!" Grandma Carol said in a trembling voice as she placed a hand over her chest.

Dad tried explaining, "Mom, Miranda might really have something extremely important…"

Just then, a nurse emerged from the operating room with an anxious expression and said, "You're Dr. Wood's family, right? You need to get her back here immediately. The patient has a severe intracranial hemorrhage, and his condition is critical.

"She's the only one who can perform this surgery, but she's off duty today and not at the hospital!"

Dad instantly panicked, looking helplessly at Grandma Carol and Grandma Bessie.

Grandma Bessie stamped her foot and said angrily, "What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and get your wife back here! How dare she lie to us about being at work?"

This time, the call connected quickly.

The noisy background sound came through, and Cynthia could be heard exclaiming happily, "Mom, we still need ten more pearls to make a necklace! Hurry up and keep gathering them!"

Mom said dotingly, "Okay. I'll keep gathering them for you."

Dad said anxiously into the phone, "Miranda, you need to come back now! Alex was shot! He has an intracranial hemorrhage and needs you to operate!"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, followed by Mom's displeased voice.

"Are you joining in this nonsense too? Did that wretched girl Cindy say this? She can't go a single day without causing trouble! How many times have I told you that not a single word she says can be trusted?"

I stood to the side, listening to their conversation. I felt a chill spread through my whole body.

It was Cynthia who was the habitual liar. Every time she framed me for something, I was left unable to defend myself.

Dad was speaking pleadingly now. "Miranda, I'm begging you. This time it's real! Alex really might not make it. Please come back and see for yourself!"

Mom's tone was hesitant as she said, "Peter, I—"

At that moment, Cynthia's voice came through the phone again, this time with a hint of a whine.

"Ugh, I just wanted a pearl necklace, and now Cindy has gotten the whole family to gang up on us. Never mind, Mom. I don't want it anymore. After all, I'm just the adopted daughter. I'm not as important as Cindy."

Mom's attitude instantly became resolute. "Alright, that's enough. I'll be back tonight. Stop using Alex to trick me! He's as tough as nails. What could possibly happen to him?"

Grandma Bessie couldn't take it any longer and yelled into the phone, "Miranda, have you no conscience? Alex's life is hanging in the balance, and you're still thinking about that adopted daughter!

"Would all of us lie to you? Is Alex's life really less important than a pearl necklace?"

Mom's tone was now filled with impatience. "Enough, Mom. Cynthia is my treasure and is no less important than Alex. I'll be back soon. Stop pressuring me! Cindy is just a selfish brat and a liar. Don't believe her!"

She ended the call again, leaving the rest of the family anxiously waiting outside the operating room.

This time, Grandma Bessie and Grandma Carol were clearly furious. They never expected Mom to be so irresponsible.

For the sake of an adopted daughter, she was disregarding her own son's life.

Meanwhile, I stood to the side, watching their anxious and angry expressions. Surprisingly, I felt calm on the inside.

In my previous life, I exhausted myself trying to save Alex's life, only to be met with my family's blame and Mom's cruelty.

In this life, I had chosen to stand by and watch. I wondered how everyone would react to Mom choosing Cynthia.

The nurse rushed out of the operating room again, urging hurriedly, "Have you found Dr. Wood yet? The patient's vital signs are starting to drop! If we don't operate soon, it will be too late!"

Dad frantically tried to call Mom again, only to discover he had been blocked.

Grandma Carol and Grandma Bessie also fumbled for their phones, dialing with trembling hands. Soon, both their faces turned pale.

"It won't go through! She blocked me too!" Grandma Carol exclaimed, sounding disbelieving and heartbroken.

"Me too… That heartless woman! How could she do this?"

Grandma Bessie clutched her phone tightly. Her face was streaked with tears and snot.

A feeling of despair instantly spread. Everyone knew that this time, Alex was really going to leave us.

We could only stand helplessly outside the operating room, listening to the urgent sounds of resuscitation inside and watching as Alex's life slowly slipped away.

The operating room doors opened again, and the doctor walked out wearily, shaking his head gently.