“What?”

Bart coughed. He was glaring at me so hard that his face was turning red.

“You useless nothing! This is the Ward family we’re talking about! Do you know how hard it is for anyone to get close to them?”

Harriet slapped me. She looked furious.

“Why did I ever adopt such a stupid person? Get out of here! If you don’t make the Ward family change their mind about you, don’t you dare come home!”

My face stung so badly that it felt like it was going numb. I closed my eyes and turned to head to my room. There, I collected my bone needles and amulets and prepared to leave.

“Hold on, leave those things behind!”

I frowned. “These are mine!”

Cynthia tugged Harriet’s arm, her expression wronged. “Mom, I won’t be able to cure Matthew without that set of needles and those amulets! If he can’t have children, I won’t become Mrs. Ward! Tell Lil not to be so selfish!”

Harriet’s expression immediately turned stern. “You little wretch, how dare you act out? You can’t ruin Cynthia’s chances of marriage just because your engagement fell through! Give those back!”

I shook my head. “It’s pointless. She won’t be able to use these. Furthermore, she won’t be able to cure Matthew.”

Cynthia instantly started crying. “Why can’t I cure him? You’re only jealous! You don’t want me to cure him! I understand you hate me, but Mom and Dad raised you for twenty years. How can you ruin our family’s future?”

Bart immediately panicked. He viciously kicked me away.

“How could you be so selfish? It’s just a set of useless needles! Give it to Cynthia if she wants it! If she cures Matthew, the Ward family will owe her a debt. Our whole family will have a bright future!”

I clutched my painful tummy. I shook my head stubbornly, still holding onto my things. “I won’t give them to her!”

“Foolish girl!” Bart waved, summoning several bodyguards. “Take those things from her and teach her a lesson!”

The bodyguards rushed at me. They attacked me in a flurry of kicks and punches. Despite the pain, I held onto my bag of things tightly. It was only when one of the bodyguards landed a kick to my head that he was able to snatch it away.

Cynthia looked triumphant as she looked at the gleaming bone needles. “Thanks, Lil. I’ll use them well.”

The needles were made from the bones of seven serpent-kin, and they were a treasure passed down through generations of serpent-kin. I could not lose them!

My head was bleeding, but my expression was cold and set. “You’d better give them back. They’re not items you can use.”

Cynthia chuckled. “Don’t think so highly of yourself. I’ve been going with you to work at the hospital for the past few months. I’ve learned all your treatment methods! It’s pointless to be resentful. Matt likes me. I won’t let you come between us!”

A vicious look flashed in Cynthia’s eyes.

She shot a pointed look at the bodyguards, and they dragged me into the basement. I was on the brink of death. In my dazed confusion, I suddenly smelled the acrid scent of smoke.

Something was burning!

Cynthia wanted to burn me alive!

I covered my mouth and nose and tried to escape, but the door was locked tight and would not budge. I laughed bitterly to myself. I never imagined that this second chance would end with me dying faster than in the previous timeline.

But Cynthia would never get what she wanted. She and Matthew would both die horribly! I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a loud cry from beyond the door.

“Get out of the way!”

There was a crash as the door of the basement room exploded open.

A man deftly rolled in and swept me into his arms before running out.

“You’re…”

He looked down at me, his eyes shining bright like stars.

“My name is Owen Ward. I’m Matthew’s little brother.”

I suddenly recalled him. He was Matthew’s father’s illegitimate son. He was the only second son in the history of the Ward family.

On the day his mother’s pregnancy was confirmed, the entire Ward family celebrated, thinking that the curse had been broken. However, that same day, Matthew’s father died of sickness in a very sudden manner.

A life had been taken away for one that had been given. It was hard to deny that it was fate at work.

When Owen was born, he was found to be infertile as well.

With that, he was no longer the family’s last hope. Instead, he was the monster who had caused his own father’s death.

At this very moment, however, he was looking at me with eyes full of hope. “Dr. Harman, can you cure me? I swear that I will repay your kindness.”

If Owen could procreate, then he would no longer be the illegitimate son that everyone despised. Instead, he would take Matthew’s spot as the Ward family’s only heir.

I smiled. “I will cure your illness.”

I brought Owen to the hospital. Just as I was talking to my supervisor about Owen’s condition, I saw Matthew and Cynthia.

Cynthia’s expression immediately shifted when she spotted me. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be…?”

“Should be where?”

Cynthia paused at that before regaining her smile. She held Matthew’s hand and said, “Matt, it looks like Lil regrets rejecting you earlier. Look, she came back here to treat you. Perhaps I should let her do it since she’s a real, acknowledged expert.”

Matthew scoffed. “She’s no expert. I looked into it. Lilith hasn’t even attended university! She’s a scammer!”

A furor immediately went up among the people milling around.

“That can’t be! Lilith Harman is Statute Hospital’s star expert. How could it be possible that she hasn’t attended university?”

“Goodness, I purposely came to this hospital to see her! I waited three days for an appointment but never got one!”

“If Mr. Ward said it, there’s no way it’s not true! I bet Lilith Harman’s sleeping with someone in the hospital. The only way she’s gotten this far in life is because of a man!”

My supervisor, Dr. Reynolds, instantly panicked. “How could you people accuse someone without proof like this? Ms. Harman is a special expert we hired under unique circumstances. She doesn’t need an academic record!”

“Who would believe that? Maybe you’re her sugar daddy?”

“There’s definitely something going on between you two!”

“Y-You!” Dr. Reynolds sputtered furiously.

I could not be bothered to treat this gossip seriously. I did not want to ruin Dr. Reynolds’ reputation, either.

Thus, I looked at Cynthia and said, “There’s no point in talking about any of this. Do you dare to compete with me? We will each treat a patient. Whoever cures her patient wins. If I win, you will publicly apologize and admit to defaming me.”

Cynthia laughed. “Such a contest is beneath me!”

I replied blandly, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid?”

“How dare you!”

She glared at me angrily. She reached a hand into a bag and must have found my set of bone needles. It gave her confidence.

“Alright, I’ll compete against you! If you lose, then you’ll have to crawl around like a dog and call yourself a cheap mutt!”

“Sure.” I accepted the challenge without a second thought.

Matthew pulled Cynthia into his embrace. He said to me tauntingly, “This isn’t fun enough. I bet fifty million dollars that Cynthia will win! Do you dare make the same bet, scammer?”

My kind had a rule against gambling and bets.

I was about to reject the bet when someone behind me said, “I’ll bet one-hundred million dollars that Lilith will win!”

I looked back to see Owen walking over. He stood beside me staunchly.

Matthew’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here? Is this your new friend, Lilith? Do you need a man so badly?”

“Be mindful of your words. He is my patient,” I said. “You’re both from the same family and have the same cause for your condition. This makes the competition perfectly fair.”

Matthew said sarcastically, “This man is an illegitimate son. He’s not worthy of being referred to as my family! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. I’m warning you now, the Ward family is mine!”

“You said one hundred million dollars, right? Well, I’m evening my bet!”

The surrounding crowd got excited, and many quickly joined in on betting.

Meanwhile, I pushed Owen into a surgery room.

“Let’s go. We’re starting now.”

In the surgery room, both Matthew and Owen lay on beds.

Cynthia took out my bone needles and shot me a pleased look. She languidly pushed one into place on Matthew’s body.

I could tell that she had indeed secretly learned some skills from me. She placed the needle exactly where it needed to be.

Soon, Matthew started feeling warm, and his manhood twitched.

Cynthia cried out in surprise, “It’s working!”

Matthew was so excited that his eyes were alight. “Yes! I can feel it!”

The doctors gathered in the observation room stared in amazement.

“Am I seeing things right? The patient is having a positive reaction!”

“Mr. Ward’s nerves there didn’t even have any reaction to pain before. But now Dr. Cynthia has rejuvenated them!”

Cynthia was so thrilled that her face was flushed when she looked up at me. Without my bone needles, I could only borrow a set of silver ones from the hospital.

I took a deep breath. I concentrated and used my mystic sight. When I identified the flow of energies, I pushed my silver needle into Owen’s flesh.

Silently, I said, “Let this needle guide the way to reignite this man’s potency!”

Owen’s manhood remained limp, and my treatment did not elicit any reaction.

Cynthia shot me a disdainful look. She scoffed and said, “Don’t force yourself to keep going if you don’t know how to treat him. If you admit defeat now, I can put out some leftovers when you act like a dog. It’s better than going hungry. After all, you were raised on that.”

I pressed my lips together.

Owen held my wrist and looked at me deeply.

“Don’t worry. I trust you.”

Matthew’s expression darkened. “It seems you won’t learn your lesson until it’s too late. Cynthia, there’s no point in pitying them. We’ll win and take all of their money!”

Cynthia looked delighted at that. She picked up the water that had been soaked with the amulet and brought it to Matthew’s lips.

But then, she suddenly paused.

“Matt, you said you’d marry me after I cured you. You won’t change your mind, will you?”

Matthew dotingly ran a finger down Cynthia’s nose.

“I would never! If I weren’t worried about you having a cold marital bed, I would have married you long ago!”

Cynthia smiled brightly. She gently fed the amulet water to Matthew.

The amulet water was very effective. Matthew’s manhood hardened.

Matthew was so overjoyed that he started crying. He pulled Cynthia to him and kissed her deeply.

“Thank you, Cynthia! I will definitely throw you a huge wedding!”

The doctors in the observation room were practically pressed to the glass. They were very impressed.

“It’s a miracle! Dr. Cynthia actually cured him of his infertility!”

“This is a breakthrough in the field of andrology! It will cause shockwaves through the world!”

“With Dr. Cynthia around, our hospital will become renowned!”

Ignoring them all, I also brought some medicine I prepared.

Again, I said soundlessly, “May these herbs strengthen and make whole!”

Owen swallowed all the liquid without any hesitation, and that surprised me.

“I didn’t even say what this medicine was. Do you really trust me so much?”

Owen nodded solemnly.

“I’ll do anything you ask me to.”

I did not say anything more. I took his wrist and used my mystic serpent energy to check the flow of his energy. I also used it to channel the medicine throughout his body.

Matthew said tauntingly, “Owen has always made a living from sweet-talking women. Lilith, I advise you to be more self-aware. No one would ever love someone like you…”

All of a sudden, Owen sprayed out a mouthful of blood. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his whole body started seizing.