Chapter 6: The Truth Beneath the Blood

The police officer's voice came through clearly on the phone, and Nathan's expression changed completely.

"Her injuries are quite severe, ma'am. She lost a significant amount of blood. The ambulance is taking her to the nearest hospital now."

My fingers tightened around the phone until they trembled.

"Is she conscious?" I asked desperately. "Please, tell me she is still conscious."

"She was unconscious when our officers arrived. The paramedics are doing everything they can."

My heart seemed to stop.

In my previous life, this was the moment when my mother had slipped away from me. I remembered the cold hospital corridor, the white sheet covering her body, and the way James had arrived too late to say goodbye.

But this time, she was still alive.

That meant I still had a chance.

"Which hospital?" I asked.

The officer gave me the name and then added, "Miss Cooper, we also found evidence that suggests this was not a random burglary. You need to come in and give a statement when you are able."

"I will," I whispered.

The call ended.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Nathan was still holding the baseball bat. The cruel confidence that had filled his face only moments earlier had completely disappeared.

He looked at me as if he had suddenly realized that the person he had just attacked was not playing a game.

"Mia..."

I slowly lifted my eyes toward him.

"Don't call me that."

My voice was weak, but there was no fear in it anymore.

Nathan's lips parted, but no words came out.

I pushed myself up from the snow. My injured leg screamed in protest, and I nearly collapsed again, but I refused to let him help me.

"You thought I was lying," I said. "You thought I was jealous of Michelle. You believed every word my brother told you without even checking whether my mother was alive."

Nathan's face turned pale.

"I didn't know..."

"You didn't want to know."

Those words silenced him.

The butler hurried over and tried to support me, but I shook my head.

"Call an ambulance for me too. My leg is badly injured."

The butler immediately nodded and reached for his phone.

Nathan stood motionless.

I looked at him one last time.

"Whatever happens to my mother, I'll never forgive you for making me waste those minutes."

His eyes flickered with guilt, but I no longer cared.

The ambulance arrived within minutes.

As the paramedics lifted me onto the stretcher, I stared up at the gray winter sky.

In my previous life, I had died believing my family had betrayed me because of Michelle.

I had thought my brother's obsession with her had destroyed everything.

But now I was beginning to understand that something deeper was happening.

James was not merely protecting Michelle.

He was actively trying to destroy me.

And Nathan had become one of the people he could manipulate.

At the hospital, the nurses immediately examined my injured leg and cleaned the wounds on my feet. The doctor told me I had suffered a serious fracture and severe tissue damage from the cold, but I would recover with treatment.

I barely listened.

My only question was about my mother.

Eventually, a nurse came out and told me that my mother was undergoing emergency surgery.

"The doctors are trying to stop the internal bleeding," she explained gently.

I closed my eyes and silently prayed.

Please, Mom.

Please survive this time.

Hours passed.

I sat in a wheelchair outside the operating room, staring at the red light above the door.

Then I heard hurried footsteps.

I looked up.

James appeared at the end of the corridor.

For one brief moment, seeing my brother alive and walking toward me almost made me cry with relief.

Then I remembered everything.

His refusal to return.

His accusation that I had staged the attack.

His certainty that I was lying.

And most importantly, the memory of his hands around my throat in my previous life.

My relief vanished.

James stopped several feet away from me.

His face was unusually pale.

"Mia, where's Mom?"

I stared at him without answering.

"I asked where Mom is."

"In surgery."

His expression changed.

"What happened?"

I laughed softly.

"You really don't know?"

"I was told there was some kind of break-in, but I thought..."

"You thought I made it up."

He went silent.

I leaned back against the wheelchair and looked directly into his eyes.

"You took every security guard from the estate because Michelle wanted to watch a meteor shower. You ignored Mom when she called you. You told Nathan not to believe me. Then you called me ruthless and said that if Mom died, it would be my fault."

James's jaw tightened.

"I didn't know the attack was real."

"You didn't bother checking."

He looked away.

For the first time, I saw something unfamiliar in his eyes.

Fear.

But it wasn't fear for Mom.

It was fear of the consequences.

"Where is Michelle?" I suddenly asked.

James stiffened.

"She's safe."

"Of course she is."

I smiled bitterly.

"She was always safe while the rest of us paid the price."

His expression hardened.

"Don't start blaming Michelle again."

I stared at him in disbelief.

Even now.

Even while our mother was fighting for her life, he was still defending her.

Before I could respond, the operating-room doors suddenly opened.

A surgeon stepped out, his mask still covering the lower half of his face.

I immediately pushed my wheelchair toward him.

"Doctor, my mother..."

He looked at me carefully before speaking.

"The surgery was difficult, but we managed to stabilize her."

My entire body went weak with relief.

Mom was alive.

This time, I had saved her.

But the doctor continued.

"She isn't out of danger yet. The next twenty-four hours will be critical."

I nodded through tears.

"Thank you."

James stood behind me in silence.

I turned toward him.

For the first time since being reborn, I looked at my brother without seeing the person I once loved.

I saw an enemy.

And somewhere deep inside, another realization surfaced.

If James had truly been reborn too, then he knew exactly what would happen next.

He knew about Michelle's disappearance.

He knew about the accusations she would make.

And he knew how our family would eventually turn against me.

Which meant his cruelty in this life was not an accident.

He was changing the past on purpose.

I clenched my fists.

If that was his game, then I would play too.

But this time, I would not be the helpless sister he remembered.

I would find out why Michelle had become the center of everything.

And before she could destroy my family again, I would uncover the truth.