Chapter 7: The Woman Behind Everything

The next morning, I was sitting beside my mother's hospital bed when she finally opened her eyes.

Her face was pale, and several tubes were attached to her arms, but she was alive.

I leaned forward immediately.

"Mom, can you hear me?"

Her eyes moved slowly toward me.

For a few seconds, she simply stared at me as if she couldn't believe I was there.

Then her lips trembled.

"Mia..."

I gently held her hand.

"I'm here."

Tears gathered in her eyes.

"You saved me."

My throat tightened.

"Of course I did. You're my mother."

She squeezed my fingers weakly.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

I lowered my head, hiding the tears that finally escaped.

In my previous life, I had lost her because of the same night.

But this time, I had changed the ending.

Or at least, I thought I had.

The hospital room door opened, and my father walked in.

He had just returned from a business trip.

The moment he saw my mother lying in the hospital bed, his expression changed completely.

"Marianne!"

He hurried to her side and carefully held her hand.

"What happened? Who did this?"

My mother looked at me.

I knew what she wanted me to do.

Tell him everything.

So I did.

I told him about James taking the security team away.

I told him about the intruders.

I told him how I had called James repeatedly.

And I told him that James had accused me of staging the attack.

My father's expression became colder with every word.

"Where is James?"

"He went back to the estate," I answered.

My father immediately took out his phone.

"I'm calling him."

Before he could dial, his phone rang.

It was James.

My father answered on speaker.

"Dad, I know what happened. I'm already arranging everything."

My father's voice was icy.

"You took every guard away from the estate."

There was silence on the other end.

"I didn't expect anyone to attack," James finally said.

"You didn't expect it because you were too busy entertaining Michelle."

James became defensive.

"Michelle had nothing to do with this."

My father slammed his hand against the bed railing.

"Your mother nearly died!"

"I know!" James shouted back.

"Do you think I don't know?"

The room went silent.

I stared at the phone.

There was something strange in his voice.

It wasn't simply anger.

It sounded like panic.

My father ended the call without another word.

I looked at him.

"Dad, there's something you need to know."

"What?"

"I think James knows more than he's telling us."

My father frowned.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because he reacted exactly the way he did in my previous life."

The words nearly escaped my mouth.

I stopped myself.

I couldn't tell him I had been reborn.

Not yet.

Instead, I said, "Because everything involving Michelle keeps happening too perfectly. Every time something goes wrong, James somehow already has an explanation that protects her."

My father's expression darkened.

"I'll investigate."

That afternoon, I received an unexpected visit.

Nathan stood outside the hospital room.

He looked exhausted.

His usual arrogance was gone.

I turned my face away.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to apologize."

I gave a cold laugh.

"An apology won't heal my leg."

"I know."

He lowered his head.

"I was wrong."

"You were more than wrong."

I looked directly at him.

"You were willing to break my leg because you believed my brother over me."

Nathan's face went pale.

"I know."

"And if the police hadn't called, would you have stopped?"

He didn't answer.

That silence was enough.

I turned away from him.

"You should leave."

He stood there for a few seconds before finally walking out.

I watched the door close.

There was no sadness in my heart.

Only relief.

Whatever relationship Nathan and I had once shared was already dead.

That evening, my father returned with information.

He placed a folder on the table.

"We found something."

I opened it.

Inside were financial records, phone logs, and surveillance reports.

My eyes widened when I saw Michelle's name repeatedly appearing beside several suspicious transactions.

"What is this?"

My father pointed to the documents.

"Michelle has been receiving money from several companies that are currently involved in lawsuits against us."

My heartbeat accelerated.

"That's impossible."

"It isn't."

He handed me another photograph.

It showed Michelle meeting a man in a parking garage.

The man was one of our family's former business rivals.

My fingers tightened around the photograph.

In my previous life, I had believed Michelle was an innocent victim.

I had believed her suicide note without question.

But now everything looked different.

She might never have been a victim at all.

She might have been the person pulling the strings.

My father looked at me seriously.

"Mia, I want you to stay away from her."

"I will."

"And don't tell James about this investigation."

I looked at the folder again.

"Why?"

"Because if James is involved, we need proof before confronting him."

I nodded.

For the first time since my rebirth, I felt that I wasn't fighting alone.

But that night, just as I was about to sleep, my phone vibrated.

It was an unknown number.

There was only one message.

"You shouldn't have survived this time."

My blood ran cold.

A second message appeared immediately afterward.

"If you keep digging, your mother won't survive the next accident."

I stared at the screen.

Then I smiled bitterly.

So they knew.

Someone knew I had changed the past.

And if they were afraid of what I might uncover, that meant I was finally getting close to the truth.