Saltwater filled her lungs.
The initial searing pain gave way to a dull, spreading numbness. Her body was a dead weight, sinking into the cold, black depths. The instinct to survive had finally given up.
In the final second before her consciousness dissolved completely, a vision flooded her mind，sharp, vivid, more memory than dream. She saw the aftermath of her death as if through a detached lens.
She saw the face of Demetri Sterling, devastatingly handsome, his intelligent eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses as cold as winter steel. He wore an impeccable suit, utterly composed. Heir to the Sterling fortune, her fiancé in name only—a man she barely knew, bound to her by a business arrangement she had never wanted.
In the days after her death,they are insatiably greedy, repeatedly holding back progress within their alliance with the Sterling family, tarnishing the Sterling family’s reputation, and even maintaining covert ties with a rival enterprise.Demetri Sterling could not tolerate such a family; he destroyed the Warren family's corporate empire, seized assets, and exposed decades of corruption.
She saw Hattie, stripped of her glamour and lies, being led away in handcuffs. She saw the proud Warren Group headquarters reduced to rubble. Arthur and Ford were left penniless, utterly broken.
The images of the destruction gave her a strange, fleeting sense of comfort—a feeling of delayed justice. Although this sensation seemed not to stem from emotion but from the cold logic of commerce, it was enough.
The final scene seared itself into her mind. Demetri stood in a pristine boardroom, signing the documents that finalized the hostile takeover. His expression held not a trace of grief，only the icy satisfaction of a man who had crushed an enemy. The Warrens’ downfall was total.
The sight of their annihilation stabbed through the encroaching darkness.
She took a breath.
It was a ragged, tearing gasp that turned into a violent fit of coughing.
The taste of salt was gone, replaced by the sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic. The cold embrace of the ocean was gone, replaced by the softness of a mattress.
Azaria forced her eyes open. The first thing she saw was the flat, white ceiling of a hospital room.
She looked down at her hands. They were her hands. Unblemished. She touched her face. No cuts, no bruises.
Wasn't she supposed to be dead?
She struggled to sit up, her muscles protesting with pain. Her gaze fell upon a digital calendar on the bedside table. On the calendar, it showed three months ago, which was also the date her dear sister began pretending to be blind.
She was alive. She had been reborn.
The initial wave of elation was quickly followed by an icy chill.If she didn't take action,after some time, the same tragedy will still happen.
No, wait. She looked around the room, her mind racing. This was City General Hospital.Not long ago, Hattie had staged her "accidental" fall down the stairs. As the prime suspect, the family had sent her here, ostensibly for a psychological evaluation, but really just to keep her locked away.
The door to her room swung open.
Her mother, Eleanor Warren, walked in, flanked by two imposing bodyguards.
Eleanor's face was a mask of practiced concern. "Azaria, you're finally awake. Hattie's condition is very poor. The doctors say her corneas have suffered irreversible damage."
Azaria's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She understood. Last time, they had waited for the privacy of the yacht. This time, they weren't waiting. They were going to force her to "donate" her corneas right here, in the hospital.
Eleanor continued, her voice smooth and persuasive. "Your blood type is a match with Hattie's, and the tissue typing for a cornea transplant was successful. This is your chance to atone for what you've done."
Azaria stared at her mother's face, at the false sympathy in her eyes. The hatred from her past life and the cold vigilance of her present one swirled together, igniting a fire in her gaze.
Besides her mother before her, she also heard the voices of Arthur and Ford in the hallway. They were here. They were all here.
