"I fell! You need to come back and take care of me!"
"Don't worry about the ticket—your cousin will pay you back when he gets here!"
I listened to her and let out a small laugh. "Aunt Patricia, there's nothing I can do. It's the holidays. Even if I wanted to fly back, I couldn't get a ticket now."
"Besides, I still have so many places I haven't been to yet."
"And honestly? Instead of wasting time calling me, you'd be better off calling the hospital."
In my previous life, I'd dropped everything and rushed to her house the moment I heard. I'd even called the hospital myself. They sent people right away—and I was the one who covered the medical bills out of my own pocket.
And what did I get in return? Betrayal. From every last one of them.
So in this life, their problems were no longer mine.
The second I finished speaking, Aunt Patricia's voice exploded through the phone. "Jennifer, what are you saying?!"
"I'm your aunt!"
"I'm lying here on the ground, and you won't come back?!"
"Do you have any conscience at all?!"
Her fury crackled through the speaker. I kept my voice even, almost bored.
"I'm out of town. How exactly am I supposed to get there?"
"You could've called any of our other relatives, but instead you called me—knowing full well I'm traveling."
I didn't wait for her to respond. "There's nothing I can do right now. Aunt Patricia, just call the hospital. Please."
I could hear her breathing turn ragged on the other end of the line.
"Jennifer—how can you be like this?" Her voice cracked with disbelief. "I fell. Aren't you supposed to drop everything and come take care of me?"
I smiled faintly. "Aunt Patricia, I don't have that obligation."
"You'd be better off calling Uncle Harold. Let him help."
And with that, I hung up.
I set the phone down and let out a quiet laugh. I knew she wouldn't be comfortable right now—not one bit.
In my last life, if I hadn't gotten there when I did, she would've been paralyzed. I was the one who saved her. Afterward, she'd clutched my hand, tears streaming down her face, thanking me over and over. Every relative in the family praised me for handling things so well.
That lasted exactly three days.
The moment Derek came back, everything changed. He looked at me with a cold, hard stare, anger simmering behind his eyes. And one by one, every single relative who'd sung my praises turned on me.
That was when I understood: none of them were worth saving.
This time around, none of it had anything to do with me.
I was getting ready for bed when the phone rang again.
This time, it was Uncle Harold Dickerson.
I picked up, and his voice hit me before I could even say hello.
"Jennifer, what is wrong with you? Your aunt told me everything—she called you and you refused to come back!"
"I'm telling you right now, get on a plane and get back here!"
"And another thing—I'm taking your aunt to the hospital as we speak. She doesn't have any money. You need to wire some over. Now."
His voice was sharp, laced with barely contained rage.
I listened to every word, then smiled. "Uncle Harold, what does any of this have to do with me?"
"Why on earth would I send you money?"
