I braced myself against the wall and dragged my body toward the door, one step at a time.
The door opened.
But the people standing outside weren't paramedics in white coats.
They were four bodyguards in black suits, their faces blank.
The ambulance lights flashed behind them.
Several paramedics stood at the edge of the yard, held back by two more guards.
My heart dropped.
I gripped the doorframe, my voice barely there：
“Who……who are you? Let the paramedics in! I'm dying!”
The lead bodyguard looked at me without expression, his tone ice-cold：
“Ms. Mercer, Mr. Gilbert has instructed us to watch over you starting today. You are not to leave the house and cause trouble.”
I stared at him in disbelief：
“I'm not causing trouble! My stomach is perforated! I'm going to die! Let them in!”
“Mr. Gilbert told us you like to fake illnesses for sympathy. That you'll do anything to get your way.”
Another bodyguard scrunched his nose and looked me up and down：
“Pretty convincing act. If Mr. Gilbert hadn't warned us ahead of time, we might've actually bought it.”
“I'm not faking! I'm really dying!”
I lunged forward, trying to push past them, but two guards blocked me with their arms.
“Ms. Mercer, please cooperate. Go back inside and stay put.”
“If Mr. Gilbert finds out you snuck out to make a scene, we lose our pay for the month.”
Just then, the neighbor next door heard the commotion and poked her head out.
“What's going on? What's all this noise in the middle of the night?”
The lead bodyguard instantly switched to a polite smile：
“Sorry for the disturbance, ma'am.”
“The lady of the house has some mental health issues. She likes to run outside and call ambulances for fake emergencies. Mr. Gilbert had no choice but to station us here to keep her from bothering the other residents.”
The neighbor's expression changed immediately：
“So she's crazy? I was wondering why someone would call 911 in the middle of the night. Turns out it's all an act!”
“If you're sick in the head, stay home. Why come out and make everyone else suffer? What a waste of emergency resources!”
“What if someone actually needed that ambulance and you held it up? If somebody dies because of you, whose fault is that?”
Every word from the neighbor cut into me like a knife.
I opened my mouth, trying to explain.
But the pain was so severe I couldn't force out a single word.
All I could do was press both hands against my stomach and look at them, pleading with my eyes.
No one felt sorry for me.
The neighbors slammed their doors shut, still cursing under their breath.
The bodyguards talked the paramedics into leaving. The siren grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared into the night.
The lead bodyguard looked at me, his voice flat：
“Ms. Mercer, you can go back inside now.”
He shoved me.
I was already barely standing. The push sent me stumbling backward.
The door slammed shut with a “bang.”
Darkness swallowed me whole.
I tried to turn back for my phone, to call the police.
But the moment I turned, my vision went black.
I hit the floor hard.
Blood poured from the corner of my mouth, steady and warm, soaking into the white wool rug beneath me.
Right before my consciousness slipped away for good.
I thought I heard it again, from my last life. Oliver, stroking Matthew's head, his voice gentle：
“Sure. From now on, Aunt Sara will be your new mommy.”
So it didn't matter whether I was reborn or not.
I couldn't change a thing.
A book reads the same no matter how many times you open it. The ending never changes.
Midnight.
Oliver carried Matthew into the yard, laughing and chatting as they walked in.
“Daddy, the jade bracelet you bought Aunt Sara is so pretty! It's a million times prettier than bad mommy's ugly old bracelet!”
“Of course it is.”
Oliver laughed and ruffled his son's hair：
“As long as Aunt Sara likes it, Daddy will buy her anything she wants. Good thing I had someone keeping an eye on your mom today, or she would've ruined Sara's birthday.”
“Yeah! Bad mommy is the worst!”
Oliver exchanged a glance with the bodyguards.
All six of them dispersed in an instant.
He pinched Matthew's chubby cheek with a grin, humming contentedly as he pressed his fingerprint to the lock.
The next second, father and son both screamed.
