Veridia City in July was like a giant steamer, seemingly determined to wring every last drop of moisture from a person's body.
Veridia City Hospital.
Seraphina Sterling had just given birth. She was weak and pale, but a joyful smile graced her lips. The fruit of their love had finally been born. Looking at his tiny face, Seraphina felt that all the hardship and suffering had been worth it.
"The baby's delivered, a natural birth. Hurry, prepare for surgery!"
Someone shouted the order, and immediately, another person carried the baby to an operating table. Seraphina Sterling instantly realized something was wrong. "Where are you taking my baby? What are you doing?"
But none of the doctors in the delivery room paid any attention to the frantic Seraphina Sterling. They just expressionlessly continued with their work.
As various pieces of equipment were wheeled in one after another and her newborn son was placed on the operating table, Seraphina panicked. She screamed, "What are you going to do to my baby? Help! Somebody, help!"
A tall, handsome man walked in. Hope instantly flickered in Seraphina Sterling's frantic eyes. "Justin, quick, stop them! They're going to hurt our baby!"
But the man only stared at her coldly. "Shut up!" Then, he turned to the attending physician and said, "You can begin. You must ensure my Fiona comes out of this safely!"
Seraphina Sterling froze, staring in shock at the man she had loved for five years. She couldn't believe those words had come from his mouth. 'Did I just mishear him?'
"Seraphina Sterling, you heard me right! I have never loved you! Marrying you was merely a legitimate way to get my hands on the Sterling Family's assets. Showing you affection was just to get your bone marrow for my Fern. Doting on you was only to get your son's kidney for my Fiona!" Justin Hale's icy words dealt her a fatal blow.
The already weak Seraphina Sterling's face grew even paler. "Justin Hale, he's your child too! He's your own flesh and blood, how could you do this?"
Just then, a delicate-looking woman walked in. Justin Hale rushed forward and pulled her into his arms, as if afraid she might fall.
"Sister, just accept it. This is the only reason you and your son exist. Without you two, how could my daughter and I possibly survive? Since we're sisters, I won't hide some things from you anymore. Your mother's car accident wasn't an accident. I had someone crash into her on purpose. Your two miscarriages weren't accidents either; I just didn't want you to have a child. If my Fiona didn't need a healthy kidney, your son would have never had the chance to be born. You should be thanking me!"
That gentle voice was like a sharp steel needle piercing her heart. This was her little sister, the sister she had always cherished and protected!
Seraphina Sterling glared at her fiercely. "Faye Sterling, I treated you with all my heart! Has your conscience been eaten by a dog? Who took you in when you were homeless? Who stayed up all night to care for you when you were gravely ill? And who helped you when you didn't have a penny to your name? You got together with my husband—your own brother-in-law—and now you want to harm my child. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Faye Sterling acted as if she were terrified, hiding in Justin Hale's arms. Justin Hale shot a sharp glare at Seraphina. "Seraphina Sterling, shut your mouth! Since you love me so much, then you can prove it by donating your bone marrow to save the person I love most!"
Seraphina Sterling tried to say more, but she only felt a sharp sting as she was injected with an anesthetic!
Faye Sterling shot Seraphina Sterling a triumphant look. 'Your only purpose is to give birth to a child to save my daughter, and to provide me with bone marrow to cure my illness!'
Seraphina Sterling watched in despair as Justin Hale swept Faye Sterling into his arms and gently placed her on an operating table. "Justin Hale, I can agree to donate bone marrow to Faye Sterling! I can even leave with nothing and give the title of Mrs. Hale to her! But on one condition: you can't touch my child! He's so little, he can't possibly survive such a major surgery. You'll kill him!"
"Stop struggling. The one I've always loved is Fern! Only Fern is worthy of being Mrs. Hale; I don't need you to 'give' her the position! Tomorrow, the media will get the news: Mrs. Hale died in an accident during childbirth, along with her son!" Justin Hale's cold words buried Seraphina Sterling's last shred of hope.
Seraphina Sterling watched, wide-eyed, as a kidney was brutally torn from her newborn son. He lay on the operating table like a broken doll. Tears of blood streamed from her eyes. "Justin Hale! Faye Sterling! Even if I become a vengeful spirit, I will never let you go!" Despite the anesthetic, she snatched a surgeon's scalpel and plunged it into her own heart.
As her consciousness faded, only one thought remained in Seraphina Sterling's mind: for lifetimes to come, she would never love anyone again.
Darkness. Endless darkness.
A bitter wind, chilling to the bone.
Pain. A bone-deep, gnawing pain.
Seraphina Sterling struggled to open her eyes and saw a world of pure white.
"Thank heavens! Seraphina, you're finally awake! Your father is gone... if something happens to you too, what am I supposed to do all by myself?" Kimberly Jennings hugged Seraphina Sterling and started to cry. Having just lost her husband, the blow to the young woman was already immense; she couldn't bear any more tragedy.
Seraphina Sterling's mind was still numb. 'What's happening? Didn't I die? Why am I alive? And Mom is here too... Could it be? I didn't die. I was reborn!'
"Seraphina, don't be scared. Mom will always be with you. Tomorrow, we'll go to your grandmother's house. Don't worry, everything will be alright. Everything will be alright." Kimberly Jennings kept comforting her daughter, and herself.
Seraphina Sterling was now certain. She had been reborn. She was back at the time when her father was murdered and she and her mother were driven out of the Sterling Family home. That year, she was seventeen, a junior in high school.
Since she had been given a new life, she would live this life for one purpose only: revenge!