Ethan was shocked by how much healthier Livia looked after nearly dying. Not only that, but the mute woman had finally spoken after suddenly becoming mute when she fell from the third floor of the Quincy family residence two months after giving birth to their twins.
Despite the Quincy family's efforts to hire the best medical team to treat Livia, the woman had never recovered until today.
As shock swept over him, Ethan felt a wave of relief in his heart. Even so, he still asked the doctor beside him in confusion.
“What happened to her? Why doesn’t she recognize us? Didn’t you say you’d cleared all the poison from her body and made sure there wouldn’t be any lingering negative effects?”
The doctor standing beside Ethan did not answer immediately. In fact, he was just as shocked by what was happening before him. Besides working as a doctor at the hospital owned by the Quincy family, he was also the family’s personal physician. He was therefore responsible for checking Livia’s health and knew that the woman had been mute for years, with no signs that she would ever recover.
“Dr. Dale, are you listening?”
Ethan’s voice pulled Dr. Dale out of his shock. He quickly turned to face Ethan and said, “I’m not sure what happened to her, Mr. Ethan. I’ll examine her right away.”
While everyone was stunned by Livia’s remarkable recovery, Bella felt the same way, though her shock was mixed with displeasure. ‘What’s going on? Why does she look healthier? That poison was extremely potent. If she didn’t die, she should be in a coma! Not only that, how can she speak again? All the doctors had already given up hope of treating her. So why can she suddenly speak after escaping the jaws of death? No. I must be hallucinating. This has to be a coincidence.’
Bella refused to believe that Livia could speak again. So she stepped toward the bed.
She put on a worried expression as she began speaking to the confused woman sitting on the hospital bed.
“Livia, you’re awake? Are you in pain? Oh, Livia, you scared me. I really thought I was going to lose you. I’m so grateful to see you finally wake up. Not only that, you can finally speak! It’s a miracle!” Bella grabbed Livia by the shoulders and shook her as she continued, “Livia, say something. Say something so I know this isn’t just a dream. Livia! Please say something.”
Blood Shadow felt an irritating throb in her head as she continued trying to figure out what had happened, and Bella’s incessant babbling only made it worse. Before she could snap at the woman to be quiet, a flood of memories that did not belong to her suddenly poured into her mind, making her furrow her brows.
Bella did not give up on getting a response, even though she could see that the woman in front of her looked irritated. She continued babbling and pretending to care.
Blood Shadow’s head throbbed as the pain grew more intense. She couldn’t take it anymore and immediately shoved Bella away before shouting, “Shut up! All of you, get out of here!”
Bella, who had not expected Livia to push her, lost her balance and fell straight to the floor. After sitting stunned for a moment, anger began to consume her. ‘That bitch! How dare she push me!’
She was almost about to lose control when she saw a pair of long legs stride past her.
Ethan stood beside the bed, watching Livia, who appeared to be in pain. He wanted to reach out and touch Livia’s shoulder, but the woman immediately stopped him with a glare.
“Didn’t you hear me? Get out of here!”
Ethan wanted to say something, but Bella quickly rose from the floor and said in a sorrowful tone, “Livia, it’s okay if you want to hurt me. But don’t blame Ethan. He—”
“Let’s get out of here,” Ethan said with a cold expression.
Bella still wanted to say something, but Ethan had already turned around and walked out of the hospital room.
Dr. Dale and the other medical staff knew that Livia seemed to need some time alone. Despite wanting to examine Livia, they still left the room.
The hospital room finally fell silent. Blood Shadow looked toward the closed door while pressing her temples. She could faintly hear those people talking outside. Even so, she had no interest in listening to their conversation.
After regaining her composure, Blood Shadow removed the IV needle attached to her hand and walked to the bathroom. For some reason, she felt that her body had become lighter than before. At the same time, she felt weak and vulnerable. Even so, she did not stop and walked straight into the bathroom.
She spent more than ten minutes staring at the unfamiliar face in the mirror. Her features were quite distinct. She looked extremely thin, almost like a walking skeleton. Her pale skin made her appearance even more frightening. Even so, Blood Shadow could see the beauty hidden beneath it.
Once she gained some weight, Blood Shadow could conclude that this body would be extraordinarily attractive.
However, that was not her main concern, because she realized that something unusual had happened to her.
‘I died in that explosion and then woke up in someone else’s body. What is this? Is this a dream experienced by people in the afterlife?’
Blood Shadow pinched her arm. The pain she immediately felt answered her question: she was not dreaming.
‘This is real. I’m truly living inside someone else’s body. I’ve watched things like this in movies. Can this really happen in the real world? My soul has been reincarnated!’
It was difficult to accept, but this was reality. Her soul had been reincarnated inside someone else’s body.
After standing for more than ten minutes, her body began to tense up. Her legs weakened, and her head started throbbing again.
As she tried to understand the condition of her body, a memory flashed through her mind. As her consciousness slowly faded, she gave a crooked smile and thought, ‘What a stupid girl. How could she accept all the injustices done to her without fighting back? She even willingly drank poison to end her own life.’
Blood Shadow did not know why this strange thing had happened to her. But she believed that nothing happened without a reason. Before losing consciousness completely, she promised to avenge the soul of the body she now inhabited.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already back in the hospital room, lying on the bed. However, the situation was different from when she had woken up earlier. The room was quiet, and she could not even hear any sounds from the corridor.
As Blood Shadow adjusted to her new identity, the hospital room door was pushed open and a middle-aged doctor walked in.
“Miss Livia, are you feeling better now?” Dr. Dale spoke as he opened the examination report.
Blood Shadow still was not used to that name, so her response came a little late.
“Y… yes… I feel better now.”
Dr. Dale nodded, a complicated expression on his face as he continued reading the examination report in his hand.
Just then, the hospital room door opened again. Ethan walked in with Bella following behind him.
The man stood at the foot of the bed, stealing a glance at Livia before asking Dr. Dale, “How is she? What happened to her?”