They Called Me Heartless, So Reborn, I Watched Them Self Destruct Chapter 04

They Called Me Heartless, So Reborn, I Watched Them Self Destruct Chapter 04

I picked up my bag.

“I’m going back to school.”

My mom panicked.

“What about Ethan?”

“He has his parents, the nurses, and Lily’s gratitude.”

I reached the door, then paused.

“I only have myself.”

When I left the hospital, there was a 24-hour food truck downstairs.

In my previous life, I’d bought countless cups of coffee and bowls of hot soup there.

Ethan hated coffee because it was too bitter.

Lily hated the soup because it was too hot.

My mom hated how long I took standing in line.

This time, I bought myself a steaming bowl of clam chowder.

The heat rose into my face, and for a moment, I almost cried.

But it wasn’t because I was sad.

For the first time in my life, I was finally giving that warmth to myself.

Lily survived.

Ethan became everyone’s definition of a devoted hero.

My mom posted about him every day.

[My son gave a part of himself to give another child a second chance at life.]

Thousands of people liked the post.

Someone commented:

[What about Claire? Ethan did something this incredible for Lily. She must be so grateful.]

My mom replied:

[She’s young. She doesn’t understand these things yet.]

I saw it.

I didn’t comment.

I was too busy preparing for my academic conference presentation.

Three days after my rebirth, I moved out of the little bedroom I’d been given at home.

In my previous life, that room had eventually been turned into Ethan’s study. My belongings had been shoved into cardboard boxes and dumped on the balcony.

My mom had said,

“Ethan is under a lot of pressure. He needs peace and quiet. You’re a girl. Does it really matter where you sleep?”

This time, I didn’t wait for them to throw me out.

I left on my own.

The apartment I rented was tiny. There was a major road right downstairs, along with a 24-hour fast-food restaurant.

At night, the constant traffic from the overpass and the sharp smell of frying oil from the kitchen seeped through the cracks around the old windows.

But the lock on the door was mine.

The light switches were mine.

Even the carton of yogurt in the refrigerator was mine.

No one knocked on my door at midnight and ordered me to make Ethan noodles.

No one rifled through my drawers looking for money to buy Lily nutritional supplements.

For the first time in my life, I felt completely at peace.

Half a month later, Ethan was discharged from the hospital.

Lily was transferred to a regular room as well.

Our relatives and family friends threw a small celebration.

I didn’t go.

My mom called me, clearly annoyed.

“Ethan got out of bed for the first time today. Aren’t you coming to see him?”

I kept my eyes on the research paper open on my computer.

“I have something to do.”

“What could possibly be more important than Ethan?”

That question had haunted me for years in my previous life.

This time, my answer came instantly.

“My own life.”

There was silence on the other end.

When my mom spoke again, her voice was ice-cold.

“Claire, don’t regret this. If you keep acting like this, no one in this family is going to take care of you in the future.”

I smiled.

“Good. It’ll be nice to get used to that now.”

She was furious and hung up.

That night, I received a message from Ethan.

[Lily said she’ll spend the rest of her life with me.]

I stared at the screen for a long time without moving.

In my previous life, after Lily died, Ethan had said something similar at her grave.

He’d said,

[I won’t ever love anyone else in this life.]

He never married.

Everyone blamed his loneliness on me.

But this time, Lily was alive.

Would she really spend the rest of her life with him?

Three months later, the decision Ethan had made to donate part of his body to Lily, the decision everyone had once praised him for, finally began to come back to haunt them.