Chapter 4

Veronica dropped her dying act entirely, shooting upright and unleashing a torrent of furious curses at me. "Are you even human, Cassidy? You claim to be my sister, but you're nothing but an ungrateful, cold-blooded monster! You wouldn't even give blood to save me, and now you refuse to raise my only daughter? What kind of sister does that make you?"

I met her fury with a cool, mocking smile. "Well, well, Veronica. You look awfully spry for someone on their deathbed. Did this incompetent doctor here misdiagnose you?" I cast a pointed glance at Dr. Reed, who instantly averted her eyes.

Realizing her act had slipped, Veronica instantly clutched her chest, collapsing onto the bed, gasping dramatically for air, her body trembling. Her acting was surprisingly convincing. Dr. Reed immediately sprang into action, pushing me out and declaring Ms. Veronica needed emergency care. Curious to see what other tricks Veronica had up her sleeve, I simply waited outside the ER.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Reed emerged, holding a cooing, babbling infant. "My apologies, Ms. Veronica is gone," she announced, her voice filled with a practiced solemnity. "This child is her daughter. Her dying wish was for you to raise her. As for the adoption procedures, you can rest assured. Ms. Veronica had made all the necessary arrangements before she passed. The paperwork, she ensured, would be finalized within two days. You simply need to raise the child well. Abandoning the child would be illegal, and if I found out, I'd personally ensure you faced legal consequences!" With that, she tried to thrust the infant into my arms. I immediately stepped back two paces.

Are you kidding me? Forcing a child on someone like this is the real illegal act! Last time, blinded by that so-called sisterly bond, I hadn't questioned a single detail of this ridiculous story. Looking back, it's absurd. Even legitimate adoptions take weeks, if not months.

"You said Veronica is dead, right? Fine. I want to see her body." I brushed past Dr. Reed and strode into the emergency room. It was completely empty. "What are you doing?!" Dr. Reed's frantic voice echoed behind me. "You can't just barge in here!"

I pointed to the empty room. "You said she's dead, didn't you? Where's the body? Where did you take her?"

Dr. Reed replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "The body was, of course, immediately sent to the funeral home for cremation."

"Sent to the funeral home already? Fine. I'm going to the funeral home right now to pay my respects." Ignoring Dr. Reed's frantic protests, I strode purposefully out of the hospital.

At the City Funeral Home, I immediately inquired about Veronica's remains. To my surprise, they did have a record. Moments later, a staff member brought out an urn, supposedly containing Veronica's ashes. Last time, consumed by grief, I had simply taken her daughter home. I didn't even attend Veronica's funeral until a week later, after I finally received a notice.

"These are Veronica's ashes?" I asked.

"Yes," the staff member replied tersely before hurrying away.

But something still felt off. Normal cremations don't happen that fast. Even the quickest turnaround takes at least a full day. Yet here I was, less than three hours after Dr. Reed declared Veronica dead, holding her alleged ashes. It was a blatant insult to my intelligence.

Without a second thought, I yanked open the urn and unhesitatingly poured its contents onto the pristine floor.