Laughter echoed through the empty corridor. In a dimly lit prison, a woman was seen lying on the cold floor, looking lifeless. Her pale complexion made her appear as though she were already dead, if not for the slight movement of her chest, indicating that she was still breathing.

"Hehehe, Sis, I've come to see you!" The door was pushed open, and the owner of the laughter walked in. The woman who entered was dressed in gorgeous clothes with heavy makeup. She looked at the woman lying on the floor with mockery in her eyes.

Although the woman was pale and skinny, her beauty was still evident.

"Anna, at this point, why are you still pretending to care?" As the woman spoke, Anna's footsteps came to a halt. Then she burst into laughter, as if she had heard the biggest joke of her life. The smile was vicious.

"Well, since I'm the owner of the company and have won many awards, a useless person like you has no value to me. It's your stupidity that always made you treat me like a beloved sister, yet you still didn't realize I was deceiving you."

At these words, Claire could only move the corners of her lips numbly and said in a painful voice, "Before, I thought it was only because you were over-pampered by your family and hadn't faced any difficulties yet. I cared for you and always thought of you in a positive way. But it wasn't until you deceived me, framed me, and put me behind bars that I realized you never saw me as family."

"A family?" Anna chuckled, as if she had heard a joke. "How could we be a family? When Dad brought you back from the countryside, he said you were my vessel and substitute! Do you think referring to me as your sister will change the fact that you were never part of the Smith Family? Even our plants back home are more important than you."

At this moment, the pitiful and obedient expression on Claire's face disappeared, replaced by disdain and disgust, as though being near her was an insult.

Claire couldn't help but feel terrible and heartbroken as she listened to her beloved sister reveal the truth. But being awake for so long had made her unable to express her deepest emotions. Her eyes opened and closed, unable to digest what she had just heard.

"Since I have done so much for you, can you please allow me to see Tristan one last time?" They had injected her with an unknown poison and thrown her onto the cold prison floor, and she was close to death. Before leaving this world, she just wanted to see the only person who had given her warmth.

"Oh, you mean my fiancé, Tristan Grey?" Anna was enjoying the torment Claire was going through, evident in her lifeless appearance. "Oh, I forgot to tell you—he came with me today."

Not long after, the sound of footsteps was heard outside the door, and a man entered. As soon as he walked in, Anna hugged him by the neck intimately and acted coquettishly, saying, "Tristan, you finally came. Sister has been waiting for you for a long time."

Finally, Claire was able to make some movement. Then she heard the voice she had been longing to hear—the voice of the person she loved deeply. It was that same cheerful voice from ten years ago when she first met him. It was the memorable voice she could never forget; it was printed in her memory.

"Anna, don't say that—you know I only liked you from the beginning." However, at that moment, the man's words made Claire question herself, wondering if this was really her Tristan from ten years ago.

Claire suddenly stood up from the cold floor, slightly shaking from the shock of Tristan's words. "Tristan Grey, why?!" she demanded. "Why did you betray me?"

She could see that the young man she had known was no longer her Tristan. He had even betrayed her with her own sister. Tristan looked at the pale and skinny Claire with disgust and said, "I only played with you back then—I didn't expect you to take it seriously. I just needed your talent to groom my company, since you were good in business and medicine. Otherwise, with your identity, which man would like you? You aren't even qualified to attend events with me."

"Otherwise, how could you have stooped so low that we used you like this?" Anna answered without any sympathy. "Are you a saint that you sacrificed yourself for me and the Smith family? You really make me laugh." As she spoke, she leaned on Tristan's chest and laughed out loud.

Claire sat back down and stared at an empty corner in front of her, thinking to herself, Yes, I was really a fool to love and trust you like my own family.

After showing off enough in front of Claire, Anna said impatiently, "Alright, you can continue with your research here so that you can cure yourself. No one will disturb you. You can even kill yourself if you're tired of living."

Upon hearing this, Claire maintained a calm expression and calmly asked, "Can I have a glass of water?" Anna was in a hurry to leave, so she didn't stop her. "Sure, go ahead—it seems you don't want to die just yet." The room was empty except for a small table that held a water dispenser.

The water dispenser was designed to both freeze and boil water. As Claire reached for the water, she asked Anna if she knew that water could take many forms. Anna was taken aback by the question, sneering and saying harshly to her sister, "Water is just water. Don't try to teach me anything here—you can't even survive on your own."

She thought Claire was deliberately trying to make fun of her and didn't pay much attention to it. She and Tristan got ready to leave. Then, out of nowhere, a hand gripped Anna's neck, followed by a sharp pain in her throat, making her scream in horror.

"Ah!" Before Tristan could react, he also felt a sharp pain in his chest. When he raised his head, he saw that Claire had stabbed him in the heart, a hint of coldness in her eyes.

Anna fell into a pool of blood, her face pale despite her makeup, and she was in shock. She tried to speak, but blood gushed from her throat. How did this happen? She had made sure they put away all harmful objects before visiting Claire.

In her shocked state, she saw Claire holding something—not just any object but an ice blade. The ice knife Claire used to stab her was still stained with blood, emitting a chilling aura. How did she get it?

"Take this piece of advice, Anna," Claire whispered as she moved closer. "Water can take many forms, little sister. It can evaporate into the thin air without a trace, and it can also kill. I told you to study hard."

Anna never imagined that ice could one day take her life. Only now did she realize the level of intelligence Claire possessed. Even if starved and poisoned, as long as Claire wanted, she could turn every situation in her favor.

"Sister... sister, please, I'm sorry. Forgive me... please don't kill me..." The cold look in Claire's eyes, coupled with the blood Anna was losing, finally terrified her. In the past, whenever she acted pitiful, Claire would agree to anything. But not this time.

Claire looked at her with disgust and pushed away her hands as if Anna were a plague. "Don't touch me with your filthy hands," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. To Claire, the dying person on the floor was no longer human. The love she had for Anna had disappeared over the last ten years. They were now enemies.

Turning her head, she saw Tristan trying to move. Her unfriendly gaze made Tristan shudder, and he screamed and vomited blood. "Claire, please, you can't kill me. I love you! I really do! It was your sister who seduced me and made me say all those hurtful words."

Despite his blabbering, Claire remained calm and said, "From the moment you broke my heart and trust, you were destined to die by my hands."

"No!" Tristan tried to get up.

But he had lost too much blood and was weak. He now realized how serious the situation was. The fear of death angered him, and he kicked the barely surviving Anna, blaming her. "It's all your fault, you stupid girl! It's all your fault that I'm in this situation!"

He was cursing Anna, forgetting that they had been flaunting their affection in front of Claire just minutes ago, even talking about their future together. After his rant, he crawled over to where Claire stood and begged, "Please forgive me, I was wrong. Let's start over, okay? Please? Please forgive me this one last time."

The person Claire had once admired was now more wicked and heartless than Anna. She shook her head and said, "No, I don't love you. I only yearned for the warmth you showed me when my car broke down and you helped me fix it the first time we met."

It had been the first warmth she received since moving from the countryside to the city, so she had cherished it—but not anymore. Seeing that she wouldn't change her mind, Tristan's heart sank as he slowly felt his heartbeat weakening.

The spacious room was silent because they had made sure the officers wouldn't disturb them or hear their conversation. At this moment, they were doomed to die. Claire did something to the water dispenser, and suddenly the room started to feel hotter. Then suddenly—

Boom! Boom!

She wiped the sweat from her face and stared at her palms, not believing the kind of dream she just had. She had heard and seen the flames, and she had been blown into pieces. It felt so real—she could still feel the pain in her bones—but she could see that she was fine now.

But wait...

She looked around and saw that she was lying in a garden, one that looked familiar. The colorful plants and some old gardening tools... this was her grandmother's garden in the countryside.

Realizing this, Claire didn't care about her appearance. She ran out of the garden, heading back home, screaming her grandma's name.

"Grandma!" she cried as she hurriedly opened their old door, but all she saw was a photo of her grandmother hanging on the wall. The smile on the old woman's face made her eyes moist, and she was about to cry but held back.

Looking at her young and slender body, she could tell that she had been reborn 15 years ago. But why did it happen after her grandmother had already passed away? She walked over to where her grandmother's photo was, lit three sticks of incense, and bowed.

In her previous life, the James Family had sent her to the city right after her grandmother passed away. They claimed it was to pay respects to their ancestors, but in reality, they wanted her to be an organ donor for their precious daughter.

When they realized she was intelligent, they exploited her until they injected her with an unknown substance and threw her into a cold prison. She had never had the chance to pay her respects to her grandmother. After she finished her ritual, she heard some commotion outside.

Several people pushed their way into the living room, and when they looked up and saw the little girl, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet and awkward. Claire looked at their hypocritical faces and laughed inwardly.

In her past life, she had really thought these people would still be there for her, even after her grandmother passed away. They couldn't even wait for her grandmother's funeral before fighting over the family properties.

The so-called eldest son of the James family had a smile on his face and said, "Claire Smith, although you have the surname Smith, you are still abandoned here. Your real father is very rich and lives in the city. We plan to take you there so you can reunite with your family."

"Since you will be enjoying a life of wealth, why don't you hand over the old woman's property to us? After all, it is the asset of our James family."

Claire listened to them, feeling nothing but coldness in her heart. It was they who misled her into thinking that living with the Smith family in the city would make her life easier, not knowing she would be married off immediately to gain their favor.

She opened her mouth and narrowed her eyes at those hypocrites and said, "What if I don't want to give it to you?"

Everyone was taken aback by her response. None of them had really expected her to refuse.

"Hehe, what right do you have to hold onto things that do not belong to you? When the old woman passed away, these things naturally became part of the James family," the eldest son immediately shouted. "And don't forget that you were born to an unmarried mother. To put it bluntly, you are an unrecognized bastard."

Bastard.

Yes, from childhood to adulthood, this word seemed to be engraved in Claire's bones. Except for her grandmother, everyone in the James family was polite to her but cursed her behind her back. Seeing that she remained silent, the youngest member of the James family rolled up his sleeves and angrily shouted, "Now that Grandma is dead, you have the guts to speak up? You eat so much food for nothing!"

The James family, with the help of her grandmother, had continued their family gift in medicine for generations. Claire never met her grandfather, who died early, but Grandma James always complimented him as a great husband and father. When Grandma James brought Claire home, she was met with opposition.

To prevent any mischief while away, Grandma James raised Claire as a boy, ensuring she could defend herself when bullied. Now that Grandma was gone, these people no longer needed to pretend.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Are we going to rob her? Can this kid handle us?" Aaron stepped forward and made a move to grab her. Claire dodged to the other side and said with a frown, "Wait, I'll get it for you."

After speaking, she turned and walked straight to the memorial tablet. Aaron looked at his brothers, feeling smug that he was the one to compel her to be obedient and bring out the family assets. The other two didn't say anything but also dropped their hypocritical masks, standing with their arms folded, watching Claire's movements.

Soon, a black box was taken out from behind the memorial tablet, and when the lid opened, it revealed a passbook. The three brothers' eyes lit up. Erik was the first to reach out, "Give it to me. We need to verify that everything is here."

"Okay," Claire said, looking at him. As if she had forgotten her previous resistance, she obediently handed over the box and said in a soft voice, "Grandma didn't leave anything else valuable, only this passbook. Inside... there are two hundred thousand gold coins."

At the end of her sentence, the number seemed to stretch infinitely, entering the ears of the three brothers like a roaring river. "Two hundred... thousand?" Erik stuttered, afraid he had misheard.

They had been jobless, working only menial jobs in the village for a lifetime and had never seen so much money. Seeing Claire nod honestly, Erik's mind buzzed with excitement, and his outstretched hand trembled slightly.

"If you don't believe it, you can check," Claire said as she held the box as if she wanted to prove her innocence. She opened the last page of the passbook, revealing the shining numbers.

The long string of zeros almost blinded the eyes of the rural men. Erik stared at the book, drooling, but before he could touch the box, another big hand suddenly reached out from the side, and with a snap, grabbed the wooden box and snatched it away. After being reborn and abandoning her longing for family affection, Claire realized how foolish these people were. With just a little provocation, they became a chaotic mess.

A few minutes later, the brawl finally ended. Erik wiped the blood from his forehead, grabbed the box, and stood up, laughing heartily. But his joy lasted only three seconds before a bench flew through the air and hit him hard in the back.

Bang!

The powerful blow knocked Erik unconscious. Claire walked over, kicked him aside, picked up the box, and put it back in its place. She looked at the plaque with the golden bottom in front of her and smirked, muttering under her breath, "Grandma, have you seen the true faces of these people?"

No one took care of you when you were alive, and even after you died, your things shouldn't be given to them, even if it's to feed the dogs, right?" She wiped the box carefully with a cloth, her movements gentle and cautious.

Just as she was about to close the box, she felt something strange. Her hand involuntarily reached inside. It was as if something was drawing her in, and when she snapped out of it, she realized she was holding a completely black box.

Grandma James had been a genius village doctor, and Claire had acquired her skills in medicine from her. Grandma James had cured many diseases in the village. As Claire turned around, she saw half of Erik's face covered in blood with a fierce expression.

"I knew it, a little bastard like you with no manners had bad intentions." The threat of death and excessive blood loss had driven him mad. He picked up the firewood chopper in his hand and fiercely swung it toward Claire. "How dare you touch what's supposed to be mine? I'll kill you!"

The swing was fast and urgent, and Claire was too close to the altar behind her to avoid it. Seeing that the blade was about to strike and blood would soon be spilled, Claire's heart pounded like a drum.