Chapter 1
They left me to die in a burning lab while saving my faker sister. Big mistake.
I hadn't slept in six months, perfecting the neural serum that would save Mom's life. One vial. One chance. Then my adopted sister Mia grabbed it and smashed it on the floor, sobbing about how cruel I was to a "disabled" person.
Mom and Dad ate it up. My fiancé Ryan nodded along—probably because he was banging Mia every chance he got. When fire trapped me in the lab, they carried out "paralyzed" Mia and left me hammering on reinforced glass, choking on smoke.
Want to know the best part? That manipulative snake hopped out of her wheelchair and sprinted to safety the second she thought no one was looking.
Second chance at life? Hell yes.
I'm watching Mia lift that test tube again, ready to destroy everything. But instead of lunging forward like last time, I lean back in my chair.
"Smash away," I say with a shrug. "I'm not the one who'll suffer."
Let's see how this plays out when I'm not the naive fool.
Emma's POV
"Emma! What the hell is WRONG with you?!"
The scream hit me like a slap.
I jerked my head up. My lungs still burned with smoke from my past life, skin still feeling flames. My whole body shook.
Through the lab's harsh lights, I stared at those familiar, sick faces.
Mom Sarah stood there pissed, finger jabbing at my nose. Dad David shielded Mia in her wheelchair.
At Mia's feet—blue liquid spreading everywhere. Glass shards scattered across the floor.
The neural repair serum. Six months of hell. Three hours of sleep per night. Thousands of failed experiments. The only drug that could ease Sarah's hereditary nerve pain.
This exact scene had happened in my past life.
Mia had volunteered to bring coffee, then "accidentally" rammed her wheelchair into the temperature platform, destroying the vial.
Back then, I'd panicked. Shoved her aside and dropped to my knees, desperately trying to salvage the liquid with a dropper. Sarah blamed me for putting the medicine where Mia could reach it. David ordered me to recreate it in three days.
To save Sarah, I locked myself in this lab for seventy-two straight hours.
On the third night, fire broke out. The doors were sealed from outside.
I pounded on reinforced glass while flames ate everything around me. I watched David, Sarah, and my fiancé Ryan burst through the smoke. They ignored my screaming, rushing straight to Mia in the hallway.
In my final moments before the fire consumed me, I saw the truth.
Mia—who'd claimed paralysis for three years—suddenly LEAPED from her wheelchair and sprinted to safety! She even looked back and smiled as I burned!
"Are you DEAF? I'm talking to you!" Sarah snapped. "You KNEW Mia can't walk properly! Why put something so dangerous within her reach? You set this up!"
Mia clutched her tiny scratch, tears streaming. "I'm sorry, Mom. Please don't blame Emma. It's my fault—I wanted to help organize her workspace. My legs went numb and the wheelchair slipped. I'm just... I'm such a burden..."
"Stop that, Mia! None of this is your fault!" David hugged her tight, then glared at me. "Emma, look what you've done to your sister! APOLOGIZE!"
Apologize?
I laughed, cold and bitter. "Do you even know what that vial contained? Six months of research. Neural repair serum designed specifically for Sarah's condition. The only treatment that could actually work."
"So what?" David waved me off. "It's medicine, right? You're supposedly this genius who got into Johns Hopkins. How hard can it be to whip up another batch? Stop being so damn dramatic!"
I stared at the blue mess on the floor. The fire had already burned every ounce of love I'd felt for this family.
"I'm not making another one."
The words came out flat.
Dead silence.
Sarah's eyes went wide. "What did you just say?"
"I said I'm not making another batch." I stared her down. "That was the final vial. All core materials are gone. Even with substitute compounds, extraction would take six months minimum. It's destroyed. Permanently."
"You're LYING!" David's fist slammed the counter. "Emma, you're throwing a tantrum! Your mother's pain could spike any moment. If you gamble with her life out of spite, I swear to God—"
Mia sobbed louder. "Emma, I know you hate me for ruining something so important... but surely you kept backup samples? You're always so careful about everything..."
"Exactly!" Sarah jumped in. "Emma, quit trying to scare us! You definitely have more hidden somewhere!"
"Think whatever you want."
I stepped around the glass and pulled out my suitcase.
"What are you DOING?" Sarah's voice cracked as I started packing.
"Leaving." I shoved my laptop and drives into the case. "Since you're all convinced I'm some psychopath who tortures disabled people for fun, I'll save you the trouble of dealing with me."
"Emma! Are you out of your MIND?" David lunged for my suitcase. "Walk out that door and I'll cut off every penny! You'll get nothing from me ever again!"
I dodged him and zipped the case shut. "David, my scholarships and patent royalties have covered my expenses since I was sixteen. Meanwhile, you've been siphoning tens of thousands from my accounts every month to fund Mia's shopping sprees. Really thought I wouldn't notice?"
David turned bright red. His hand shot up.
I didn't flinch. "Go ahead. Hit me. That slap will make front-page news in every medical journal tomorrow: 'Tech Executive Assaults Teen Medical Prodigy.' Try it."
His hand froze.
I grabbed my suitcase and headed for the door.
Walking past Mia, I caught her act—still sobbing like her heart was broken. But her eyes sparkled with victory.
She thought she'd won. Believed that driving me away would give her total control over our parents' affection and resources.
If only she knew what she'd actually destroyed.
"Emma! If you leave this house, don't you DARE come crawling back later!" Sarah shrieked behind me.
I didn't look back. Just stepped into the freezing rain.
