The hospital room was quiet.
Lila opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing. Words seemed too hollow in this moment.
After all, she had explained herself countless times before, and her brothers never believed her.
Max’s throat tightened before he finally let go.
He looked at Lila with disappointment. “If you continue to be stubborn, when Blake returns, even I won’t be able to protect you. Think about it carefully.”
Max left after saying this.
Lila seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and leaned back against the headboard.
Her eyes filled with self-mockery. What was there to think about?
Should she bow her head like in her previous life, carefully trying to please them, only to end up being thrown out of the family and dying miserably in a mental hospital?
She refused to do that again.
“Take this!”
An ice pack wrapped in gauze appeared before her.
Lila took the ice pack and pressed it against her swollen cheek. She stole a glance at the man beside her and said softly, “Thank you for earlier.”
His voice was cool. “Why didn’t you explain yourself?”
Lila lowered her head, revealing a bitter smile. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve explained myself many times before? I even presented evidence, but they never believed me. They just thought I was lying.”
The room briefly fell into silence.
Lila hadn’t intended to explain much anyway. Many outsiders didn’t believe what she said either, thinking she was just being disobedient.
“It’s hard not to believe you.”
Lila was startled. Did he really believe what she said?
Dr. Sean stepped forward and placed his hand on her forehead. “Your temperature has gone down.”
Lila froze. His hand was cool and comforting.
She felt much better now, not as uncomfortable as before.
She looked at his wrist. “The scar on your hand-is that from a car accident too?”
Dr. Sean’s hand suddenly paused before he quickly withdrew it.
He removed the empty IV bag and after a moment replied, “Yes, from a car accident.”
His hand rested on the edge of the desk, his back still turned to Lila.
His profile was backlit, making his expression difficult to see.
“I have one too, on my leg.”
Lila pulled her skirt up slightly. “It’s here. Doesn’t it look similar to yours?”
Dr. Sean turned to see her slender leg. Her skin was fair, making the scar on her thigh stand out starkly.
However, she seemed to have pulled her skirt up a bit too high, revealing more than intended.
He glanced once, then quickly looked away. “Kid, don’t casually lift your skirt in front of men.”
“But you’re a doctor.”
Dr. Sean’s throat tightened. He was also a man.
Hadn’t anyone taught her these things?
He continued, “This scar can be treated. Why haven’t you had it restored?”
The expression on Lila’s face dimmed, and her heart throbbed with pain.
Because her third brother Westley had told her that the scar represented her parents’ existence, and that he would personally help her restore it when he had time.
She had believed him.
But in the end, Westley had looked at the scar on her leg with disgust, saying he hated it and would never help her treat it.
He said she had caused their parents’ deaths.
He said the scar was her brand, a reminder that she had killed their parents, something she should remember for the rest of her life.
She had been devastated at the time, even believing that she had truly caused her parents’ deaths, which made her increasingly submissive toward her brothers.
Recalling the past, Lila felt so terrible she could hardly breathe.
But she couldn’t speak of this reason now, so she asked instead, “What about you? Why haven’t you treated yours?”
“I’m a man, it doesn’t matter. For a young girl, it would be better to have it treated.”
Lila forced a difficult smile. “Maybe someday.”
Seeing her with her head down, Dr. Sean didn’t say anything more.
He sat nearby and turned on the television.
Lila noticed that the TV was showing a game livestream, specifically the match that her sixth brother Finn was currently participating in.
Finn had missed Sylvia’s banquet for this competition.
But in the end, he lost to the son of the Chase family from Northvale.
Lila remembered how in her previous life, after Finn lost the match, he was viciously mocked by his opponent.
When Finn returned home, he had furiously rebuilt the family team.
Max, Easton, Zachary, Finn, and herself.
Although they failed in the preliminaries, there was still the wildcard round.
They had fought their way back through the wildcard tournament, and eventually faced the son of the Chase family from Northvale again in the national competition.
At that time, she had spent countless hours training, studying the characteristics of the Chase team members, so they could defeat them in the match.
Sylvia wasn’t in the game.
Because Sylvia didn’t have much gaming talent, she could only be a substitute and couldn’t participate in the actual matches.
That’s why Lila loved fighting alongside her brothers in the game-there were no outsiders disrupting their family.
She had neglected her college entrance exam preparation for this e-sports competition.
But after they won a crucial round, with the championship within reach, her brothers had stopped the match.
She was substituted out, and Sylvia was sent in.
In the end, they won the competition and became national champions.
Her brothers, with Sylvia among them, stood on the champion’s podium, stepping on her hard work.
Sylvia had held the trophy that should have been hers, standing among her brothers, looking utterly happy.
As Lila watched the game on the screen, her heart felt as if it had a hole that could never be mended.
“Why are you crying? This isn’t a soap opera worth getting so emotional over.”
Lila came back to her senses and wiped the tears from her face. She had lost control of her emotions while remembering her past life.
A piece of tissue appeared before her, held by a man with long, elegant fingers.
She took the tissue and looked at him somewhat embarrassedly. “Do you play this game?”
“Kid, your most important task right now is preparing for exams, not playing games!”
Dr. Sean sat in his chair, leaning back lazily, not looking at her but focusing on the match.
Lila also turned her attention to the match and stated seriously, “The Landon Warriors will lose.”
The Landon Warriors was her sixth brother’s team.
Dr. Sean’s lips curled slightly, his voice unhurried. “Seems you have good judgment.”
After the match ended, the Landon Warriors lost without surprise.
Lila saw on the livestream that Finn’s face looked extremely unpleasant, and he even smashed his keyboard.
Finn had always had such a volatile temper.
Seeing Finn lose the match, she actually felt a bit happy.
When Finn returned, he would definitely reorganize the team, but this time, she wouldn’t compete for the Landon family again.
She would fight for herself, become a professional player, earn money to attend university, and support herself.
She never wanted to have her living expenses cut off as a way to force her compliance, or be pressured to give up a prestigious school for the ordinary college Sylvia attended.
She needed financial independence to break free from the Landon family’s control.
Professional gaming wasn’t commercially promising now, but next year, with the rise of livestreaming, professional players could earn money through streaming.
For her, with her gaming experience from her previous life, this was the quickest and least effortful way to make money.
Lila silently made up her mind.
After the livestream ended, Dr. Sean looked back and walked over to remove the IV needle from her hand.
He took a cotton swab and pressed it against the back of Lila’s hand. “The medicine is on the table. Take it and you can go.”
“Thank you!”
Lila took the medicine and left the infirmary.
Just after she left, a young man walked in and said casually, “Sean, it’s rare to see you playing the hero, but this girl doesn’t have a good reputation at school. She’s been cursing up a storm on the campus forum. Don’t get tricked by her.”
Dr. Sean leaned back in his chair, his demeanor less distant and more relaxed.
He replied carelessly, “Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I’m curious why you specifically came to this high school as the school doctor, and didn’t even go see Mason’s match in person. He was distracted looking for you during the game and almost got ambushed by that Landon kid. Tell me the reason, and I’ll leave immediately.”
Dr. Sean removed his mask and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the ugly scar.
Cole Grant’s expression darkened when he saw it. “After all these years, you still haven’t let it go? That accident wasn’t your fault! Wait, could this girl be…”
“Shut up!”
Dr. Sean closed his eyes to rest, ignoring the person beside him.