Chapter 3 3

The funeral had just ended.

Katrina scanned the area.

When her eyes landed on Felix-standing there, crying with a grief-stricken expression-her hands tightened around the wheelchair armrests. Veins bulged faintly on the back of her hands.

She forced herself to look away.

Forced herself to suppress the raging hatred threatening to burst from her chest.

Not far away, Owen stood in a black suit. A white daisy was pinned to his chest. Dark sunglasses concealed his eyes, revealing nothing of his emotions.

Katrina curled her lips in cold mockery.

After joining hands to kill her, they still had the audacity to show up at her grave?

Did they want to disturb her even in the afterlife?

Too bad.

Her life wasn't meant to end.

She stared at them both, swearing silently in her heart-

One day, she would have her revenge.

Owen.

Felix.

She wouldn't let either of them go.

Suddenly, a heart-wrenching sob erupted behind her.

Her body stiffened. A flicker of sorrow flashed across her face before she could stop it.

A figure rushed in front of her.

"Rachel, you bitch! What are you doing here? Get out! Get out of here! Haven't you hurt Kate enough while she was alive? You bitch! You and that bastard Felix will get what's coming to you! You won't die a good death! Kate is watching you from heaven! You two shameless adulterers-how dare you show your faces at her grave?!"

Katrina looked up.

The face before her was painfully familiar.

Tear-streaked. Twisted with hatred and overwhelming grief.

Each word cut into her heart like a blade.

Sophie.

Her closest friend when she was alive.

Grief surged through her chest. She forced the tears back with sheer willpower.

There were too many eyes watching.

Endure.

She couldn't expose herself.

"Get out... Rachel, get out!" Sophie screamed hysterically. "Just wait-I'll find proof that you murdered Kate. I won't let you get away with this!"

Sophie's words struck straight into Katrina's heart, shattering the fragile composure she had been desperately holding onto.

"I-"

Before she could finish, Sophie suddenly lunged forward, reaching to shove her wheelchair.

Felix reacted instantly, stepping in front of Sophie and blocking her.

"Have you lost your mind, Sophie? I already told you-Kate's death was an accident. It had nothing to do with Rachel. Are you done causing a scene? This is Kate's funeral! What exactly are you trying to do here?"

-Smack!

The sharp sound echoed through the cemetery.

Felix's face snapped to the side. A clear handprint bloomed across his fair cheek.

"Felix," Sophie spat, pulling her hand back, "the one who has the least right to stand in front of Kate is you, you hypocritical coward."

She took two steps back as if being close to him would stain her.

Felix's face darkened, his eyes blazing as he glared at her.

When he was slapped, Katrina had nearly applauded.

Just one slap?

That was letting him off easy.

But...

She would have plenty of chances in the future to settle the score with Felix-slowly.

"Who allowed you to come here?"

A cold, merciless voice sounded from behind her.

Owen.

The faint curve at the corner of her lips disappeared instantly.

"I heard Miss Donovan was being buried today," she replied calmly. "I thought I'd come and see her off one last time. Is that not allowed?"

Attending her own funeral.

What a ridiculous thing.

And yet it had happened to her.

Owen let out a cold snort. "What right do you have to stand in front of her? Rachel, you truly have no shame."

The moment he saw Rachel appear at the funeral, a chill had radiated from his entire body. If not for his iron self-control, he would have ordered someone to drag her out without hesitation.

Katrina gave a soft laugh, her tone dripping with mockery.

"Why can't I come? After all, Miss Donovan was technically my lifesaver. I'm just here to send her off. That's not too much, is it?"

The moment she mentioned that, Owen's anger surged uncontrollably. His icy eyes flared with piercing cold.

That night, when he learned that Rachel and Felix had lured Katrina out under the pretense of visiting a friend, he had gone nearly mad searching for her.

He hadn't slept for a single second.

Like a wild beast driven insane, he tore through the city.

But when he arrived at the abandoned hospital, the only thing left was the thick stench of blood in the air.

On the operating table lay Rachel-unconscious after surgery.

Katrina was gone.

She wasn't found until three days later.

"Go back," Owen ordered, his voice brooking no refusal.

Katrina almost laughed.

"You can stay, but I have to leave? Why?"

She lifted her chin, meeting his increasingly frigid gaze with open defiance. There was no fear in her eyes-only raw hatred.

She hated him.

Katrina hated Owen.

Completely.

Yet he paid no mind to the hatred in her gaze.

"Wade," Owen commanded coldly, addressing the silent assistant behind him, "take her back to the hospital. Until her body has fully recovered, she is not to leave the ward for even half a step."

What he regretted most-what he blamed himself for most-was failing to find Katrina that night.

Failing to pull her out of Rachel's hands.

Now, even in death, Rachel refused to leave her alone. How could he allow her to stand here and disturb Katrina's final farewell?

Although Owen had been adopted by the Sterling family since childhood and was Rachel's nominal older brother, his patience with her had already reached its limit after what she had done.

The fact that he hadn't strangled her with his own hands was already the extent of his restraint.

Wade quickly stepped behind Katrina and began pushing her away.

This time, she didn't resist.

As she was wheeled off, her gaze drifted to the photo on the tombstone.

Her own face smiled back at her.

A deep sorrow rose in her chest.

She knew that after today, there would no longer be anyone in this world named Katrina Donovan.

No matter how much she loathed the name Rachel, she would have to live on wearing the identity of the person she hated most.

She had to avenge herself.

What she didn't notice was that as she left, Felix's eyes never left her.

In his gaze swirled a complicated emotion-something unfamiliar, almost breaking free.

...

After returning from the cemetery, Rachel was practically confined to her hospital room by Owen.

This time, she cooperated obediently.

Not because she had given in-

But because she needed her body to recover as quickly as possible.

Only once she left the hospital could she begin doing what she truly intended.

If God had arranged for her to be reborn in Rachel's body, then her story was far from over.

Katrina was dead.

Now, she was Rachel.

The reborn Rachel.

Once she came to terms with that, no matter how much she resisted it in her heart, she would survive under this name.

And she would make them all pay.