My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The door was pushed open from the inside, and the surgeon came out.

He took off his mask, looked at the people in the corridor in front of him, and at the girl who was still covered in blood and standing barefoot at the door. He opened his mouth.

His gaze swept over the crowd behind her, before finally settling on the blood-covered girl in front of him.

He remained silent for a long time, so long that the air in the corridor almost solidified.

Then he shook his head slightly.

"When the injured person arrived, they had already lost vital signs due to excessive blood loss. There was a penetrating stab wound in the fourth intercostal space on the left side, with the tip of the knife piercing the chest cavity, puncturing the pericardium, and touching the anterior wall of the left ventricle. In addition, there were multiple fractures and internal organ damage caused by the car accident. Their heart had already stopped beating on the way here. Resuscitation lasted for forty minutes, but unfortunately, the heartbeat was never restored..." He lowered his hand and said in a very low voice, "Please accept my condolences."

Jiang Ran didn't wait for him to finish speaking.

The moment the words "I'm sorry" landed, she had already burst through the emergency room door and rushed inside.

The operating lights on the operating table had been turned off, leaving only a dim overhead light in the room, casting everything in a half-light and half-darkness.

Su Qing lay quietly on the operating table. The bloodstains on her body had been wiped away by the nurse with a wet towel, but the wounds, large and small, were still shocking to behold.

Her chest was wrapped in bandages, the penetrating wound on her right palm was carefully wrapped in gauze, and the dust on her face had been wiped clean, revealing her pale and peaceful face.

Her eyes had been gently closed, her eyelashes resting quietly on her eyelids, and a very faint smile lingered at the corners of her mouth; she truly looked like she was just asleep.

Jiang Ran slowly squatted down in front of the operating table, her movements very gentle, as if afraid of waking her sister.

She reached out and gently took Su Qing's cold hand in her palm, then pressed it against her face.

That hand was so cold, colder than ever before, like jade that had been frozen for a long time.

She gently rubbed her cheek against her sister's palm, her voice very soft, as if afraid of waking a sleeping dream.

"Sister, we're home now. It's raining so hard outside. I've closed all the windows, so you don't need to get up. Just get some sleep..."

  

As she spoke, large tears silently slid down her cheeks, dripping onto Su Qing's hand and then flowing down her hand and into her own fingers. "You slept for so long... were you very tired...? It's okay... I'll continue sleeping, and Xiao Ran won't disturb you. I'll sit next to you and keep you company... We'll go home together when you wake up..."

She raised her hand, her fingers tracing Su Qing's brow, her closed eyes, and her pale but still soft lips with utmost gentleness.

"Sister...are you sleeping well...? Xiao Ran will sing you a song, okay...the one you love to sing to Xiao Ran the most..."

Then she leaned down, pressed her face against Su Qing's cool forehead, closed her eyes, and gently hummed the song as she moved her lips.

That lullaby that Su Qing sang to her for seven whole years.

"The dark sky hangs low... Bright stars accompany... Insects fly, insects fly, who are you thinking of..."

Her voice was very soft and gentle, exactly the same tone her sister used to use when she coaxed her to sleep. Every syllable was pressed very low, as if afraid of waking the person in her arms.

But the breathy sounds in her singing betrayed her; her throat was trembling violently, and she had to pause several times before she could continue singing each word.

"The stars in the sky are weeping... The roses on the ground are withering... The cold wind blows, the cold wind blows, as long as you are with me..." The last note fell into the air, like a feather blown away by the wind, silently dissipating into the silence filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Cui Ying stood at the door, covering her mouth, tears streaming silently down her face.

She watched as the blood-covered girl knelt before the operating table, humming a lullaby in a gentle, almost pious voice, and her heart ached as if it had been crushed by something.

She stepped forward, wanting to hold Su Qing's hand, wanting to say thank you and sorry to this child who had protected her daughter for so many years.

The moment her hand reached out, before it even touched Su Qing's fingertips, Jiang Ran abruptly turned around and shoved her hand away forcefully.

Cui Ying was pushed and staggered back several steps before she was able to stand up with Jiang Mingyuan's help.

She stared blankly into Jiang Ran's eyes... those eyes no longer held distant indifference, no longer restrained politeness, but deep, undisguised hatred.

"Don't touch my sister! Don't touch her!"

Jiang Mingyuan supported Cui Ying's trembling shoulders, opened his mouth, and said in a hoarse and weak voice, "Xiao Ran..."

But his voice sounded so pale at that moment.

Jiang Ran didn't look at him, nor at anyone else.

She simply turned back to her face, gently placed Su Qing's cold hand on her cheek, and suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper, as if talking to herself or whispering to Su Qing.

"My sister is just asleep... When she wakes up... we'll go home... My sister promised to come home and watch a movie with me... My sister never lies to me... never..." As she spoke, the corners of her mouth even curved into a very faint smile, forming a heartbreaking contrast with the tears still streaming down her face.

Jiang Yi was already sobbing uncontrollably.

She staggered forward and gently, tremblingly, embraced Jiang Ran from behind.

She wanted to say that Sister Su had already left, that her sister would be heartbroken if she did this, and that we were all by her side.

But she couldn't say anything; she just hugged Jiang Ran's shoulders, buried her face in her back, and her shoulders trembled violently.

"Xiao Ran, Sister Su...she has already..."

"Don't touch me!"

Jiang Ran abruptly broke free from her arm, turned around, and shielded Su Qing behind her.

Her chest heaved violently, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her knuckles turning white, and the cut on the back of her hand from the broken glass reopened, blood dripping from her fingers onto the cold floor tiles.

She stared intently at the people in front of her, her gaze sweeping from Jiang Yi's face to Cui Ying, from Cui Ying to Jiang Mingyuan, from Jiang Mingyuan to Jiang Ren, and over every member of the Jiang family present.

"Why are you looking for us! Why!"

"Our life was perfectly fine before! My sister went to work every day, I went to school every day, we would snuggle on the sofa to watch movies on weekends, and have dinner together in the evenings. Nothing was wrong, we had everything we needed, so why did this have to happen!"

"Why did you break into our home! Why!" Her voice was hoarse and shrill, each word seeming to be torn from the deepest part of her chest, crashing back and forth in the quiet emergency room, striking the hearts of everyone present.

"If you hadn't insisted on throwing this birthday party, my sister would be at home making a cake right now. I wouldn't have gone out, wouldn't have gotten into that car, my sister wouldn't have protected me, she wouldn't have bled so much, wouldn't be lying here, wouldn't be ignoring me... She smiled at me this morning... She even wore the dress I like... She said she'd go to the movies with me tonight... She also said..." Her voice finally broke, like a mirror shattered beyond repair. Her lips trembled violently, and tears streamed silently down her face, dripping onto her clenched fists, dripping onto the backs of her bare feet on the cold tile floor. "She also said... See you when we get home..."

Cui Ying stood there, looking into her daughter's eyes filled with hatred, and felt something inside her slowly, bit by bit, breaking apart.

She wanted to say sorry, to say that it was all her fault, and to say that she just wanted to make up for all the years she had wronged her.

But she couldn't say anything, because she knew that every word Jiang Ran said was true. Because of her appearance, because of the Jiang family, this child lost the person she cared about most in her life.

She was her biological mother, but she was also the one who destroyed her happiness.

A series of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

The Cheng family arrived.

Sun Yaqin walked at the front, her hair disheveled by the wind, and tear stains still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

Her gaze swept over the Jiang family members, over the open emergency room door, over the bloodstains on the floor, and landed on the figure lying quietly on the operating table.

She swayed slightly, but Cheng Yi, who was beside her, caught her.

She walked quickly to the operating table, looking at Su Qing's pale, almost transparent face, and remembered how Su Qing had twirled in front of the camera in that white dress during their video call that morning, smiling so beautifully.

Then her gaze fell on Jiang Ran, who was covered in blood, barefoot, and had her sister's hand pressed tightly against her face, her bloodshot and tearful eyes warily staring at everyone in front of her.

She walked over, squatted down in front of Jiang Ran, and gently pulled the trembling girl into her arms.

"Xiao Ran, don't be afraid... Xiao Ran, don't be afraid... Aunt Sun is here... Aunt Sun is here..."

Those arms, though unrelated by blood, carried the weight of seven years of laughter from every meal she shared, the drunken ramblings she uttered, and the countless acts of kindness she showed by helping Su Qing take care of Xiao Ran when she was overwhelmed.

That was the first temperature that touched Jiang Ran's skin after she lost her sister, and that temperature came from someone who had no connection to the Jiang family.

Jiang Ran grabbed Sun Yaqin's clothes, buried her face in her chest, and let out a suppressed, broken cry.

Her tears soaked Sun Yaqin's clothes, and her fingers clenched them into deep wrinkles, as if she had grasped at the last straw in the world.

"Aunt Sun...please help me...please take my sister home...my sister is just asleep, just tired...she got up very early this morning...and didn't sleep well last night...she's just tired...please, please take her home..." Her voice went from muffled to broken, from broken to hoarse, and finally all her voice turned into a silent tremor, and her whole body went limp in Sun Yaqin's arms.

Sun Yaqin held the unconscious Jiang Ran, tears streaming silently down her face, dripping onto Jiang Ran's disheveled hair.

She gently patted Jiang Ran's back, just like she had coaxed Cheng Xiaoyu many years ago, her voice very soft: "Okay... Aunt Sun will help Xiao Ran take her sister home... take you all home together..."

On the operating table, Su Qing lay quietly, the smile still lingering on her lips.

Outside the window, the rain poured down, the raindrops pounding against the glass like the lingering echoes of this tragedy that never ceased.