Chapter 1

The summer sun was beating down on the busy streets, making everyone feel like they were melting. People were rushing around in front of the hospital, and the scorching sunlight was hitting everyone equally.

Meanwhile, in a hospital room, Katniss Manners slowly woke up from a coma, blinking her eyes open to a strange and mysterious scene.

The gray walls were covered with a red cross, and an old table stood by the bed. The stale air and the strong smell of disinfectant hit her nose, making her already aching head spin even more.

Wait, wasn’t she dead? How the heck was she in a hospital?

Katniss remembered.

She had come to the hospital to see her sister, Clara Manners, with a bunch of flowers she had carefully picked out. The hot weather had her drenched in sweat, but she didn’t care. Her heart was full of worry and love for Clara.

Dodging pedestrians and cars, Katniss hurried along, her anxiety and urgency pushing her forward.

Finally, she reached the hospital entrance and rushed into the ward. The next second, she heard Clara and Elodie Smith talking inside.

"Mom, how did I get this disease? If I can’t find a kidney donor, I’m gonna die. What am I gonna do?" Clara’s voice trembled as she held the examination report, her eyes filled with helplessness and sadness.

Elodie tried to comfort her, "Your second brother is a doctor; he’ll figure something out. We’ll find a kidney donor soon." Clara’s tears flowed like a river, her fear and despair rising like a tide.

Listening quietly, Katniss felt a tightness in her chest. Knowing the family’s struggles and conflicts, she had tried so hard to please her family but was always ignored and treated coldly. Elodie’s suggestion shocked her, a flame of resistance igniting in her heart.

"I’m afraid I won’t make it until then, Mom. I’m still young, I have kids to raise, and I haven’t had a chance to take good care of you," Clara said sadly, her words showing her appreciation for life.

Elodie’s eyes flashed with a hint of darkness as she said, "By the way, didn’t Katniss get stomach cancer? Maybe we can use her kidney. It would be a waste otherwise." These words hit Katniss like a punch to the gut, making her feel helpless and angry.

Standing at the door, Katniss listened to Clara and Elodie’s conversation, her mood swinging wildly. She stood quietly in the hospital corner, thinking about her life. As the latecomer to the family, she had gone through countless struggles, each one shaping her strong heart.

At ten, the Manners family found out that Katniss was actually their real daughter who had been mistakenly taken away. She was brought back from the countryside. This unexpected discovery flipped Katniss’s life upside down. She had envisioned a hopeful new life, only to find herself facing family challenges and hardships.

Katniss tried hard to fit in with her family but found it tough. She kept trying, longing for their recognition.

Her four brothers were the family’s golden boys, always doting on Clara, the mistaken daughter. "Katniss, you screwed up again!" Their constant nagging cut deep, and the family’s cold and unfair attitude towards her was like a slap in the face.

Clara’s tears always got the family’s sympathy, while Katniss was the scapegoat. "I just wanted to help," she’d say, but her efforts to solve the family’s money problems were met with cold shoulders and blame. She couldn’t wrap her head around why she was always the one getting the short end of the stick.

Sometimes, Katniss felt like Clara was the real Manners kid, and she was just some outsider.

The Manners family was into business, so they were pretty loaded, but as more people got into the game, they started having cash flow issues.

It was Katniss who busted her butt day and night to fix the financial mess, just to get a nod from the Manners family, but she worked herself sick. Instead of getting their sympathy, they wanted her life.

Laughing bitterly, she should’ve known that no matter how hard she tried, she’d never get their care, not even a smidge.

Katniss closed her eyes, trying to bear the pain. Suddenly, a violent cough broke the silence, and she unintentionally made a sound because of her aching body.

Katniss groaned in pain, the atmosphere in the ward getting heavy. Elodie and Clara heard the noise outside the ward, and Elodie quickly pushed the door open, frowning and glaring at Katniss.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Elodie’s voice was full of anger and repression.

Katniss immediately felt a chill. She hurriedly stood up, wanting to escape the awkward situation. But Elodie wasn’t letting it go, her eyes filled with anger and displeasure.

"Don’t run!" Elodie shouted angrily, quickening her pace to catch up.

Katniss’s heart sank into an icy abyss. Panicked, she ran down the corridor, finally slipping and accidentally falling down the stairs.

The sound of the fall echoed through the stairwell. Elodie reached the stairwell and saw Katniss lying on the ground, feeling an indescribable sense of satisfaction and pleasure.

"Finally got rid of this trouble!" Elodie said with relief.

"Katniss, listen to me. You’re alone, with no attachments, and you’ve got stomach cancer and won’t live long. But Clara is different. She has a family and kids. You can’t be so heartless and let her die!" Elodie said. She seemed to have found a solution to the problem, feeling a sense of pride and relief, while Katniss lay on the stairs, groaning in pain, helpless and desperate.

Elodie never disappointed her. At this moment, Elodie said another sentence that made Katniss’s heart sink to the bottom, "Falling from such a high staircase won’t affect the quality of the kidney, right? Vomiting so much blood, you probably won’t survive. That’s good; Clara’s illness will be cured."

Hearing this, Katniss stared at Elodie with wide eyes. The hatred and unwillingness in her heart made her die with her eyes open.

But unexpectedly, she was reborn.

This was God’s chance for her to start a new life.