The Day My Past Life Died

I had been Mrs. Sterling, living a life of splendor, for thirty years.

Our marriage was filled with love, our home bustling with children and grandchildren; I had no regrets.

But on my deathbed, my husband gripped my hand and confessed:

Actually, Lucas isn't your biological son.

He's mine and Sophia's. We swapped the babies back then, and as for our child, yours and mine, he died long ago.

My mind went blank. I stared numbly at the son who was wiping my hands and feet by my side.

He didn't even lift his head, but his cold voice pierced my ears like a knife:

"You're in poor health because I poisoned you."

"I hate you for taking my mother's place, for preventing our family from being whole."

I grabbed Ethan Sterling's hand, my blurry, bloodshot eyes wide.

"Why... why didn't you keep lying to me?"

"Because Sophia is kind. She said she couldn't bear to see you die still in the dark."

"Now, you can rest in peace."

His voice was gentle as he closed my eyes.

I gagged, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and died in a storm of grief, indignation, and hatred.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I gave birth.

The excited voice of the obstetrician reached my ears:

"Congratulations, Mrs. Sterling! It's a boy!"

The air was thick with a foul, humid heat.

Soaked in sweat, I gasped for breath, grateful to be alive.

In my ears, I could still hear Ethan's words from before I died in my past life:

"Lucas isn't your biological son, we swapped the babies back then..."

Seeing the doctor about to take my baby away,

I ignored the searing pain in my body and stumbled off the delivery bed.

"Stop! Give me back my baby!"

The doctor didn't stop; she quickened her pace instead.

I grabbed an alcohol bottle from the cart and smashed it hard against her head.

"I told you to stop!"

The doctor collapsed to the ground, clutching her head. I frantically snatched the baby and held him tightly in my arms.

The baby's high-pitched cries tore at my heart.

Tears blurred my vision. My hands trembled as I repeatedly stroked the baby's body.

Then, my hands brushed his lower body, and I froze.

"It's a girl. I gave birth to a daughter..."

I laughed and cried at the same time, tears streaming down my face.

How ridiculous that I was deceived for thirty years in my last life, believing until my death that I had given birth to a son!

The doctor picked herself up from the floor, her face full of panic, holding her bleeding forehead:

"Mrs. Sterling, you just gave birth, how could you just..."

I cut her off with a slap across her face, hitting her with all my strength.

"Bitch!"

"I clearly gave birth to a daughter, why did you say it was a son and let people be mistaken?"

Seeing my rage, a group of nurses exchanged glances, heads bowed, not daring to speak.

The doctor quickly slipped out to inform Ethan.

Ethan strode in, pointing at me, fuming:

"Olivia! The doctor just wanted to show me the baby, what are you doing, acting crazy!"

I couldn't help but sneer, "Ethan, as my husband, and the father of my child, where were you when I was fighting for my life to give birth?"

"Now that I've just had a baby, you, of all people, start by accusing me!"

A look of helplessness flashed across his face. He softened his expression, explaining:

"I went to the airport to pick up Sophia."

"She's only in poor health because she saved me back then, so of course, I have to be attentive to her."

As Ethan spoke, he reached for the baby, but I dodged him.

I didn't spare him a glance:

"I need to feed my daughter. You two, please leave."

Ethan's hand froze in mid-air. His eyes were full of impatience and irritation, and he was about to speak.

Suddenly, his phone rang loudly.

Sophia's voice, laced with sobs, came through:

"Ethan, my stomach hurts so much, please come be with me!"

Ethan immediately turned and left, no longer looking at me.

After years of marriage, I had just given birth, and he wouldn't even offer a word of concern.

Holding my baby, my heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.

Memories, like a flood that had broken its dam, surged over me.

Sophia was an orphan. She had saved Ethan's life during a shooting incident overseas and was adopted by my mother-in-law as a foster daughter.

I once tried to introduce her to a good man, but Ethan flew into a rage, holding a knife to his own throat to threaten me.

"Sophia's not well, are you trying to force her to marry just to kill her?"

"If that's the case, then I'll return this life to her!"

Because of those words, I let Sophia stay by his side for five years.

When my parents passed away, Ethan accompanied Sophia to an art exhibition overseas.

Meanwhile, I knelt in the funeral hall, overcome with grief, collapsing and miscarrying.

My calls for him to come back went unanswered, one after another, all hung up. All I got was a single reprimand.

"Sophia finally agreed to go out. Do you really have to cause a scene now?"

And this time, during my pregnancy, Ethan had used the excuse of Sophia going overseas for an exchange program, claiming he needed to personally accompany her, and didn't return for more than half a year.

He used the "debt of a life saved" to silence me for thirty years.

In the end, I toiled my entire life, raising another woman's child, only to pave the way for her happiness.

I dialed the number that had been dormant in my phone for years:

"Are the words you said back then still true?"

The next day, Ethan came to me holding a baby.

"Sophia found this boy when she was volunteering at the orphanage today. He should have been born on the same day as our daughter."

"I feel like it's fate, so I named him Lucas Sterling and plan to raise him under your name."

I spoke softly, soothing my daughter, and glanced at the baby boy.

"Some random kid from who knows where, does he deserve to be raised by me? Send him back to the orphanage."

"Olivia, how can you call Lucas a random kid?"

"You're a mother yourself. How heartbroken would his parents be if they heard that?"

Sophia's eyes welled with tears. She clung weakly to Ethan, feigning fragility, and coughed a few times at just the right moment.

Ethan immediately wrapped her in his arms, soothing her, then kicked over a table and roared at me:

"Olivia, when did you become so vicious? You can't even tolerate a child!"

I covered my daughter's ears, casually saying:

"If I raise him today, then tomorrow everyone will throw their unwanted pets at me. Am I supposed to raise them all?"

Especially since this one was a viper.

In my previous life, I devotedly raised and loved him for over twenty years, only to be poisoned to death by him.

Sophia's tears were about to fall. She looked at Ethan despairingly.

Ethan immediately took her hand and promised:

"The Sterling family is not hers to command. Don't worry, Sophia, I'll adopt Lucas and raise him by your side."

I couldn't be bothered with their little show and went into the room with my daughter.

"I need to rest, you two can leave."

Looking at my daughter's rosy, adorable sleeping face, my heart was full of joy.

Just as I was celebrating successfully protecting my daughter in this life, the door was suddenly kicked open.

Ethan rushed in, grabbing my neck, his eyes bloodshot as he growled:

"Olivia, why did you throw Lucas downstairs?"

"He's just a baby!"

I coughed violently, squeezing out broken explanations from my throat:

"I, I didn't..."

"Who else but you would harm a newborn baby!"

He ignored the fact that I had just given birth and dragged me out by the hand.

I couldn't keep up and fell to the ground.

Rough pebbles scraped my calf, leaving a long bloody trail.

At the hospital, Sophia was sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face, holding the unconscious baby.

"Olivia, I know you don't like me, but why would you try to hurt Lucas!"

The doctor said anxiously, "This child has a deep cut on his thigh and is losing a lot of blood. The hospital's blood bank isn't enough right now... I remember Mrs. Sterling and the child have the same blood type."

Sophia fell to her knees in front of me, tears gushing down her face:

"Olivia, please save Lucas, I'll do anything you want!"

Ethan lovingly helped her up, then backhanded me across the face.

"Bitch!"

A metallic taste spread in my mouth.

My postpartum abdomen began to cramp again. I bit my lower lip, my voice barely a whisper:

"I didn't do it, and I won't admit to something I didn't do."

Ethan gritted his teeth, kicked my knee, and dragged me in front of the doctor.

"Olivia, if you're unwilling, then we'll use your daughter's blood."

He immediately called home:

"Mr. Davies, bring the young mistress to the hospital."

All the blood in my body instantly froze. I stared at him in disbelief.

There was no tenderness in his sharp eyes, only a ruthless desire to get revenge for Sophia and her son.

I scrambled and crawled to my knees in front of the doctor, unhesitatingly rolling up my sleeve to expose my arm.

"Don't touch my daughter, I'll do it."

I had five bags of blood drawn. When the needle was pulled out, I was close to passing out.

A clap of thunder split the sky, and rain poured down.

I stumbled out of bed, tried to hail a cab in the street to go home and check on my daughter.

But I found my daughter crying uncontrollably, burning with fever.

I cried out, calling for an ambulance.

But the operator regretfully stated:

"I'm sorry, all doctors today have been called to treat the young master of the Sterling family."

"Even the hospital gates have been sealed, and ambulances can't get out."

Holding my daughter, I ran wildly through the rain.

The hospital lobby doors were tightly shut, only the lights were on.

I cried as I pounded on the doors, my fingers almost breaking, blood dripping onto the ground, mixing with the rainwater to form a pool of blood.

In the VIP room on the second floor, Ethan watched me from the window.

I quickly dialed his number.

Before I could speak, I heard Sophia's sobs:

"Olivia is deliberately trying to snatch the doctors away, to keep them from treating my Lucas..."

Ethan immediately rushed downstairs, pointing at me and cursing:

"Olivia, you would use our daughter to compete for attention, do you even deserve to be a mother!"

My hands trembled uncontrollably. I knelt on the ground, clutching Ethan's pants, sobbing brokenly:

"No, it's not like that... Annie is really sick, please, just let them check on my daughter!"

My daughter's face was flushed, turning purplish, and my heart was breaking.

A flicker of reluctance crossed Ethan's eyes. He was about to give in, but Sophia called:

"Lucas! Lucas fainted again!"

Ethan immediately shook off my hand. "If you want to kneel, then keep kneeling. You can get up when Lucas wakes up."

My scraped wounds were still bleeding. I tightly held my daughter and stood up, wanting to find a doctor at a clinic.

But after just one step, my vision went black, and I collapsed in the rain.

In a daze, I saw a church where white doves circled.

Ethan slipped a diamond ring onto my ring finger.

His eyes red, he kissed my tears:

"Olivia, I will only love you in this life."

The scene shifted, he held me in his arms and smiled.

"Olivia, have a daughter as beautiful as you for me. I want her to be the happiest young lady in the entire Emerald City."

But then it froze on him, expressionless, holding my hand, his voice as cold as ice:

"Actually, our child died long ago."

"The one I love has always been Sophia..."

I sat up abruptly, drenched in cold sweat.

The bed beside me was empty, only the nurse changing my IV was there.

"Mrs. Sterling, you're finally awake. You've been unconscious for three days..."

"Annie, where's my daughter?"

I swung my legs off the bed, wanting to find my daughter.

But Ethan, who had just opened the door, stopped me. He picked me up and gently placed me back on the bed.

"The child has been sent for treatment. There's a party at home tomorrow, you'll see her then."

I gripped his hand tightly, almost falling to my knees, tears gushing down my face.

"Okay, okay... I'll listen to you, as long as you don't hurt my daughter."

He told me many stories about our past.

Numb and submissive, I bit my lip, shedding tears, without a word.

The next day, the house was brightly lit.

In the front hall, Sophia held a baby, surrounded by society wives.

"Oh, he's certainly Mr. Sterling's child, look how strong his little hands are."

"His eyes resemble Mrs. Sterling, so lively..."

I excitedly rushed over, wanting to see my daughter.

But the moment I saw the child, I froze.

"Why is it him? Where's my daughter?"

A group of wealthy ladies smiled and took my hand, congratulating me:

"Congratulations, Mrs. Sterling, on your baby boy!"

"A boy for your first child, truly blessed..."

"No!"

I screamed, backing away, "I gave birth to a daughter, where is my daughter!"

But everyone looked at me as if I were insane.

Sophia held the child, standing in the crowd, and slowly curled her lips, saying each word clearly:

"Olivia is confused again, you clearly gave birth to a boy."

She handed the child to the nanny, then supported my arm, explaining to the other ladies with a show of concern:

"My sister-in-law's mental state has been unstable during her pregnancy. She was diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and keeps saying she gave birth to a daughter, even harming the baby for no reason..."

"My brother only let her out today because she seemed a little better, but I didn't expect her to have another episode."

She then looked at me, comforting softly:

"Olivia, everyone in Emerald City knows you gave birth to a son, don't keep forgetting."

I didn't miss the fleeting glimpse of triumph in her eyes.

I slapped Sophia across the face, then went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, held it to her throat, and screamed hysterically:

"Give me back my daughter, or I'll kill you!"