The Oleander Reborn

Amid Nancy’s scream and my hands covered in blood, I picked up the phone on the coffee table and dialed 911.

…

When my father, the chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Stone, rushed into the hospital in his bespoke suit, I was already surrounded by a few police officers.

The red light outside the operating room still glowed as doctors fought to save the woman’s life.

My father spoke solemnly with the officers for a moment before turning toward me.

“Nadia Stone, why did you stab her?”

“Because she wouldn’t give me money.”

“Why would she give you money?”

“Because I opened the door for her. So she had to give me money.”

“Why does your opening the door for her mean that she must give you money?”

I lifted my head and looked at him with my wide, innocent eyes.

“You said it yourself. Everything in this world has a price. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Nothing can be gained without paying for something in return.

“Since I did something for her, shouldn’t she give me money?”

My father suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of helplessness.

“Even if she didn’t pay you, you still shouldn’t hurt her with a knife.”

“She gave me a mean look like I’d done something wrong. But I didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, she was the one in the wrong, so why did she treat me like that?

“And you told me before that if someone treats me badly the first time we meet, they’re likely to become my enemy later on. And that I should eliminate that threat before they can hurt me.”

Hearing this, my father’s expression twisted into something as foul as if he’d swallowed a pile of filth.

Back when he pushed his strict parenting, he’d also drilled some pretty extreme business principles into me. Little did he know I’d not only memorized them, but also obediently put them into practice.

As a result, Lara Powell, the woman who had borne him a son in my past life, now lay on the operating table, fighting for her life, while he sat on the bench outside the operating room, reaping what he had sown.

“Where did you get that blade?”

“I bought it.”

His suspicious gaze swept over my face. “You bought it? What for?”

“Lately, a group of older students has been robbing me of the money I earn from selling scraps after school. I told the teachers, but they ignored me. You were the one who told me to reflect, and that failing to protect my own earnings was my own fault.

“I really didn’t know where I went wrong, so I had to find a way to protect my money.”

My eyes remained clear and innocent. “Next time they try to take my money, I’ll use the same way to deal with them, as I did with the ma’am. I won’t let them steal my money again.”

The suspicion in his eyes faded. After all, no one would suspect a seventeen-year-old soul inhabiting the body of a seven-year-old girl.

He let out a long sigh and leaned his head weakly against the wall.

…

At seven in the evening, the surgery finally ended, and Lara was wheeled out of the operating room.

The good news was that her life was saved.

The bad news was that two consecutive stabs had precisely pierced her uterus. Not only was the one-month-old fetus lost, but she also had been stripped of her very right to be a mother.

Her uterus had been removed.

Outside the ward, I pressed my face against the door and peeked inside. There lay Lara, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. My father was standing beside her, clutching the surgical report, his entire body trembling violently.

Thereafter, I never saw Lara again.

A barren woman had no reason to stay by his side.

As for those older students who had ambushed and robbed me before, I never encountered them again. It was as if those bullies had mysteriously vanished overnight.