They’re trying to resuscitate her in the emergency room now. Let me take you there,” Michael said


    courteously.


    “No need for that,” I said, then nced back at Steven. “Stay put with your IV. I’ll be back


    soon.”


    Steven glowered at Michael at that moment. He wanted to get out of bed to keep me


    “The doctor said you can’t get out of bed, so behave yourself,” I stopped him from


    following me.


    He had quite literally shot himself in the foot with his earlier demands.


    Steven clenched his fingers and red at Michael.


    This time, Michael was the one who shot Steven a challenging look.


    “Whether she’s Stephanie or Stephany, I’ll take her away from you regardless,” Michael said


    warningly to Steven.


    Then, he walked to the door and continued, “Steven, I could snatch her away from your


    once, and I can do it again.”


    Not long after I left Steven’s ward, I heard a loud crash. I was worried and wanted to turn back to


    check on Steven. However, Michael merely urged me along and said, “Grandma


    Rosie’s condition isn’t looking too good. The doctors have alreadybeled her as being in


    critical condition.


    “You’re her only living rtive, so you’ll need to sign some papers.”


    N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    Grandma Rosie was still being resuscitated in the emergency room. Halfway through, the doctor


    came out of the room to mentally prepare us for the bad news. Then, I was asked to


    sign some papers.


    I felt very anxious. I folded my hands together in prayer. I prayed to the higher powers above that


    Grandma Rosie would be safe.


    Even though she wasn’t actually my grandmother, she had raised Stephany. Besides, I had


    assumed her granddaughter’s identity.


    no immediate danger to her life for now. She’ll be transferred to the observation ward, though. Your


    grandmother is pretty elderly and 90 percent of her cerebral blood vessels are blocked. At her age,


    we wouldn’t rmend surgery or any stenting


    procedures.


    Take good care of her in recent days. This time, she suffered a sudden heart attack. It was luck


    that kept her alive this time round,” the doctor said.


    1 nodded hastily and thanked the doctor. Then, I sat by Grandma Rosie’s bedside.


    “Stephie, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Michael said softly to console me.


    I found his presence very annoying. “Michael Ford, this has nothing to do with you. She’s my


    grandmother. You can leave now.”


    “Stephie…” he persisted in calling me that.


    “Please, Stephie, can we talk?” he continued in a hoarse voice. It sounded as if he wanted to


    exin himself.


    “I do love you…” Michael said.


    I frowned and felt nauseous upon hearing that. My stomach churned as I barked out, “Fuck


    off.”


    “I read your diary. You wrote that I didn’t love you and that I’ve always despised you and never


    trusted you…” Michael murmured with his head lowered. It looked as if he was speaking to himself,


    seemingly unaware of who he was even talking to.


    He seemed to have convinced himself that I was Stephanie Carlson and feltpelled to make


    amends with her through me. His behavior was downright despicable.


    “I love you, Stephie. I love you more than anyone else. I just couldn’t believe that you could love me


    back,” Michael said. His voice was hoarse as he grasped my wrist.


    He continued, “You were resistant to the marriage alliance. It was clear that you didn’t want to marry


    me. You were the one who used to love someone else. I knew that you never


    really paid any attention to me.


    “I just couldn’t believe that you had really fallen in love with me. In fact, I didn’t even want to believe


    it at first. I thought…”


    interrupted him with a sneer, “You thought that Stephanie had ulterior motives, didn’t you?”


    Then, I shook Michael’s hand off and continued, “Michael Ford, you’re so full of yourself.


    Just thinking about how Stephanie might’ve really loved someone like you makes me pity


    her.


    Michael bowed his head low. He had a guilty look on his face, yet he was powerless to do anything


    about it. “I Just…”


    He wanted to exin himself and justify everything. But he couldn’t.


    ‘Stephy… Annie…” Grandma Rosie kept calling out for Stephany and Ann in her


    unconscious state.


    Stephany and Ann were switched at birth, after all. Perhaps Ann’s parents had intentionally


    switched them years ago.


    However, Ann’s parents both passed away when Stephany was in her teens. The Larsons never


    investigated the matter further. They had even favored Ann over Stephany because


    Ann had been the one they raised.


    The Larsons regarded Stephany as nothing but an uncultured country bumpkin. They even feared


    that she would disgrace the family.


    Ann was Grandma Rosie’s biological granddaughter, after all. It was only natural for her to


    miss and think about her all the time.


    However, it didn’t matter how much she cared about Ann. Ann was never going to visit her


    at the hospital.


    “Stephie, you were seriously injured and in aa for seven whole days when you arrived at my


    house at the age of 18. When you woke up, you seemed to have lost a lot of your


    memories.


    “You asked if I was the one who saved you at the time. At the time, I was very selfish. I lied


    and said that I was. I’ll admit that I’m at fault for that,” Michael whispered.


    He continued to speak about the past, “My mom said that your condition was unstable, after all. But


    because of the amnesia, the psychological illness you used to have suddenly disappeared. It was a


    blessing in disguise.


    “Even so, I always got the feeling that you were faking it, I thought you were doing it


    because of your parents‘ deaths. I honestly thought you were faking it on purpose to


    benefit from the Carlsons.”


    Michael kept talking. He didn’t care if I wanted to hear what he had to say or not.


    I found him annoying at first, but after hearing him talk about me having had a mental


    disorder in the past, I tensed up subconsciously.


    turned to look at him and asked, “What do you mean by that? Are you saying that Stephanie used


    to be psychologically ill?”


    “So you’ve really forgotten…” Michael murmured and looked up at me.


    “When you were a lot younger, you were locked in a dark basement in the orphanage for


    quite a long time. When Mr. and Mrs. Carlson found you, you were fading in and out of


    consciousness. After that, you received many years of psychological therapy.”