"While I was unconscious, I had a dream. I dreamed that you were kidnapped..."


    "Yvonne being kidnapped? That was ages ago. The police rescued her, and she came home safely. The kidnappers are still in prison. Mom, what''s gotten into you? Why are you bringing that up?" Jeffrey said,pletely exasperated.


    But Teresa just shook her head, tears streaming down her face.


    "In my dream..... in my dream, Yvonne wasn''t rescued. She called us for help, but we


    all thought she was just acting out, so we ignored her. She overheard the kidnappers saying they were going to assault her and then sell her. She was so terrified that it triggered a heart attack... When they found her, she wasn''t breathing, so they just dumped her body."


    "When they found her, she was already stiff. My... my daughter... how scared and hopeless she must have felt when she died."


    Teresa clutched her chest, her sobs turning into heart-wrenching wails.


    "Mom, it was just a dream. Look, Yvonne is standing right here in front of you, perfectly fine," Jeffrey said, trying to calm his mother, worried that the intense emotions would be too much for her newly awakened state.


    "Right, Yvonne''s fine. She''s right here in front of me," Teresa murmured, looking at Yvonne. And Yvonne looked back at her.


    Yvonne''s expression was cid, her eyes devoid of any emotion.


    Jeffrey helped Teresa back into bed.


    Leaning against the pillows, Teresa still held Yvonne''s hand, rambling on. "Yvonne, you don''t understand. I kept having this dream the entire time I was unconscious. Everything in it felt so real."


    "Maybe everything in the dream was real," Yvonne said suddenly, her eyes locked on Teresa''s.


    The original owner of this body had indeed died of a heart attack, terrified and alone. It was only because she had died that Yvonne had been given a second chance, reborn in her ce.


    That poor girl had been abused her whole life. When she was finally reunited with her family, she had tried so hard to please them, desperate for a little bit of their love.


    met


    But in the end, when she was in mortal danger, they had all abandoned her. She had died in despair. Perhaps, in some cosmic way, she wanted to repay the one person who had ever shown her kindness the policewoman and that was why Yvonne was now living in this body.


    "Don''t say such things, child. Don''t scare your mother like this," Teresa choked out. "It''s all that bastard George Spencer''s fault! He swapped my real daughter for the child of some tramp. Yvonne, I was wrong. promise, I''ll be good to you from now on."


    Teresa had said things like this many times before, but Yvonne could tell that this time, she meant it.


    Unfortunately, the current Yvonne didn''t need it. And the original Yvonne needed it even less.


    Yvonne coldly pulled her hand away.


    "From the moment I was taken, I never had a mother. Maybe our bond as mother and daughter wasn''t strong enough in our past lives you shoufel, just pretend that really did die in that kidnapping.''


    II


    "Yvonne!" Teresa sat frozen on the bed, looking at her in anguish.


    "Please take care of yourself. I''ll visit again when I have time," Yvonne said before turning and walking out of the room.


    Jeffrey had gone to check on another patient. When he returned, Yvonne was gone, and Teresa was sitting alone on the bed, staring into space.


    "Yvonne left?" he asked.


    Teresa slowly lifted her head to look at him, her voice trembling. "Jeffrey, I have this feeling..... that your sister... your sister is already gone."