6
She glared at me, but a flicker of doubt crossed her face. Her asthma was hereditary. Isabelle’s brother hap- pened to be a specialist in that field. The “miracle drug” was a gift from Isabelle to win Diane over, supposed ly a cure he had developed himself. She’d given it to them for free, and with that single act, had completely captured their hearts.
They were always singing the praises of the Ross family, constantly belittling my parents and me for being less successful.
But she never knew that from the very beginning, she was just Isabelle’s guinea pig.
The reason the drug was free was because it was unlicensed. I knew this because a pharmaceutical execut ive I’d partnered with had mentioned it before I died the first time. The drug not only lacked approval, but it also had severe side effects.
I had tried to tell her back then, but her own son, Alex, had stopped me.
That’s when I learned the truth: Alex knew all along. He supported Isabelle. “My mom’s been sick for a long time,” he’d said. “What if this drug works? It’s a chance for her to get better.” I told him the side effects were serious, but he brushed it off. “Every drug has side effects,” he’d said, forbidding me to tell his mother.
After I was gone, his mother died suddenly from those very side effects. Even then, Alex didn’t blame Isabel le. He donated his mother’s body to Isabelle’s brother for further research.
This time, as soon as I was coherent, I contacted that same executive and obtained the clinical data repor for the drug.
Most importantly, I found the experimental consent form that Alex had signed years ago.
From the very beginning, he had offered up his own mother as a test subject.
I laid out the documents one by one in front of her. I watched her face grow paler and paler as she muttered to herself, “My son would never do this…”
That’s when I showed her the chat logs I had saved, the ones I had meant to show her in my last life.
4/10
16.17
16.17
Chapter 2
The messages showed Alex proactively offering his mother to Isabelle’s brother for the experiment. They both knew about the severe side effects and chose to hide it. There had even been incidents during the trial,
but they’d decided to press on.
By the time she finished reading, Diane had collapsed and was being rushed to the emergency room. Ever after the doctors stabilized her, she and her husband were still in denial, showing the pills to the doctor and
demanding an explanation, weeping hysterically.
The doctor took one look at the pills in his hand and his face changed.
“This drug was pulled from the market years ago! Where did you get this?” he exclaimed. “It has extreme cardiovascular side effects! Long–term use causes irreversible damage to your heart!”
After the doctor’s confirmation, Diane seemed to age ten years in an instant. Just then, her phone rang. I’ was Isabelle. She ignored it several times, but Isabelle was persistent. Finally, Diane answered, her face a mask of fury.
“Auntie,” Isabelle’s cheerful voice came through the phone. “Did she sign the papers?”
