A few days later, I woke up in an unfamiliar room.

Fiona's worried face appeared above me, tear-streaked and filled with relief. The moment she saw my eyes open, she burst into tears of joy. "Sweetie, you're finally awake! I was so scared, what if my skills weren't enough and the surgery didn't work?"

Confused, I gave her a questioning look. She quickly explained, "You were right. That bastard Gabriel did send people to investigate, but don't worry, I got you out before he could find anything. We're in a small fishing town, thousands of miles away from Ashton City. He won't be able to find us here. Just rest easy."

I sighed, feeling the weight of everything. "Why bother saving me? I might as well be dead."

Fiona's tears flowed again. "Olivia, I had no choice. You only know how to save lives, not take them."

She paused, her voice softening. "Do you know why I came back? I found a matching heart donor for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to do the surgery. You need to live, for your mom's sake. She'll be heartbroken if you don't. The one who deserves to die is that bastard Grant."

Fiona led me to meet the donor's mother. She showed me a photo of the donor, a little girl named Tina. Strangely, Tina looked a lot like my mom when she was a child. Even her name, "Tina," echoed my mother's.

Tina had been brain-dead after a car accident, but just a few days before, she briefly regained consciousness. She told her mother, "Mom, I've been lying here too long. I want to leave now. Please donate my heart to someone who needs it. Let them live for me and see the world."

And with that, she slipped back into unconsciousness.

Her mother, heartbroken, didn't want her daughter to suffer any longer, so she honored Tina's final wish and donated her heart.

As I stared at the photo of Tina, I couldn't help but feel like it was a sign. Was this really happening? Had my mom somehow returned to me, in a different form? I wept quietly.

Months passed, and I recovered well.

Years ago, Fiona had turned down a professorship at a top hospital to volunteer in Africa, often losing touch with me. She always regretted not being able to perform the surgery for me and my mom herself.

I reassured her that it was probably fate, and that my mom's condition had been too critical to wait any longer.

Now that her volunteer term was over, Fiona wanted to settle back home. She said this small town, with its stunning scenery, also had outdated medical facilities, so she wanted to stay and do something for the locals.

Tina's mother also lived here. She ran an art studio, teaching painting. When she learned that I had studied art in college, she invited me to join her. I couldn't refuse.

As my health improved and my mood lifted, I found peace in this quiet town. In our free time, Fiona, Tina's mom, and I would gather to eat and chat. It felt like everything from the past had been a dream.

The only reminder that it had been real was the scar on my chest.

But just as I was starting to enjoy this peaceful life, back in Ashton City, Gabriel had gone mad searching for me.

Fiona had made sure to tell the hospital not to disclose my surgery to Zack, so Gabriel's frantic search was in vain.

For days, Gabriel refused to leave the house, drinking himself into oblivion and ignoring his mother's desperate calls.

Then, one day, as he scrolled through his phone, something caught his eye, a familiar figure in a travel news article.

His eyes lit up with hope, and he immediately stood up to leave. But at the door, he ran into Yvette.