I hastily stopped him: "No... no need to call, I'm fine."
Mr. Dodson, who was about to leave, stopped and spoke to me:
"Mm, the doctor said you fainted due to excessive blood loss. Get some rest."
"You might need to assist with a statement later."
I nodded and cautiously asked:
"Mr. Dodson, that perpetrator..."
Mr. Dodson smiled reassuringly: "Ms, don't worry. He's already under control, but..."
This inexplicable pause made me nervous. Did I go too hard? Did that beast bleed to death?
"Just what?"
"Just that he has a lot of injuries, which means he'll live a few more days."
Mr. Dodson's tone was full of indignation.
I sighed in relief. As long as he's alive, he still needs to answer to the families of the victims.
During this time, I stayed at the hospital to recover from my injuries.
I cooperated by providing a statement.
When we mentioned the store's surveillance, the female officer taking the statement was puzzled: "We found out that your store's surveillance cameras had somehow malfunctioned when we went to retrieve the footage."
"Do you have any recollection, Miss?"
I shook my head calmly: "No, the cameras have been there for quite some time. When I took over the shop, I did consider replacing them."
"But then I got busy with other things and it got delayed."
I silently gave Olive a thumbs up in my mind, she was really reliable.
It was fortunate that I had been lazy and hadn't replaced the original surveillance system in the flower shop.
On the tenth day of my hospital stay, Mr. Dodson brought two unexpected visitors.
They were the Monroe Family parents, whom I had long forgotten.
What was coming couldn't be avoided.
After failing to find me at the rental house where I used to live, the Monroes didn't give up.
They spent months looking for me and eventually found out that I ran a flower shop in J City.
The couple came from another city, and upon hearing from the people around the shop that there had been a murder, they rushed to the police station.
Considering that I had told him I was an orphan, Team Mr. Dodson decided to bring them to meet me.
After explaining the situation, Mr. Dodson left the room, giving us some privacy.
I looked up at the Monroes and wondered why they had put so much effort into finding me.
Was it because of love? But they clearly loved Jaylyn more, wasn't it redundant to claim me back?
Ms. Monroe, her eyes red, stepped forward, wanting to take my hand: "Daring, my daughter..."
I dodged her: "I've always been an orphan, raised in an orphanage. I don't have parents."
Mr. Monroe began speaking, and I listened as he explained just as he had in my previous life.
I was switched at birth, and they only realized Jaylyn wasn't their biological daughter after an accident during her senior year of high school.
Immediately, he had someone investigate the hospital where Ms. Monroe had given birth.
Only this year did they get a lead on my whereabouts.
"Carolina, I know that having sudden parents must be shocking for you."
"If you don't believe us, we can do a paternity test, and we can talk after the results come back."
I agreed. Whether in my previous life or now, this test was merely a formality.
I suspected that they had already done the test before coming to see me.
The next morning, the Monroes came to the hospital with the test results.
As expected, the paternity test confirmed a biological relationship.
Ms. Monroehad red eyes, as if she had just been crying: "Carolina, you've suffered so much all these years."
"When you're better, let's go home together, okay?"
I didn't respond directly but asked: "Yesterday, you said I was the one who was switched. What do you plan to do with Jaylyn, the child who was swapped?"
I couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Go home? Go back and be burned to death by Jaylyn again?
Upon hearing this question, the Monroes were stunned for a while.
Looking at their expressions, I spoke softly:
"Really that difficult? Didn't you think about this before deciding to find me?"
"Or do you think Jaylyn and I will get along well?"
Ms. Monroe hurriedly explained: "Well, Carolina has grown up with us, and even though she isn't biologically mine, we have feelings for her..."
"Mother knows that we owe you a lot—"
"Enough." I interrupted Ms. Monroe. "You don't owe me anything. It wasn't your fault that I was switched."
"So, please don't bother me anymore. Just treat Jaylyn as your biological daughter."
"After all, you've raised her for over twenty years. As you said, she may not be your biological daughter, but she's closer than a biological daughter, isn't she?"
"I, someone found from outside, could never compare."
