It's been a week since the memory update on Ashley's pathetic love life, and even though Elisa didn't want to think about it, she couldn't stop herself from doing so..
She couldn't understand how she was feeling. It was like she was experiencing the sadness of the original owner of the body. She could feel it weighing in her chest when she's left to her thoughts. Elisa was starting to feel sorry for Ashley. She must have loved Ethan too much to leave the marriage. As she was lost in her thoughts, her nurse came in..
She watched her dress the bed and grab the empty jug on the bedside table. Her job as a nurse seemed to not be the only thing she did. She did things out of her job description, like dressing the bed and refilling the glass of water, and even prepare breakfast sometimes. Elisa couldn't pin it to the fact that it was because she knew her secret, as she had been doing it all along, but Elisa just seemed to notice how on edge she has been.
Elisa shut down the guilt she was having, as she knew it was for her own safety. Selfish, yes, but anyone who had gone through what she did would do same.
"Ma'am do you need anything before I leave?" Mira asked as she stood by the doorway with the jug in her hands.
"No, thank you" Elisa replied with a half smile.
The nurse nodded and walked away.
…..
Mira returned to the hospital after leaving The Walker's mansion.
"hey Tom" she greeted, as a male doctor walked past her after coming out from the restricted area.
"Hey, I haven't been seeing you so often. You've got yourself a big shot eyyy?"
She chuckled dryly. "So how's life?" She asked, making him stop.
"Good, but it would be great if you took that offer on the date thing?". He raised a brow.
Mira closed her eyes then opened them and forced out a smile. "I would actually like something else?" She nudged her head towards the door, indicating they go in for privacy.
He reluctantly opened the door and invited her in. As the door closed shut, she pressed her body against his. "I might not take up that offer on a date, but I haven't… " she grabbed his hands and directed them to underneath her gown. "...been feeling all good" then she waved him a sultry smile.
"Mmmn" he mumbled as he grabbed her head, pulling her in for a kiss.
As their lips remained locked, she scanned her eyes around and found what she was looking for. She pulled him into that direction and grabbed it, slipping it into her pockets as quickly as she could.
Then almost immediately , she broke the kiss. "Oh crap, I was meant to pick her shopping bags from yesterday. My patient would kill me" She hurriedly said as she adjusted her gown and rushed out, leaving the young doctor confused.
As she left the hospital, a black SUV pulled up in front of her. "Mrs Mira 'Cooper'" the man on the driver's seat called out and she looked around in fright, her face turning pale…
"Get in, we need to talk"
—————
Mira's head was all over the place at what she just heard.
"You want me to give you information on my patient?"
"Yes. Juicy ones. Check her phones, who she speaks to, tell me where she goes"
"Why?"
"That's none of your business. Just get the job done and I'll pay you six million"
Mira has been having it rough since her divorce and she was slowly getting her life back together. Her son, Richard—receiving little treatments—wasn't getting any better and her bills were increasing. She had debts in her name to pay off and she was just feeling like a tight corner.
With such an offer she could fix all that. She could get Richard the treatments he needed, pay off the debts, fix her life. But that would mean spying on the one person who forgave her and kept her secret.
The man in the SUV tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, the sound echoing like a ticking clock. "Six million, Mira. Think of your son. Think of the specialized clinic in Switzerland. You can't afford that on a nurse's salary, this is a one time opportunity."
Mira's breath hitched. Her son's pale face flashed before her eyes. The medical bills, the constant fear of the debt collectors, the crushing weight of being alone. She looked at the man, her eyes glassing over with tears of pure exhaustion.
"Okay," she whispered, the word feeling like a bitter pill in her mouth. "I'll do it."
"Good choice. We'll be in touch."
.....
The car sped off, leaving her standing on the curb, trembling.
When she returned to the Walker mansion, she felt like a ghost. Every time she looked at Elisa, who was now practicing gripping objects with her newly freed hand, Mira felt a sharp stab in her chest. She began to take notes—who Elisa called, the names of the galleries she researched, the emails. But as the hours passed, the weight became unbearable.
That evening, as Mira prepared Elisa's evening tea, she looked at the woman who had looked her in the eye and said 'Richard will be fine.'I can't do this, Mira thought. Even if I save my son, how do I live with a soul this black?
She pulled out her phone and sent a message to the contact: "The deal is off. Don't contact me again. I won't betray her."
She shoved the phone into her pocket, tears spilling over. She walked into Elisa's room, her resolve set. She was going to confess everything and then leave before she was fired.
"Ma'am," Mira started, her voice cracking. "I have to tell you something. I almost did something terrible. A man approached me... offered me money to spy on you. Because of Richard, I said yes. But I can't. I just sent him a message telling him the deal is off. I'm so sorry. I'll pack my things."
She bowed her head, waiting for the cold fury or the call to the police. Instead, there was a heavy, suffocating silence.
"He won't be messaging you back, Mira," Elisa said. Her voice wasn't angry. It was flat. Empty.
Mira looked up, confused.
Elisa reached into her nightstand and pulled out a second phone—the one she used to contact X. "The man in the SUV works for the private investigator I hired. I told him to offer you a way out. I told him to test you to know if you'll betray me"
The color drained from Mira's face. The confusion turned into a raw, agonizing realization. "You... you sent him?"
"I had to know where your loyalty stood," Elisa said, though she couldn't meet Mira's eyes. "In my world, everyone has a price. I needed to see if yours was six million."
Mira stepped back as if she had been slapped. The heartbreak in her expression was more piercing than any scream. "You used my son," she whispered, her voice trembling with a different kind of pain. "You knew he was dying, you knew I was drowning, and you used that... to 'test' me?"
"Yes and you passed" Elisa couldn't understand why she was acting that way when she should be happy.
Mira scoffed in disbelief. "My pain was a joke to you. Was it fun?"
It was beginning to dawn on Elisa now.
"Mira, I—"
"No!" Mira shouted, the first time she had ever raised her voice. "You don't get to explain this! You looked at me and pretended to care about Richard just so you could see if I'd break? That's not how you earn trust, Mrs Ashley. Or whoever you are. You don't build loyalty by torturing someone's soul."
Mira wiped her face aggressively, her eyes red-rimmed and fierce. "I stayed because I thought you were the first person in years who saw me as a human being. But you're just like the rest of them. You see everyone as a tool or a threat."
She reached into her pocket, pulled out her nursing badge, and slammed it onto the bedside table.
"I resign. I'd rather scrub floors and beg for my son's medicine than stay one more minute in a house where mercy is just a trap."
Mira turned and walked out, her footsteps echoing down the long, hollow hallway of the mansion.
Elisa sat in her wheelchair, the silence of the room suddenly feeling like a tomb. For the first time since her rebirth—since she had clawed her way back from the edge of death with a heart of stone—the ice cracked.
She looked at the badge on the table. She had won the test. She had confirmed Mira was loyal. But as the heavy guilt settled in her gut, she realized she had lost the only person who actually looked at her with genuine kindness.
She had sought to protect herself from betrayal, and in doing so, she had become the betrayer.