Katherine Mitchell had just soul-shifted.

Right into the body of a rich family's newly recovered, real daughter.

The original girl had been weak, timid—basically treated like a walking blood bag. After being drained dry one too many times, she passed out and never woke up.

Same name, same face, but Katherine was never the type to die that pathetically.

The sharp scent of disinfectant stung her nose. She always hated hospitals—too cold, too sterile.

Voices floated close by, two nurses whispering nearby.

“Is this considered malpractice? She was barely hanging on, and Ivy still went and drew more blood. Now look, something actually happened. And she’s some rich heiress too. What if her family comes after Ivy for this?”

“She was ordered to. Typical rich people drama. She just got brought home—think they’d let her off that easy? Let’s just do our jobs and stay out of it. Come on.”

Katherine tried to open her eyes, but they felt ridiculously heavy, like someone glued them shut. She forced them open, slow and painful.

The moment she could think straight, she reached out, grabbing the nurse just as she turned to leave.

“Ah!”

The icy grip scared the nurse half to death. She spun around in shock. When had Katherine woken up?

She was still weak, though, so the nurse pulled free without much effort.

“My phone,” Katherine said, voice low but firm.

Still rattled, the nurse’s fussed face turned annoyed. “Staff aren’t allowed to carry phones.”

Katherine slowly lifted her eyes, those dark irises dead cold. Her voice carried weight when she spoke again. “Then go get me one.”

The nurse snorted. “If you’re asking for help, shouldn’t your tone be a little nicer?”

“I’m the daughter of the Spencer family.”

She didn’t raise her voice, just said it like it was a casual reminder.

But the other nurse raised her brows and quickly went off to get a phone, clearly not wanting drama. Meanwhile, her co-worker scowled. “So what? Rich girl or not, you still nearly died. You think that makes you special?”

The second nurse shoved the phone into Katherine’s hand and shot her colleague a warning look.

Katherine didn’t waste time. She dialed a number and got straight to the point. “Grandma, it’s me. Katherine.”Twenty minutes later, the entire floor was cleared out. Once-empty hospital room now packed with bodyguards, all in sleek black suits, and the room felt heavy with tension.

Katherine sat on the couch next to Mrs. Spencer. Her face was still pale as ever, and the oversized hospital gown made her look even skinnier. But the sharpness in her eyes? That was hard to ignore, a little scary even.

The nurse who had talked back earlier now stood in front of her, eyes glued to the floor, not daring to lift her head.

“Hit her.”

Katherine spoke calmly, like it wasn’t even worth her emotion.

One of the bodyguards stepped forward, landing a hard slap on the nurse’s face, the kind that left your skin stinging from the wind it stirred up.

Just as he raised his hand again, the nurse screamed, “You can’t just hit me like that!”

Katherine gave a cold smile, eyes full of scorn, like she was looking at something pathetic. “I can. I’m the Spencer family's real daughter.”

In the capital, the Spencer name was basically another word for power.

Yeah, the nurse ran her mouth, but Katherine was going to throw her weight around just because she could.

She enjoyed that look in people’s eyes — full of hate, yet completely helpless.

People had called her twisted.

Maybe she was.

The nurse was pinned by two bodyguards, thrashing but useless, eyes red with rage. “You won’t die a good death!”

“Thanks.”

She’d already died once anyway.

The slaps kept coming, and the nurse's face visibly swelled.

While all this was going on, Mrs. Spencer leaned in and spoke to Katherine. “I just got back to the country and the first thing I hear is that you’re in the hospital. What happened?”

Katherine’s eyes dipped slightly, hard to read, but she let out a crooked little smile. “None of the ones who hurt me are getting away with it.”

Mrs. Spencer glanced at the nurse getting beat and frowned. “I had you brought back. If anyone messes with you again, tell me right away. I’ll make sure they pay.”

Katherine nodded a bit. “I’ll handle this part myself. Since you just got back, maybe rest up for now.”

There was a beat of silence before Mrs. Spencer gave a reluctant nod. “Alright. Call me if anything comes up.”

She left twenty bodyguards for Katherine and headed out.

Katherine raised her hand slightly and the bodyguards stopped. The nurse crumpled to the floor like her legs gave out, blood on her lip, dazed.

Just then, the hospital door slammed open — Jessica Spencer stormed in.