As the old woman approached, the woman who had been sitting by the bed immediately stood up, lowered her head, and stepped aside respectfully, addressing the old lady. Yet the old woman didn’t even glance at her, casually shook off the two maids supporting her, and went straight to sit down at the head of the bed.

“It’s good that you’re awake. If you hadn’t woken up, your mother would have turned the whole house upside down!”

Facing the old woman’s piercing gaze and her words laced with double meaning, William Carter couldn’t help but feel flustered, a trace of confusion naturally appearing on his face. However, the moment he met his mother’s cold and sorrowful eyes at the other end, he recalled the gossip he had just overheard. Almost instantly, countless fragments of memory flashed through his mind, and, as if inspired, he blurted out a sentence.

“It’s all my fault for making Grandmother and Mother worry.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell silent. Not only the maids and old women standing on the floor, but even the woman standing by the side looked at the child on the bed with an incredulous expression. The old woman sitting at the head of the bed was even more surprised. She scrutinized him for a while, and her previously tense face softened a little, though her tone still carried a note of admonition.

“Since you know your mother and I worry, you should have thought more carefully in the first place. Who’s ever seen a young master climbing trees like a monkey? You’ve been sickly since childhood, taken so much medicine, seen so many doctors, and even your schooling has been on and off. Now, you finally managed to attend school for a whole month, and yet you’ve caused such a scene again!”

Faced with such earnest admonishment, William Carter could only lower his head, though he couldn’t help but smile wryly in his heart. Although the words were rather harsh, for someone who had lost all his family in his previous life, even a biased scolding was something he could accept.

After finishing her lecture, the old woman stood up and looked over at her daughter-in-law standing nearby, speaking in a cool tone, “Now that Jimmy is awake, the matter is over. Don’t make a fuss anymore. Charlie and Jack were indeed naughty, and the second daughter-in-law used the family rules to discipline them well. Let’s leave it at that. As for Jimmy, as his mother, you need to pay more attention to him, teach him well, and stop letting trouble arise!”

After saying this, the two maids came over to support her. As she turned and left the room, the others followed her out. In no time, the spacious room was left with only the woman and William Carter, who sat on the bed in a daze.

The young woman sat by the bed with a sorrowful expression, staring intently at the child on the bed, muttering to herself, “Heavens, why can’t my son be as safe and sound as others? Always sick, always getting hurt—how many lives could withstand such torment?”

At this moment, William Carter could only smile bitterly—first for this strange twist of fate, second because in this life he seemed to be plagued by endless misfortune, and third because he didn’t seem to be favored in this family. Yet in an instant, he steeled his resolve.

The former William Carter was already dead; the one living now was someone else. Whether or not he could immediately accept these new family members, since he had been given a second chance at life, he owed it to both himself and others to live better.

Chapter Two: The Scion

The newly reborn James Bolton reclined on the bed, looking rather unwillingly at the bowl of medicine brought before him. It wasn’t that he feared the bitter taste, but he was genuinely worried about what strange ingredients might have been added. However, seeing the concern in his mother Bennett’s eyes, he had no choice but to steel himself and drink the entire bowl in one go.

Seeing her son finish the medicine, Bennett immediately breathed a sigh of relief, quickly picked up a piece of candied fruit from a small dish and popped it into his mouth, then firmly pressed him down to lie back and pulled up the brocade quilt. She sat by the bed for a while, and when she saw that James Bolton seemed to have fallen asleep, she finally stood up and instructed the maid standing by, “Ethan Clark, watch over Jamie carefully. If anything happens, report to me at once.”

However, James Bolton on the bed was not asleep. After such a sudden upheaval, his mind was filled with all sorts of questions, and he didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy. Lying there with his eyes closed for a long time, he only felt a faint ache in his head. Knowing his mother was gone, he simply opened his eyes.

As the saying goes, who knows if it was Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi. Lying in bed from yesterday to today, he had gradually recovered all the memories of this era. Now, the once completely different William Carter and James Bolton had fully merged into one within him. However, for certain details, he couldn’t rely on a child’s memory—he would have to ask others.

Glancing around, he saw the maid sitting on a small stool by the bed—the same face he had seen when he first woke up. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, not exactly a great beauty, but charming in her own way. At this moment, she was focused on her embroidery, her fingers deftly moving the needle up and down, not noticing that he was awake.

“Ethan Clark.”