Before going to sleep, Renee Jennings watched the dog video Julian Nash had sent her.

She watched the entire 12-second video, a faint smile playing on her lips. Her slender fingertips tapped the screen as she typed out a reply: "You’re taking great care of Sage."

She put down her phone and sank into a deep sleep.

In her dream, she learned that her biological parents were very wealthy. She abandoned Rhea Dempsey and Dalton Jenson and eagerly returned to her birth parents, fantasizing about becoming a true socialite.

However, her biological parents looked down on her. They had only brought her back because of pressure from the older generation to find their own flesh and blood.

They even regretted bringing home this vulgar girl, whose eyes were filled with nothing but greed for money and fame.

Her biological parents only had eyes for their cherished adopted daughter.

Her biological brother never once treated her as his sister.

Her biological aunt openly declared that she only had one niece.

When Jaden Forrest took his revenge on her, they all scrambled to sever ties, terrified of being dragged down with her.

And Rhea Dempsey and Dalton Jenson, the parents she had abandoned, desperately pleaded with Jaden Forrest to show her mercy...

Renee jolted awake from the dream.

The room was dimly lit. She sat up, clutching her wildly pounding heart and gasping for breath. A fine sheen of sweat had broken out on her forehead.

"Renee," Diana Jennings called softly. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Renee turned her head slightly to look at her. "Sis, did I wake you?"

"No, I was just waking up," Diana Jennings said as she sat up. "I’ll get you a glass of water."

"It’s okay." Renee grabbed her hand. "You go back to sleep. I’ll just get a drink myself."

Diana watched her leave the room, then lay back down. But a long time passed and Renee still hadn’t come back. Just as she was debating whether to go check on her, the phone on her nightstand suddenly vibrated.

Assuming it was from Renee, Diana fumbled for her phone, only to see a text from an unknown number: "Diana, Renee hates your guts. She wishes you would just drop dead."

She frowned slightly and typed out a short reply: "Who are you?"

If she wasn’t mistaken, this was the same number that had texted her before to say that Renee had lost Jasmine.

The screen went dark several times, but Diana never received a reply.

At the first light of dawn, Rhea Dempsey emerged from her room, yawning. She was startled to see Renee lying on the living room sofa. "Did you sleep out here last night?"

"Nah," Renee said, shifting onto her side. "I couldn’t sleep this morning, so I came out here to think."

Rhea Dempsey sat down near her feet, resting a hand on her leg. "About what?" she asked curiously.

Renee grinned. "I was just thinking about how to tell you that, before long, we’ll be able to move into Eastgate Villa."

"Eastgate Villa?" Rhea Dempsey mumbled the name a few times. When she realized what place it was, she said, annoyed, "Are you pulling your mom’s leg again? If I ever got to live at Eastgate Villa, I’d be so happy I’d wake up from my dreams laughing!"

Renee insisted, "I’m serious."

Rhea Dempsey paid her no mind, yawning again. "I’m going to make breakfast."

She got up and walked to the kitchen.

Renee watched her go, a slight frown on her face. She got up and followed her. "Ms. Dempsey, I’m being serious. We can go live in a huge villa. We don’t have to be crammed into this little house anymore."

Rhea Dempsey turned to look at her, then reached out and felt her forehead. "You don’t have a fever. Why are you spouting such nonsense?"

Renee was speechless.

A look of exasperation on her face, she suddenly had an idea and turned to head back to the bedroom.

As Rhea Dempsey began to knead dough, Renee walked up to her holding a red property deed folder. "Mom, take a look at this..."

Rhea Dempsey frowned. "Why do you have my property deed?"

"This one’s mine." Renee opened it to show her. "See? It has my name on it, and the address is... Eastgate Villa."

Rhea Dempsey rolled her eyes at her. "You actually went and had a fake property deed made just to mess with me?"

Renee was speechless.

After breakfast, Diana was in the kitchen washing dishes when she suddenly spotted a mouse on the safety bars outside the window.

She froze for a moment, then slid the window screen open a crack. "Hello? Are you looking for Renee?"

Jack the Mouse, perched on the bars, nodded his little head.

Seeing him nod, Diana said, "Wait here, I’ll go get Renee for you."

She left the kitchen and found Renee in the bathroom. She knocked on the door. "Renee, there’s a mouse here to see you."

Renee opened the door. "Sis, where is he?"

"In the kitchen."

"Jack?" Renee found him in the kitchen and held out her palm. "What happened?"

Diana placed a paper towel on Renee’s outstretched palm.

Jack the Mouse hopped onto the paper towel and squeaked anxiously, "Renee, something terrible has happened! Lots of mice are dead!"

"What’s going on?" Renee asked, her thin eyebrows furrowing with worry.

Jack the Mouse squeaked sadly, "Renee, I-I don’t know, but so many of my family are dead—my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles."

"How did they die?"

"It’s inexplicable. Some of them just... went to sleep and never woke up."

Hearing this, a possibility suddenly occurred to Renee. "Where have the mice who died been finding their food lately?"

Jack the Mouse replied, "Around here. And... I also saw several dead cats and dogs."

Renee’s expression turned grave. "Go tell your family and friends not to look for food outside for a while. I’ll get some for you."

She grabbed some food from the house, left with Jack the Mouse, and delivered it to their nest.

Renee searched the surrounding area and found lots of small blue pellets, especially in the neighborhood’s flowerbeds.

A quick online search confirmed her suspicion.

Rat poison!

Just then, Renee saw a tabby cat sniffing around the edge of the flowerbed, apparently looking for something to eat.

"There’s rat poison over there, don’t eat it!" she warned him quickly.

The tabby cat heard her, turning its head to look at her and meow. "Rat poison? Is that for killing rats?"

"Yes, but cats can die too if they eat it by accident." Renee frowned, a sudden thought striking her.

’With this much rat poison around, is the target really just rats? Or is it something else?’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The tabby cat shivered in fear. "That’s terrifying! You can die from it? Then... will Flora die?"

Renee asked, "Did Flora eat any of it?"

The tabby cat nodded. "Yeah! Flora ate some and told me there was tasty food here, so I came."

"Where’s Flora now? Can you take me to her?" Renee asked.

"Yes, I can," said the tabby cat.

Renee followed the tabby cat toward the back gate of the complex.

As she walked, she remembered something, pulled out her phone, and called home. "Don’t let Blueberry Ceci and Bella go outside for the next few days. Someone’s put out rat poison."

Renee followed the tabby cat out the back gate of the complex and they walked a bit further.

The tabby stopped in front of an eight-story apartment building and turned back to her. "Flora and I live here."

A weak ginger cat lay on a torn chair cushion.

Renee wanted to rush her to a pet hospital for emergency care, but it was already too late.

Before the ginger cat closed her eyes, she managed one last sentence: "So that fat human... really was trying to kill me."