Little Miss Witch: Revenge of the Tainted Angel

Li Chuntao refused to pull her sister off from life support and insisted to stay by her side to personally check on her condition. Since her arrival, Li Chuntao had remained by Ying's side. Her hand constantly twining their fingers together even though Ying's hand remained limp on her grip. 

The whole day, she made phone calls overseas asking for opinions from her superior about Li Xiuying's case but their answers weren't enough to calm Li Chuntao's troubled heart. 

Faced with the options of her twin sister's fate, Li Chuntao's energy dwindled with each passing hour that her sister remained unconscious. She continued to talk to her as if Ying was just asleep and would be waking up soon. 

"Chuntao, you should eat. You haven't eaten or drank anything since you arrived." Zhen Yue patted Li Chuntao's shoulder, worried that her niece's health would also take a toll from Ying's condition.

"I'm fine, Auntie Yue. I'm not hungry. I just want to take a nap," Li Chuntao answered. She remained seated on one of the chairs next to her sister's bed and shut her eyes for a quick nap. 

Zheng Yue couldn't do anything but put the packed meals she brought on the table before taking a seat next to Li Chuntao. She also didn't have an appetite to eat anything at the moment. Li Chuntao refused to let Ying go and she and Li Yuren couldn't make the decision either. 

This had been one of the hardest struggles she and Li Yuren faced throughout their marriage. Because they practically raised the twins as their own, it was hard for them whenever the twins were distressed or sick. Their work would always be cast aside in favor of the girls. 

The temporary peace inside Li Xiuying's room ended too soon when the door opened and Shen Zichen came inside with a vase full of flowers in his hand. Li Xiuying's favorite flowers. 

"Zichen," Zheng Yue stood from her seat and welcomed him. 

At that moment, Li Chuntao opened her eyes with a blank expression in her eyes. She stood and followed her aunt's lead toward Shen Zichen but instead of greeting him warmly, Li Chuntao strode towards him and hit him on his face hard. The vase in his hands fell on the cold floor with a loud crash. 

"Chuntao!" Zheng Yue was left flabbergasted with her niece's actions. Why was she turning her rage now at Shen Zichen? None of them wanted the accident to happen. 

"Didn't you say you will look after her? Didn't you promise me that you'll take care of her?!" Li Chuntao continued to hit his face but Shen Zichen didn't even flinch and let her do what she wanted on him. 

"Why did you hesitate?! If you were the one who tends to her, she would have survived! She wouldn't have brain damage if you treated her in time!" Tears burst from her once again as she pulled Shen Zichen's collar but with the height difference between them, she couldn't pull him forward. 

Li Chuntao continued to hit his chest until she couldn't anymore. 

"Why?" She sobbed, "Why did you let this happen? Why?"

Shen Zichen stood there numbly, hoping that if Li Chuntao continued to hit him if it would lessen the guilt and loneliness he was feeling right now. 

Guilt and sorrow clutched his heart. If he'd forced his way and treated Li Xiuying himself, would the outcome be different from what they had now? Li Chuntao had a point, maybe if he insisted Ying wouldn't have to be in this dire condition. 

He was wracked with grief and guilt. The guilt that he had somehow failed the woman he claimed to love more than anything. The grief of knowing that he was useless and powerless to change the situation. 

"Chuntao, it isn't his fault. Please don't blame him," Zheng Yue pulled her niece away from Shen Zichen and tried to wipe the tears that stained Li Chuntao's face before helping her to sit back in her previous spot. 

"Are you alright?" She worriedly asked Shen Zichen who stood frozen where Li Chuntao had left him. "I'm sorry. Our Chuntao isn't taking this well. She has wronged you this time." 

"It's alright, Aunt Yue. I understand where she's coming from," Shen Zichen finally said as his eyes shifted to look at the Li twins. One was half-dead, the other feeling lost. If he was in Li Chuntao's place and it was Shen Yuyan lying on that bed, he would've reacted the same way Li Chuntao did. 

---

It was past midnight and Li Chuntao remained seated next to her sister. Her Aunt Yue taking a nap on the couch refusing to leave the twins while Li Yuren was away, dealing with Li Xiuying's husband who had made a scene outside the hospital, demanding to see her. 

Li Chuntao wondered how Mu Jianyu had the gall to demand to see his estranged wife and pretend that he cared about Ying. Shouldn't he be celebrating right now? He and his mistress must be glad that they wouldn't need to hide in public anymore now that Li Xiuying was on the verge of death. The apparatuses connected to her body were the only thing keeping her alive. 

"Ying… I don't know what to do anymore," Li Chuntao confessed to her twin sister. 

To end her suffering and follow their parents in the afterlife or to keep her alive, Li Chuntao only wanted what's best for Ying but the options would ruin herself. 

As if sensing the conundrum she was in, a single tear rolled down Li Xiuying's cheek, a light squeeze was felt on Li Chuntao's hand, freezing her on the spot but her logical mind refused to acknowledge such a feat. 

As a doctor, it was normal to hear family members say that they saw the patients' fingers twitching or saw eye movements. It may give other people a false sense of hope but not Li Chuntao. She was forced back into reality when Li Xiuying's life support started beeping loudly that even Zheng Yue was awakened by it. 

'What's happening?" She asked Li Chuntao but the latter didn't say anything. She went to check the monitor then glanced at her sister, her hands instinctively reached out to the call button and called the nurses on duty. 

Zheng Yue rose from the couch and held Li Chuntao's arm as three nurses and two doctors came inside the door and checked on Li Xiuying. 

"Chuntao, what's happening?!" Zheng Yue asked her niece again. 

Li Chuntao remained silent, her tears spilling from her eyes. She couldn't believe what was happening. Ying must have known… must have known that it was hard for her and their Uncle Yuren to let her go so she had made the choice herself. 

"We're going to need you to leave the room, Madam Li," One of the nurses told Zheng Yue. 

"What? Why–" 

"Now, please!" 

Li Chuntao took the hint and led her aunt outside, telling her to call her Uncle Yuren and Shen Zichen immediately as they had no time left. With shaking hands, Zheng Yue followed her niece's instruction while Li Chuntao watched as the doctors tried to stabilize her sister's condition through the glass that separates her from Li Xiuying. 

They were losing Ying. This was Li Xiuying's choice and Li Chuntao was left heartbroken. Still, the same kind-hearted elder sister, Li Xiuying took the pressure from her little sister's shoulders.

Tears pooled in Li Chuntao's eyes, knowing that she was set to break down anytime soon as she watched her twin sister's final moments. 

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