chapter four

Liliana POV

Sabrina blinked innocently. “I didn’t expect Finnley to be so seriously injured. It was just an accident.”

I looked at her as though she were a demon. Only one thought filled my mind—I had to tell Finnley Vauxhall the truth.

“Finnley won’t believe you,” Sabrina said calmly, as if she had already anticipated my thoughts. “All the evidence was completely destroyed. You searched for three years and found nothing. Now if you tell him, what do you think he’ll believe?”

As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to recall something amusing. She covered her lips and smiled. “Anyway, you have cancer. I’m not afraid to tell you—do you really think I actually lost a child this time?”

My body stiffened.

“Although it makes no difference to me whether you’re divorced or not, who knows how long you still have to live?” Sabrina lifted her chin and smiled contemptuously. “One month? Two months? Or three to five years? I don’t have the patience to wait. If you want your daughter to live well after you die, I suggest you sign the divorce agreement quickly.”

Pa!

A sharp sound echoed as I slapped Sabrina hard across the face. My eyes were red as I grabbed her neck, wishing I could tear her apart. “I’m going to die anyway. I might as well kill you now—we’ll go to hell together!”

“Liliana!” Sabrina hadn’t expected me to suddenly lash out. She grabbed my wrist and struggled violently.

I wanted her dead, but my body was too weak, and she was about to break free from my grip.

The next second, Sabrina suddenly stopped struggling. Tears began streaming down her face.

“What are you doing!” A furious voice rang out from behind.

In the next moment, my wrist was seized, and I was shoved to the ground.

“Finnley!” Sabrina cried, throwing herself into his arms, weak and shaken.

Finnley held her with visible concern. When he looked at me again, his eyes were filled with cold disgust. “Liliana, you’re vicious. I feel sick just looking at you.”

Sick?

That word made my stomach churn violently, and a wave of pain surged through me instantly. Cold sweat broke out across my body, and I couldn’t even speak. I curled up on the ground, clenching my teeth to endure it.

Amid the pain, I heard Sabrina’s feigned worried voice. “Finnley, sister Liliana doesn’t look well… Did you hurt her?”

Finnley glanced at me, curled up on the floor. I was only wearing a sweater, yet I was so thin that the fabric hung loosely on my body. The collar had slipped, revealing collarbones covered by barely a layer of skin.

When did I become this thin?

For a moment, something stirred in Finnley heart. But he quickly looked away in disgust. “Don’t mind her, Sabrina. Don’t waste your kindness on someone so vicious.”

Kindness?

If not for the pain, I would have laughed at that moment. If Sabrina were truly kind, there would be no word for evil in this world.

I slowly forced myself up from the ground. Sitting there, I looked at the two of them, close and intimate, and the last trace of hope in my heart remained.

“Finnley Vauxhall, the one who killed you and my father four years ago wasn’t me—it was…” the woman in your arms.

“You’re still trying to argue?” Finnley interrupted me coldly. “Liliana, there was both personal and physical evidence back then. Your father personally handed me the tea laced with drugs from your department. How can you still deny it?”

His eyes burned with deep hatred. “Liliana, I loved you so much back then. If you had only asked, I would have given you the Vauxhall Group. But what I regret most is ever knowing you. I nearly lost my life because of you. Even my grandfather died because of this! How could there be such a vicious woman in this world—hurting me, my grandfather, and now Sabrina?”

“You only want to hurt everyone I care about, don’t you? I won’t let you succeed again.”

My heart felt as though it had been stabbed. I shook my head, fighting back tears. “I really didn’t do it. How can you not believe me? If I die, you—”

“Death won’t erase what you’ve done.” Finnley’s tone was cold and final. He pointed toward the door, his gaze full of disgust. “Liliana, leave. I don’t want to see you again.”

I stared at him, finally understanding what it meant to feel utterly broken.

I had seen how Finnley loved me before, so I knew exactly how deeply he could give, trust, and cherish someone when he loved them.

But now, he only felt hatred toward me—the woman he once loved deeply. The person he now cared about was Sabrina.

Sabrina was right. He would never believe me.

Finnley no longer looked at me. He lowered his head and softly comforted Sabrina, his expression gentle, his tone indulgent. That expression felt both familiar and foreign.

After a long moment, I forced a stiff smile and staggered to my feet, walking out.

The bedroom lights had been turned off. Perhaps the sound of the door made Millie stir. Her faint voice called out, “Mom?”

I closed the door and steadied my voice in the darkness. “It’s Mom, baby. Go back to sleep.”

I walked unsteadily through the bedroom into the bathroom. After locking the door, I could no longer hold it in and vomited into the sink.

My head felt as though it was being pierced by a steel nail. The pain made me break into a cold sweat, and the uncontrollable vomiting left me barely able to endure it.

Eventually, the pain subsided.

Numbly, I turned on the faucet and rinsed my face. The woman in the mirror looked skeletal—dry hair, pale face, gaunt and worn down.

If someone who knew me five years ago saw this, they would never believe the woman in the mirror was the proud and reckless daughter of the Carter family who once stunned the entire capital.

Only the stubbornness in my eyes remained, faintly echoing my former self.

I let out a self-mocking breath and wiped away the tears at the corners of my eyes.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket.

I slowly took it out, glanced at the caller ID, and answered. My voice was trembling, hoarse and weak. “Ethan Smith?”

Ethan Smith was a childhood friend. The Smith and Carter families had been close for generations. We grew up together from kindergarten through junior high, high school, and university, eventually entering the same hospital. Our bond was as close as family.

Ethan had always been gentle by nature. At this moment, his voice over the phone was deep and serious. “Liliana, I’m at your door. Do you have time to meet me?”

Hearing his tone, I immediately understood that he knew everything. A bitter smile formed on my lips.

I had deliberately avoided the hospital where Ethan worked today, yet I still couldn’t escape him.

I sighed softly. “I’m free. I was just about to look for you.”