chapter three

Liliana POV

My heart had gone numb from the pain. A faint, pale smile appeared on my lips as I spoke softly, “Don’t worry… soon…”

Soon, I will be able to fulfill their wishes and stop being a thorn in his eyes.

Finnley frowned at me. “Liliana, what are you trying to play at?”

I shook my head. I had nothing left to say. Seeing my lowered gaze and silent demeanor, he seemed too irritated to continue.

He looked confused. “Then stay here and kneel.”

After dropping those cold words, he turned and walked away without hesitation.

In the dimness, I heard Finnley's voice again. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Mr. Vauxhall, madam has a fever. She’s very weak. I’m afraid she needs to be taken to the hospital for a thorough examination…”

Finnley cut him off impatiently. “As long as she won’t die, just keep an eye on her. When she wakes up, make her go and apologize to Sabrina.”

“Yes.”

……

A cold liquid dampened my hair. My body felt as though it were burning in flames, making me extremely uncomfortable. Yet my heart felt like a hollow void, with a cold wind blowing straight through it. I bit my lip, trying to endure the pain in my heart.

“Mom, don’t cry.”

A small, soft hand wiped the tears from my eyes. A childish voice, still trembling with tears, comforted me: “Mom, wake up soon and take your medicine so you won’t hurt anymore.”

It’s my Millie—my little champ.

I struggled to open my eyes and forced a faint smile. “Little champ, Mom is okay.”

“Mom!”

Millie threw herself onto me, wrapping her small arms around my neck and crying loudly. Hearing her sobs twisted my heart. “Little champ…”

“Madam, sir has instructed that once you wake up, you must immediately go and apologize to Miss Sabrina.” The servant standing nearby interrupted coldly.

Millie lifted her head, her voice hoarse from crying. “Mom, I didn’t hurt Aunt Sabrina!”

I quickly pulled her into my arms and comforted her. “Good girl, my little champ, don’t cry. Mom believes you didn’t push Aunt Sabrina. Mom will explain everything to your father.”

When I was pregnant with Millie, the environment was too harsh. She was weak and often sick from birth. Whenever she cried, she would develop a fever and was prone to pneumonia. I had always taken great care to protect her, never allowing her to cry.

Millie wiped my tears with her small hands, burying her face in my arms as she sobbed quietly. “Mom… Dad won’t believe me. Dad hates me… I've been unnecessary since the moment I was born.”

Hearing such words from such a young child, my entire body stiffened. My heart ached so much that I could barely breathe. “Who said that to you, Millie?”

Millie shook her head without answering.

My eyes turned cold, and a thought formed in my mind. Although Finnley hated me deeply, he was not the kind of man who would harm his own child. He would never allow servants to say such cruel things in front of Millie.

Only the woman he regarded as an angel could poison a child’s mind like this.

My heart tightened with bitterness. I wiped Millie’s tears and looked at her gently. “That person lied to you. Your arrival was accompanied by the love and blessings of your parents.”

Millie looked at me with hopeful eyes. “Really?”

“Of course.” I gently stroked her head. “You are Mom’s little champ. A champ symbolizes good luck, so you are not unnecessary. You are the most important person in my world.”

Millie believed me and finally stopped crying under my gentle comfort. She began to yawn in my arms. Before falling asleep, she leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Mom… Aunt Sabrina told me today that if I complain to Dad, he’ll hate me even more.”

I wasn’t surprised. My fingers softly brushed her cheek, though my nose stung with emotion.

If I were to die, what would become of my little champ? How would she grow up in a home with an indifferent father and a stepmother who seemed kind on the surface but was not?

The servant beside me reminded me again, “Madam, sir said…”

“I know.” I cut her off coldly, then gently placed Millie on the bed and stood up, walking out of the bedroom.

Sabrina’s room was next door. Through the slightly open door, I saw her sitting on the bed, looking down at her phone. Her face was pale, yet her lips curved into a bright smile.

How could a woman who had just miscarried smile so happily?

I didn’t dwell on it and knocked before entering.

Sabrina’s expression was gentle and sweet. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders, framing her face, making it appear delicate and pitiful, her almond-shaped eyes even more so.

Seeing me enter, Sabrina’s smile deepened. “I told Finnley you don’t need to apologize, sister. Millie is still just a child…”

I walked closer, my expression cold. “Miss Sabrina, there’s no one else here. You don’t need to put on an act in front of me.”

Over the past three years, I had suffered countless losses at her hands. I had long seen through the woman before me—she was nothing like the gentle and kind person Finnley believed her to be.

Sabrina no longer hid her true self. She raised her hand slightly, revealing a sweet yet arrogant smile. “It’s a blessing in disguise. Finnley just proposed to me.”

A delicate diamond ring adorned her finger.

My breath suddenly caught, a dull pain spreading through my bones. My face turned pale. I took a breath, shifting my gaze from the striking ring to Sabrina’s face, and asked calmly, “You framed Millie, used your own child, and hurt two children just to get that ring… was it worth it?”

“Of course it’s worth it.” Sabrina replied without hesitation.

Looking at me, she suddenly smiled meaningfully. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for five years. Everything I’ve done is worth it.”

“Five years?” I was stunned.

Five years ago—before Finnley and I got married—Sabrina had already been planning to marry him?

But Finnley had clearly said she was just a nurse who cared for him after his injury in the hospital.

Sabrina casually played with the diamond ring on her finger. Perhaps Finnley proposal had caused her to relax, her tone carrying a triumphant edge. “Yes. Five years.”

Her attitude made me think further. “The accident four years ago… was that you?”

Sabrina’s sweet face revealed a hint of calculation. She tilted her head slightly and replied softly, “No. I just took medicine from your department.”

My mind went blank. I couldn’t believe it. “Why? Just to marry Finnley Vauxhall? That was a human life. He almost died in that accident!”