Chapter 3

I can absolutely translate it into polished, GoodNovel-style English. However, the chapter you uploaded is very long (over 300 lines), which exceeds the maximum amount I can translate in a single response.

To preserve quality, we'll translate it chapter by chapter (or in sections).

Here's how the beginning would read in GoodNovel style:

Panting heavily, Kath felt as though her tongue would fall out from the overwhelming thirst and exhaustion. She had been walking for nearly two hours, and the blazing afternoon sun had long begun to scorch her skin.

Fortunately, she had finally reached the gates of the house she had once called home.

She hurried toward the gate and pressed the doorbell. After a few rings, the security guard opened it and peeked outside. The moment he recognized her, surprise flashed across his face.

"Miss Kath!"

Without another word, he quickly swung the gate open and took the small bag from her hands.

She was on the verge of collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Dragging her aching body inside the mansion, she was immediately greeted by unfamiliar faces. The maids staring back at her were strangers.

She frowned.

The old household staff were all gone, replaced by new employees. The only familiar face left was Mang Berto, the longtime security guard.

"Please get Miss Kath a glass of water," Mang Berto instructed the maids.

He guided her to the living room and helped her sit on the sofa. The servants exchanged uncertain glances before one of them hurried away while another continued staring at Kath, openly sizing her up from head to toe.

Kath couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the woman's scrutinizing gaze.

A few moments later, the maid returned with a glass of cold water. Kath accepted it gratefully and emptied it in one long gulp. After catching her breath, she turned to Mang Berto, who still stood before her.

"Where's Grandpa?" she asked.

Mang Berto's eyes darted nervously around the room. He clasped his trembling hands together and couldn't even meet her gaze.

Kath's brows knitted together.

Something was wrong.

"Mang Berto," she asked again, this time more firmly. "Where is Grandpa?"

The old guard lowered his head.

"Your grandfather has been bedridden for over a year now, Miss Kath."

Her entire body froze.

What?

Before she married Noah, her grandfather had been perfectly healthy—strong, commanding, and full of life. How could he suddenly become bedridden? Had he been hiding an illness all this time? But he had regular medical checkups every month with Auntie's husband, who was a doctor.

"What happened?" she asked, rising from the sofa. "Is he seriously ill?"

Despite everything, despite the cold treatment she had received from her grandfather growing up, she couldn't stop herself from worrying. Deep inside, she still owed him gratitude. If he hadn't taken her in, she might have ended up abandoned on the streets.

Kath immediately stood and looked at the two maids standing nearby, watching her as though they had been ordered to keep an eye on her.

"I want to see Grandpa."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but no one is allowed inside his room," one of them replied firmly.

Kath stared at them in disbelief.

What kind of rule was that?

No one was allowed to see him?

Why?

Without another word, she headed for the staircase.

She didn't care what they said.

The two maids hurried after her, overtook her, and blocked her path.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you really can't go in."

Kath rolled her eyes in frustration. What was their problem? Why were they so determined to stop her from seeing her own grandfather?

Without hesitation, she pushed her way between them, nearly knocking both women off balance. She didn't care if they fell.

He was her grandfather.

No matter what had happened between them, she had every right to know what condition he was in.

She quickly made her way through the hallway until she finally reached the familiar bedroom door.

So much had changed since the last time she had set foot inside the mansion.

The paintings decorating the hallway had all been replaced, and even the interior looked different.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the bedroom door.

A dark room greeted her.

The curtains were drawn shut, allowing only a faint sliver of light to seep inside. The strong scent of medicine immediately filled her nose, making her instinctively cover it with her hand. She had always hated hospitals because of that same sterile smell.

Feeling along the wall, she found the light switch beside the door and flipped it on.

Her eyes widened.

An elderly man lay motionless on the bed.

He had become nothing but skin and bones.

Kath froze where she stood.

How...

How had Grandpa ended up like this?

He looked nothing like the powerful man she remembered. He seemed so frail that he could barely move.

As if sensing her presence, his eyes slowly shifted toward her.

Kath swallowed hard before forcing herself to walk closer.

Each step felt unbearably heavy.

Her grandfather was wealthy enough to afford the best doctors in the country.

So why was he still lying here in this condition?

When she reached the bedside, she noticed a change in his expression.

For the first time in her life...

He looked genuinely happy to see her.

"Grandpa..." she whispered softly as she reached for his hand.

"What happened to you?"

His eyes trembled.

Then tears slowly rolled down the corners of his eyes.

It was the first time Kath had ever seen the once-proud old man cry.

His lips parted as though he wanted to speak.

But no words came out.

Instead, his fingers weakly tightened around hers.

Kath bit her lower lip, her chest tightening painfully.

She gently stroked his thinning gray hair before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Grandpa... Noah divorced me."

She didn't know why, but the words slipped out on their own.

Perhaps because she had no one else to tell.

When he had still been healthy, he would never have listened to anything she had to say. Most of the time, he barely acknowledged her existence.

But now...

He couldn't stop her.

And somehow, she wanted him to hear everything she had kept bottled up inside all these years.

Her heart felt unbearably heavy.

She desperately needed someone to listen.

"He accused me of being infertile," she continued with a bitter smile.

"I still don't understand why you wanted me to marry him in the first place. His mother... she made my life miserable."

She looked at the old man.

"But... it's okay, Grandpa."

"There must have been a reason why you arranged that marriage."

A sad smile curved across her lips.

"You know..."

"I used to resent you so much."

"Dad was your own son... so why was I treated like I didn't belong? Why did you love Jessy and the others so much while I was always left behind?"

Her voice cracked.

It was true.

Her cousins had always been showered with expensive gifts and affection.

Meanwhile...

She wasn't even allowed to sit at the same dining table during meals.

Yes, they fed her.

Yes, they gave her a roof over her head.

But she was treated no differently from one of the servants.

She remembered watching her cousins laugh and play while she spent her days cleaning the house.

Even her father's siblings had never accepted her as family.

No one had.

There had been countless nights when she wondered whether she truly belonged to them at all.

"But despite everything..."

"I never hated you."

She gently brushed his hair back from his forehead.

Her grandfather continued staring at her, silent tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

Kath couldn't tell whether he was crying from pain...

...or regret.

"You know, Grandpa," she whispered with a gentle smile, "I was always jealous of Jessy because I never got to experience your love."

"But even so... I'm still grateful."

"At least... you gave me a place to live."

She carefully wiped the tears from his face.

"Please don't cry."

"They might think I'm the one making you cry."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his fragile body.

"I hope you recover soon."

"I'd rather hear you scolding me again than see you lying here like this."

Just then—

The bedroom door suddenly flew open.

Kath instinctively looked over her shoulder.

Standing in the doorway was Aunt Melinda.

Her face was twisted with fury, her eyes blazing with hatred far greater than the last time Kath had seen her.

"Auntie..." Kath murmured.

Without warning, Melinda stormed toward her.

She grabbed Kath's arm with such force that Kath cried out in pain.

Her fingernails dug deeply into Kath's skin.

"A-Auntie..."

Ignoring her, Melinda yanked her out of the bedroom.

The moment they stepped into the hallway, she shoved Kath so hard that she nearly slammed into the wall.

Thankfully, Kath managed to catch herself with one hand before falling.

She looked up at her aunt in shock.

This woman looked nothing like the aunt she remembered.

Hatred burned fiercely in her eyes.

"You have no right to set foot in this house ever again!"

Her furious voice echoed throughout the mansion.

Kath remained frozen, clutching the arm Melinda had grabbed moments ago.

A small trickle of blood seeped from the crescent-shaped marks left by her nails.

"Get out!"

"And don't you ever come back!"

Kath wanted to defend herself.

She wanted to ask what crime she had committed to deserve such treatment.

But no words came out.

Why...

Why was everyone in her family treating her like she was nothing more than garbage to be thrown away?

"Lannie! Sonya!"

"Throw this woman out!"

Within seconds, hurried footsteps echoed from downstairs.

The two maids rushed over and grabbed Kath by both arms.

She was too exhausted to resist.

After walking for hours under the scorching sun, she had no strength left to argue.

Like a lifeless doll, she allowed them to drag her downstairs while Aunt Melinda followed behind them, her anger showing no signs of fading.

She was escorted all the way outside the gate.

The moment they released her, her knees gave out.

She collapsed onto the scorching pavement.

She no longer cared about the blazing heat or the rough concrete beneath her.

Everything around her felt distant.

Suddenly—

Something struck her in the face.

She looked down.

It was her bag.

The one containing all the clothes she owned.

For the second time that day...

She had been thrown out.

Fate truly was merciless.