Chapter 3

“Nobody took your money! Amy got where she is today through her own talent and hard work!”

Beatrice shouted from behind me with a knife in her hand.

I lay on the floor gasping for air. My hemophilia amplified the pain radiating from my lower back. Dark spots danced in my vision. My body trembled involuntarily as cold sweat broke across my forehead.

The crowd erupted with mockery.

“Yeah, everyone in the industry knows about Mr. Welles and Ms. Lovell.”

“Skyreach Technologies only got this big because of Ms. Lovell’s patents.”

“And this person said she ‘helped’ Mr. Welles? That’s ridiculous.”

As they looked at the child in Beatrice’s arms, the surrounding guests stared at me with even greater disgust.

“Mr. Welles already has a kid with someone else. Does she have no shame?”

“If it weren’t for all those patents under Ms. Lovell’s name, the company never would have made it this far.”

“And she actually expects Ms. Lovell to work to the bone to repay her? Does she think she’s the chairwoman?”

Patents under Amy’s name? That was ridiculous.

Every single patent license under my company belonged to my father and me. Who did she think she was?

She was not even qualified to be a janitor at my father’s research institute! Yet she wanted to take credit for my achievements? In her dreams!

Upon hearing this, I glared at Edwin with bloodshot eyes.

“Go ahead. Tell them yourself. Tell everyone who really built Skyreach Technologies.”

Edwin was caught off guard. The look in his eyes gradually hardened into pure hatred.

I scoffed.

“I’m the one who got my dad to hand over the patent rights for that eight-hundred-billion-dollar deal with Skyreach Technologies.

“When the company lacked new tech initiatives, I practically lived at the research institute to do the actual work.

“You whined that nobody respected you, so I made you acting chairman. And after everything, you—”

“Enough!”

He lunged at me and gripped my throat tightly. His eyes were blazing with fury.

I struggled to breathe. His face contorted into something ugly and terrifying. Then, everything started fading into darkness.

My entire body was wracked with excruciating pain.

Their child’s sharp cries cut through the air, making my ears throb.

I glared at Edwin, not bothering to hide the hatred in my eyes.

The crowd watched Edwin’s enraged outburst. They started to suspect what was really going on.

Noticing the shift in the room, Amy bit her lip and knelt before me.

She shuffled on her knees until she was right next to me, then deliberately shrieked into my ears, “Sienna! Edwin and I have put up with the way you talk to us for so long!

“But this is Edwin’s wedding day. How could you say something like this in front of our child?

“Please, Sienna. I’m begging you!”

Her last sentence was practically a scream.

I felt a wave of nausea rise in my stomach. I then instinctively pushed Amy away.

She flung herself backward dramatically, crashing directly into the champagne tower behind her.

Glass shards and alcohol splattered across the floor.

Edwin helped Amy up with exaggerated care.

Amy then put on a show of being noble and said, “It’s okay! Sienna didn’t push me. I just lost my footing.”

I had not even said anything yet, and she was already putting on an act.

In the next second, Edwin slapped me.

“Sienna! I should’ve let you starve on the streets!”

Before I could even process the sting from that slap, Beatrice dug her fingers viciously into my lower back.

At that moment, I wished I could go numb. My fingers clawed at the floor involuntarily. Blood gushed out instantly.

“Edwin... my hemophilia...”

I barely managed to get the words out.

However, Beatrice stood over me and yanked me up by my hair. She then grabbed a piece of broken glass and stabbed it into my finger.

Edwin, however, pretended not to see it. He was too busy comforting Amy.

Blood kept gushing out of me. Only then did Edwin’s indifferent expression finally show a hint of panic.

The entire company’s survival depended entirely on my father’s research patents. If something happened to me, there was no way he could escape the consequences.

I used all my strength to raise my head and look at Edwin before saying through gritted teeth, “Edwin! If I die here, my father will come for you!

“You won’t just lose your title of acting chairman; you won’t even qualify to mop floors here!

“Either get me to a hospital right now, or you’re fired!”