Chapter 1

A suffocating feeling, like death itself gripping my throat, suddenly crashed over me. My vision went black and my body collapsed onto the blood donation table.

The needle shifted with the impact, and blood began flowing backward through the tube.

The nurse drawing my blood, Sharon Jones, shoved me impatiently and yanked the needle out.

"I'm trying to draw blood here. Can you stop moving around? Now I have to stick you again!"

When I did not respond, a flash of disgust crossed her face. She gripped the needle and drove it hard into my arm.

"Oops, missed the vein. You don't mind, right?"

Sharon deliberately stabbed me several more times before finally stopping, leaving my arm bruised blue and purple.

However, by then, I could not feel pain anymore.

"Well, I'll give you credit for enduring it. No sense of collective spirit at all. Everyone's donating blood and you're here pretending to be sick and fainting.

"It's only 400 milliliters. Everyone else donated. You're the only one acting delicate."

She switched out the blood bags without even looking up, muttering under her breath.

"Mrs. Cole is such an outstanding person. How could she possibly have a daughter as selfish and irresponsible as you?"

The students lined up behind me began whispering among themselves.

"I heard she has severe anemia and still came to donate blood. Did she actually die?"

"No way. Didn't the nurse say she was faking it to get out of donating? Besides, Mrs. Cole dotes on her so much. If something had really happened, would she still be standing there acting so calm?"

As they talked, the looks they gave me became even more contemptuous.

I floated in midair, panicked, turning desperately toward my mother.

Her brows were tightly furrowed as she stared at me with disappointment and disgust.

"Briana Hayes! Stop pretending already! All your classmates are watching. Get up this instant!"

However, I remained motionless.

Sharon paused, her hand still pressing against my arm, then sighed toward my mother.

"Mrs. Cole, if she refuses to cooperate like this, should we even continue drawing blood? We've only taken 100 milliliters so far. The other students all donated 400 and none of them made such a huge fuss.

"She even threatened me earlier, saying she's the director's daughter and demanded I record other students' donations under her name. Otherwise she'd report me to the hospital.

"Maybe we should just forget about taking her blood this time."

Instinctively, I tried to explain.

However, no sound came out.

My mother's face darkened. She suddenly drove her foot hard into my lower back.

My body was already limp. The kick sent me crashing heavily onto the floor.

"You've truly disappointed me. Since when did you learn to bully people with your status?

"How did I end up raising a daughter like you?"