Chapter 3

That wasn't all—her arms, stomach, and other body parts also harbored burn marks!

Lila was born with a bleeding disorder. Failure to stop the bleeding could prove life-threatening.

I grabbed Elisa and demanded, "Do you have any coagulants on hand? She has a bleeding disorder and needs it immediately!"

Just then, Lila tried to muster up her strength to reassure me, "I'll be okay, Anna…"

Lila had always been a sensible child—a botanist in the making. She was constantly praised at home, yet she endured such inhumane treatment at school.

I felt a sharp tingling in my chest as hatred surged within me. I vowed to make Vanessa pay for this.

Elisa handed me the last pill on hand. Just then, Melody burst into the infirmary with a dozen or so young ladies.

They waved their phones around, taking pictures of Lila on the bed and spreading vicious rumors.

"Estrella High's underprivileged students must have such an amazing nightlife! The break's just over, and this one's already pregnant!"

"She's too broke for an abortion, so she came begging the school nurse for one!"

"She's just like her mother, both mistresses living off their sugar daddies!"

Their mocking laughter was heard in waves around Lila.

I hurriedly shielded Lila's body from view and snapped, "Enough! Do you think I won't sue you, Melody Caldwell?"

Melody narrowed her eyes, her expression a mirror image of Vanessa's arrogance. "Everyone! Take all the medicine you can find! Let this bitch die in agony!"

Her lackeys then ransacked the place, gathering all the medicine and taking it away.

I held back my tears, reassuring myself repeatedly that the Intelligence Agency was arriving soon.

Fortunately, they hadn't taken the coagulant in my hands.

I was just about to give it to Lila when Vanessa burst in with five black-clad bodyguards. She then kicked at me with her heels.

The bodyguards approached, with three of them pinning me down.

Vanessa slapped me a few times, cackling viciously. "I bet you're pleased at how Melody taught that little bitch a lesson. You would dare to rally the public against us? How juvenile.

"If you don't beg for mercy and apologize, I won't let you leave the school compound. I won't even give you this medicine."

She picked up the pill, intending to throw it into the disinfectant.

I struggled, desperately trying to get the medicine back. "Vanessa! Give it back!"

Her stiletto pressed down on the back of my hand, with half the pill dissolving in the disinfectant.

"You wish! You're dead meat unless you make your daughter beg for forgiveness! Well? Have you decided? Or will you stake your own worthless life on this?" she asked.

My eyes were red-rimmed from panic. Lila needed that medicine to save her life.

To placate Vanessa, I had no choice but to beg, "Take it out on me. I'll apologize on Lila's behalf."

Vanessa sneered, her gaze brimming with malice. "Fine. But I'll double the punishment."

She pulled out her phone and pointed the camera at my face. "I want you to look here and say that you're nothing but a mistress, and your daughter is a bastard. I'll post this online tomorrow. Do you agree?"

I stared at the pill, fighting back my tears. "Fine. I'm nothing but a mistress, and my daughter… is a bastard."

Melody burst out laughing. "Look at how pathetic she is, Mom!"

Vanessa put away her phone with a contemptuous sneer. "Poor people are all the same. Vulgar and obnoxious."

With that, she tossed the pill into the disinfectant. "Sorry, but I've never kept my promises to the poor."

The two turned away, laughing heartily. As soon as they stepped out of the infirmary, an alarm was heard.

Rows of uniformed men with their chests adorned with medals stormed into the school, charging toward the infirmary. "Who dares to hurt Mr. Josiah Keats' granddaughter?"