Her hand suddenly slipped as if all its strength had been released—

"Crack!"

The wine glass was slammed onto the polished marble floor, shattering instantly. The crimson wine splattered like blood, staining her starry blue dress and eliciting gasps from the surrounding guests.

"Oh dear! Sister-in-law, how could you be so careless?!"

Seeing her plan fall apart, Lila's fake smile vanished instantly, replaced by undisguised exasperation and anger, her voice rising several decibels.

Liam didn't speak, but his brows furrowed even more. He glanced at the mess of broken glass on the ground, then immediately stepped forward, took Clara's hand without a word, and carefully checked her fair fingers and wrists for any cuts from the flying glass shards. His tone was reproachful yet concerned: "How could you be so careless? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Seeing the genuine tension he exuded, Clara simply pursed her bright red lips and silently shook her head. If she hadn't overheard those heart-wrenching words in the private room, if she hadn't known what kind of sordid things were in that drink, she would have been completely captivated by this false tenderness, utterly moved.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." All of this was just another act, a performance born from his superb acting skills. His touch only made her feel nauseous.

After confirming that Clara was not injured, Liam called over the hotel staff who were waiting nearby to quickly clean up the broken pieces and wine stains on the ground.

The banquet continued, the music remained melodious, but the undercurrents grew increasingly turbulent. Lila clearly had no intention of letting Clara off the hook; like a relentless viper, she repeatedly sought opportunities, both overt and covert, to force Clara to eat or drink the packet of "miracle drug." She changed glass after glass of wine, brought out various snacks, trying to find an opening in Clara's defenses.

However, each time, Clara deftly defused the situation in various seemingly unintentional but actually ingenious ways—either by being interrupted by others, by "accidentally" spilling the food, or by using the excuse of talking to an elder she hadn't seen in a long time. Clara always maintained that detached calmness, as if watching a clumsy farce that had nothing to do with her.

Finally, after repeated failures, Lila completely lost her patience, and her anger clouded her judgment. In a relatively crowded corner, while Clara was chatting with an old friend with her back to her, she suddenly became emboldened and forcefully shoved Clara from behind into a long table on the side of the banquet hall, where a row of crystal goblets were stacked into a champagne tower!

"Splash—!!!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted! The towering champagne tower collapsed with a crash, and dozens, even hundreds, of exquisite stemmed glasses shattered instantly, with glittering shards of glass flying everywhere like exploding ice flowers! Wine, fruit, and desserts were splashed all over the place!

Clara was caught completely off guard. The enormous impact made it impossible for her to maintain her balance. She slipped and fell heavily to the ground amidst the horrified screams of the surrounding crowd. Her elbows and knees inevitably struck the cold, hard ground, which was covered with shards of glass!

"ah--!"

"Oh my god! What's going on?"

"Quick! Go check it out!"

This sudden turn of events plunged the entire banquet hall into chaos and silence. Everyone's attention was drawn to it, including Liam, who had been standing not far away, talking to someone.

When he saw Clara lying among the shards of glass, looking incredibly disheveled and vulnerable, his expression changed drastically. Almost instinctively, he hurriedly pushed through the stunned crowd, rushed forward, bent down, and reached out to help Clara up from the mess and check her injuries.

"Clara!"

"Honey! How are you? Are you alright? How could you be so careless?"

His voice was filled with genuine shock, anger, and urgency, and his hand had already touched Clara's arm.

But just then, Lila's sharp, panicked voice, like a razor-sharp blade, pierced through the chaos and rang in:

"Brother! Something terrible has happened! I just got a call from Vanessa! Vanessa is being bullied and surrounded at the airport. It seems like the situation is very serious. She keeps crying and calling your name..."

"What did you say?!"

Upon hearing the name "Vanessa" and the news of being "bullied," Liam's body stiffened abruptly! His expression froze for a moment, replaced by an unprecedented tension and worry. Almost reflexively, he instantly released his grip on Clara's arm and stood up abruptly!

Without any hesitation, without even a "wait for me to come back" or any arrangements for the situation, Liam seemed to have been pressed the only start button. Without hesitation, he pushed through the crowd and ran like an arrow towards the exit of the banquet hall, disappearing from everyone's sight in an instant.

Clara, who was suddenly released, was trying to stand up with his help, but the sudden loss of support left her completely without support.

"Thump—"

Amidst gasps and gasps of alarm around her, she was thrown back into that cold, damp, and chaotic place, littered with sharp shards of glass, once again, more heavily and thoroughly.

This time, the pain of her body hitting the ground was clearly felt, but even clearer was the sound of her heart being utterly crushed into dust. She lay on the cold ground, listening to the cacophony of sympathy and gossip around her, but felt only utter silence in the world. She slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the last glimmer of light in them had completely vanished, leaving only boundless, cold darkness and resolute despair.

"hiss……"

Sharp shards of glass once again pierced deep into the skin of her exposed palms and forearms, bringing waves of excruciating pain. Clara, who had just tried to prop herself up, couldn't help but gasp, and a fine layer of cold sweat instantly beaded on her forehead. This physical pain seemed so insignificant compared to the desolate wasteland in her heart that had already been crushed.

The surrounding crowd, still reeling from the shock of the collapsed champagne tower, was stunned once more by Liam's resolute figure as he walked away without a backward glance towards another woman. After a brief silence, whispers rose like a tide.

"Vanessa? Who is Vanessa?" A young guest who was not very familiar with the situation finally couldn't contain his curiosity and whispered the question to the person next to him.

"Eh? You didn't know?" A stylishly dressed lady next to him immediately lowered her voice, her tone filled with the excitement of sharing a secret, "That Vanessa, I heard, is the one Liam has held dear for many years, his white moonlight. If it weren't for that crisis with the Foster family..."

"Ah? Then...then Mrs. Foster, she..." The person who asked the question covered his mouth in surprise, looking at Clara, who was still sitting in the mess, with complicated eyes.

"Who in this circle doesn't know about this?" Another voice interjected with a hint of disdain. "Back then, it was said that Clara took advantage of the Foster family's downfall, and her father forced Liam to marry her with shares, causing that Miss Vanessa to leave home heartbroken. Now look at her, the Foster family has made a comeback, even more powerful than before, and Vanessa has just returned. I think this Mrs. Foster... humph, looking at her current pathetic state, how can she possibly manage?"

"Ah~ So that's how it is!" Several exclamations of sudden realization rang out around them, and the gazes directed at Clara instantly changed from initial sympathy to disdain, scrutiny, and even a hint of schadenfreude.

"I always thought Mrs. Foster was a very nice person, gentle and generous. I never imagined... she would use such methods to get ahead... tsk tsk tsk..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down, after all, she's still officially Mrs. Foster."

"So what? Didn't you see how fast Liam ran for Vanessa? She, the legitimate wife, fell like that, and he was no match for her with just a phone call..."

...

These comments, some high, some low, were like countless fine needles, relentlessly piercing Clara's eardrums and stripping away her last shred of ridiculous dignity. As she listened to the distorted facts and watched the direction where Liam's figure disappeared, a huge, absurd sense of ridiculousness welled up from the bottom of her heart, almost overwhelming her.

It turns out that the so-called love she had carefully cherished and devoted herself to for the past three years was nothing but a complete joke, a one-woman show in which she was immersed.

It turns out that in the eyes of everyone in the circle, she was the despicable one who destroyed other people's relationship and took advantage of their misfortune. Only she herself was using "love" as a fig leaf to deceive herself and maintain the precarious illusion of her marriage.

The surrounding guests whispered among themselves, looking at her with indifference or mockery, but not a single person stepped forward to help her up. She clearly realized that this was a banquet hosted by the Foster family, and most of those present were friends and business partners of the Foster family, not her Bennett family. The coldness of human nature was on full display at this moment.

Clara gritted her teeth, ignoring the stinging pain in her palms and knees. Using her uninjured arm to support herself on the cold, damp ground, she struggled to her feet, relying solely on her own strength, amidst the shards of glass and spilled liquor. The hem of her starry blue dress was stained and clung tightly to her body, highlighting her disheveled state and loneliness.

Ultimately, the grand banquet that was originally intended to celebrate her birth was abruptly ended due to her injury as the leading lady and this sudden farce.

It was late at night when Clara, enduring the pain all over her body, drove alone to the nearest central hospital. The emergency room was brightly lit but deserted, with only a few patients in the corridor, making it seem exceptionally empty and quiet.

She registered and had the deeper glass cuts on her hands and arms treated: cleaning, disinfection, medication, and bandaging. Throughout the process, she bit her lower lip tightly, not uttering a single cry of pain, as if the injuries weren't her own. When the nurse wrapped her right hand and forearm in thick gauze like a rice dumpling, she just watched expressionlessly, her eyes vacant.

However, fate always seems to play cruel jokes. Of all the hospitals in Beijing, she happened to be here, at this most vulnerable moment, when she encountered Liam, who had rushed over, and Vanessa, whom he was carefully protecting by his side.

As Vanessa helped Liam, whose lip was bruised, shirt collar was disheveled, and who had clearly been in a fight, into the emergency room, Clara, having just finished bandaging her wound, came out of the examination room. The three of them met unexpectedly in the corridor filled with the smell of disinfectant.

"Clara? What are you doing here?"

When Liam saw her, he stopped abruptly, a look of obvious surprise flashing across his face. Then, almost instinctively, he quickly pulled Vanessa behind him, standing between her and Clara in a protective posture, as if Clara were some kind of dangerous monster.

Seeing his subconscious, defensive movement, Clara felt as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart, followed by an overwhelming sense of bitterness and self-mockery. She forced a pale, bitter smile and slowly raised her hand, which was wrapped in layers of gauze and looked unusually heavy.

"Thanks to your sister Lila, she gave me such a 'gift' at my birthday party." Her voice was eerily calm, devoid of anger or resentment, only as still as stagnant water.

Looking at Clara's tightly bandaged hand, Liam's brows furrowed, a complex emotion flashing across his eyes, as if he were momentarily stunned. He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing, perhaps wanting to ask "How serious is it?" or perhaps wanting to explain something, but all his unspoken words were interrupted by a soft, weak voice beside him.

“Clara,” Vanessa peeked out from behind Liam, her face showing just the right amount of worry and a hint of disapproval. Her voice was gentle, yet every word pierced the heart, “This is where you went wrong. Lila is young and doesn't understand things. She was probably just playing around and lost her sense of propriety. As her sister-in-law, you should be more magnanimous and more tolerant of her. How could you hold a grudge against her? And end up like this…”

Listening to Vanessa's condescending and distorted words, Clara felt a surge of absurdity. She was only a year older than Lila! Since Lila was always a "child" in their eyes who needed to be tolerated, what right did they have to demand that Clara be infinitely tolerant according to adult standards? This double standard was truly disgusting.

“Miss Vanessa,” Clara said coldly, her gaze sweeping across Vanessa’s pitiful face like an icy blade, finally settling on Liam’s hand that was still tightly holding Vanessa’s. Her tone was utterly indifferent, “What does what’s between Lila and me have to do with you, an outsider?”

She had no interest in watching the couple's display of deep affection any longer. After saying that, she turned and walked around them, wanting to leave this suffocating place.

However, just as she brushed past them, her uninjured left wrist, hanging by her side, was suddenly gripped tightly by Liam! He squeezed so hard that her wrist bones ached.

"Clara!" Liam's face was grim, her voice icy and piercing, filled with barely suppressed anger, as if she were the unreasonable and irrational one. "What kind of attitude is this? Apologize to Vanessa immediately!"

Clara was forced to stop, slowly raising her eyes to meet Liam's now icy, frosty gaze. Once, even the slightest tenderness in those eyes could have made her happy all day. But now, seeing the clear anger and protectiveness towards another woman within them, her heart remained utterly still, as calm as a deep well.

It turns out that when a heart is broken and completely dead, it is truly possible to stop loving and stop feeling pain.

"Why should I apologize?" she asked, enunciating each word clearly, her voice low but carrying an undeniable firmness.

“What did Vanessa say wrong?” Seeing her so “stubborn,” Liam’s anger intensified. He tightened his grip on her wrist, his eyes blazing with fury. “Lila is just a child, naturally lively. Why are you arguing with her? It makes you look petty! Besides, what was that tone you used? Vanessa just got back to the country and was harassed at the airport. She was frightened and hasn’t fully recovered. Now you’ve spoken to her so coldly. How upset she must be! You should apologize to her, both morally and logically!”

It turns out that Vanessa was harassed at the airport. That's why he was so anxious and even went so far as to fight back, getting injured himself in the process, all to protect her.

Clara turned her head and looked at Vanessa, whose eyes were already red and about to cry, as if she had suffered a great injustice. She smiled coldly to herself, a smile that was desolate and sorrowful.

Look at the stark contrast. His beloved was only harassed, and he was on high alert, extremely nervous, wishing he could take her place; while his wife, through his schemes, was almost sent to another man's bed, was pushed down in public at her birthday party, covered in bruises, and had to treat her wounds alone, only to be questioned by him about why she didn't apologize to the person who pushed her, or to his beloved!

It turns out that love and not love can be so vastly different, so cruelly and bluntly defined.

Without any further hesitation, Clara clenched her fist tightly and, with all her might, swung her hand away from Liam's grasp, breaking free from his hold! The movement was so forceful that it aggravated the wound on her right hand, and blood was faintly seeping through the gauze, but she didn't care at all.

“Liam,” she looked at him with an unprecedented distance and indifference, as if she were looking at a stranger, “you should take care of yourself first and go see the injuries you got while trying to be a hero and save a damsel in distress before you talk to anyone else.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't look at them again. She straightened her back, which seemed to bear a thousand pounds of weight, and resolutely turned around. Step by step, she walked firmly into the night outside the hospital gate, leaving behind the couple behind her and all the unbearable past.