Despite using my cornea, my husband, Felix Halward, forced me to kneel on glass shards.

Despite using my heart, my daughter declared that I was not fit to be her mother.

Before my artificial heart stopped beating, I called Felix, only to have him snap at me, “Liana, could you stop kicking up a fuss? If you want to die that badly, do it somewhere far away! I’m not collecting your corpse!”

I shut my remaining left eye as I lay on the snow.

Later on, Felix, who had stopped loving me, plucked out his own eyeball.

My daughter, who had denounced me, tried taking her life multiple times just so that she could see me again.

However, I no longer longed for their love.

Felix threw his phone at my head.

“Liana, are you crazy?! Why are you bothering us while I’m making a mannequin in Ruby’s likeness? You should really look at just how many times you’ve called me!”

Blood flowed from my temple. Even so, I could still see the lipstick stain on his collar. It was a light pink, the favorite color of Ruby Jones, the influencer.

The third time my artificial heart sounded its alarm, the doctor told me to contact my family immediately. I needed them to accompany me while I received a thorough check.

Yet, when I called my husband, he hung up on me.

That night, he returned late, and the moment he stepped through the door, he started yelling at me.

It was as if I had interrupted his time with Ruby and that I had committed a heinous crime in doing so.

I swallowed the bitterness in my heart and said, “I’ve been feeling some discomfort in my heart lately, and the doctor said—”

Before I could finish speaking, Felix scowled and interrupted me impatiently. “Stop pretending. You just want me to keep you company, don’t you?

“The only thing you know how to do is pull cheap tricks, but you only disgust me when you do this!”

I cradled my aching temple and watched as he stormed up the staircase callously.

Suddenly, I could not recall how he looked when he cried and said that he would protect me forever after I suffered from postpartum hemorrhage.

When my artificial heart first sent off its alarm, I was forced to queue up to buy a birthday cake for Ruby.

I stood for two hours under the scorching sun, until the monitor on my wrist rang out.

In my weakened state, I asked Felix to send me to the hospital, but he only scoffed. “You don’t have any heart condition. Stop kicking up a fuss and pretending to be pitiful.

“You know that it’s Ruby’s birthday. I won’t say anything about you not wishing her a happy birthday, so you shouldn’t be annoying me too! Oh, I’m so unlucky to be with you.”

In the end, I passed out at the roadside, and a cleaner sent me to the hospital.

The second time the alarm for my artificial heart went off, Ruby lied about me. She claimed that I ruined a portrait she had sketched for Mandy, my daughter.

She pointed at a wine stain by the edge of the portrait and cried as she grumbled, “Felix, does Liana not like me getting close to Mandy? But I put all of my heart and soul into my portraits. She can hit me and insult me all she wants, but she can’t desecrate my paintings!”

Felix shut me in the cold wine cellar and ordered me to kneel on dry ice.

The cold hurt my knees so badly that my skin tore. Pus and blood even flowed out of my wounds.

I wobbled as I begged him to let me out, but he only sneered and locked the door.

Two days later, the butler let me out when he came to retrieve some wine.

…

Once I cleaned the wound on my temple, I opened the door to my daughter’s room.

I was holding some dessert that I had bought for her on my way back from the hospital.

“Honey, are you drawing? Do you want me to keep you company?”

Mandy just gave me a disdainful look and wrinkled her nose. “Stay away from me and don’t dirty the painting I’m going to give to Ruby.”

With an expression of great seriousness, she started coloring the paper under her hands.

After I donated the cornea in my right eye, I suffered from post-surgery complications. As such, the vision in my left eye was no longer as good as before.

Seeing me stare at her drawing, Mandy pouted and shoved me away. “You’re blind. You wouldn’t understand it.

“I’m drawing Dad cooking for me and Ruby yesterday!

“Dad said that you’re a horrible plagiarist and you stole Ruby’s painting! I don’t want your company!”

So, I gently shut the door as Mandy gazed at me with disgust.

My heart had been beating steadily before, but it clenched in pain at the moment. It was as if it had been struck hard.

I knew that they resented me, simply because I did not show up during Mandy’s heart surgery and Felix’s cornea transplant. But Ruby, my underclassman, stayed by their side and took great care of them.

At that time, I was resting after surgery, but they thought that I was sleeping with another man.

After I lost one of my eyes and had an artificial heart installed in my body, I went home. But Felix yelled at me the moment he saw the bruises on my skin, which were caused by a coagulation disorder.

“You witch! Are you really that desperate for men?!

“You cheated on me thinking that I was going blind! Now, after losing sight in one of your eyes, you come running back to me?! You’re staying by my side forever to pay for what you did!”

I could not tell them that I was their donor. It was simply because I did not want my husband and daughter to feel guilt for their entire lives.

However, I did not expect that keeping this a secret would make them hate me and hurt me so wantonly.

Before I fell asleep, I heard Felix trying to calm Mandy down from a temper tantrum.

“Daddy, I don’t want that woman to go with us.”

“Mandy, go to sleep. No matter what, she’s your mother.”

Mandy flung Felix’s hand away. “I don’t like her! She’s a bad woman! Ruby should be my mommy instead!”

I felt chills all over my body, and I started trembling.

The next day was the Parent-child Sports Day at Mandy’s kindergarten.

I prepared my sportswear excitedly but did not notice Mandy’s slightly disgusted expression.

When we got out of the car, Mandy jumped into Ruby’s arms, and I looked at Felix in confusion.

He just glanced at my blind right eye and pursed his lips before coolly saying, “You’re the one who’s always pretending to be weak. It only makes sense for you to not participate in the Sports Day.”

Just then, Ruby approached us with Mandy in hand.

She noticed my sad expression but still shed a few crocodile tears. “Liana, you don’t want me here, do you? I’ll leave right now and stop interrupting your time with Mandy.”

However, Mandy held Ruby’s hand tightly, and anger burned in her beautiful eyes. “You’re the one who can’t run and jump. My classmates all say that I have a sick and blind mom, so I’m asking Ruby to come with me. You’ll only embarrass me as my mother!”

I could only watch as they ran the three-legged race and played Pictionary together.

When they got first place, Felix pointed at me. “Take a photo of us.”

A parent who did not know the truth marveled at them, “Your family has such great teamwork. You’re handsome, your wife is beautiful, and your daughter is gorgeous too.”

I forced a smile as I watched Felix gently hug Ruby and Mandy.

The moment the photo was captured and immortalized, I felt as if something had been taken from me.

Suddenly, Felix and Mandy seemed like strangers to me.

That night, I did not make them any herbal soup.

Following their transplants, I had gone to a culinary nutritionist and studied under him for three months. I learned what to cook for them so that they could recover faster.

Not quite used to the sight of an empty dining table, Felix looked around the kitchen and asked in puzzlement, “You didn’t make soup tonight?”

I nodded and said nothing.

Mandy found it strange too, but she sighed in relief. “It doesn’t taste nice anyway. It’s not as good as Ruby’s. You shouldn’t be making such strange soups anyway. It’s gross.”

I hung my head, as though I did not hear her grumbling.

I was not going to make it anymore.

There was no longer anyone worth my care in this house.

The next morning, Ruby came to apologize with a beautiful vase.

With teary eyes, she tried to hold my hand. “Liana, I know that you’re bothered by Mandy being so close to me. But you’re the one who left without a word for half a year, and I was the one who took care of Felix and Mandy.

“They’re like family to me. I’m begging you. Don’t stop me from meeting them, okay?”

She looked pitiful with those tears in her eyes, but I saw malice when she looked at me.

Then, she sank to the floor, and the vase in her hands shattered.

Feeling pity for her, Felix hugged her. “Liana, could you stop being so jealous?! I didn’t even hold it against you when you cheated on me while Mandy and I had our surgeries! I didn’t even say anything about your return after you became blinded in one eye, but you’re bullying Ruby now?!”

He kicked the back of my knees and made me fall on the shards.

Blood flowed out of my kneecaps, and I knew that my skin had been cut open.

However, Felix did not notice my pale face and said coldly, “You’re kneeling here for the night. It’s about time you’re taught a lesson.”

My cornea was in his right eye, but he never looked me in my remaining left eye anymore.

An unknown time passed, and my knees went numb. Even so, the pain from the shards stabbing into my flesh stood stark.

In my daze, I saw the day I celebrated Mandy’s third birthday. I put on a crystal tiara on her head while Felix stared at me lovingly.

At that time, Mandy would still call me her mother sweetly, and Felix’s catchphrase was, “I’ll protect my dearest wife and daughter for life.”

Slap!

A sharp pain on my face abruptly pulled me out of memory lane.

Mandy stood in front of me angrily. She had thrown her art board at my face.

“You evil woman! If you bully Ruby again, I’m asking Daddy to chase you out!”

She tried to push me.

My dress was soaked through with blood and stuck to my skin. Any minute movement brought about searing pain.

My heart monitor vibrated; this was the fourth alarm.

The doctor who operated on me told me that after the fifth alarm, I would have to get a new heart in time. Otherwise, my life would be in danger.

Yet, when I saw the disgust on Mandy’s face, I discovered that no one cared about my life.

When Felix noticed the bandages on my knees, his eyes flickered with an emotion I could not decipher. “Ruby has an art exhibition today. She’s always wanted you to see it, so you’re coming with us,” he said.

He sounded so high and mighty about it, as though he was being nice and giving me this opportunity.

Since when did going out with them become a generous reward?

I could feel my heart fighting to work.

Suddenly, I remembered how the three of us had gone to a theme park in the past.

Mandy had fed me some cotton candy with a smile, and Felix had used a fan to blow away the heat.

Unfortunately, times had changed.

“Daddy, why is she coming to the art exhibition with us? She’ll just ruin my mood!” Mandy grumbled in displeasure.

Felix pinched her cheek. “I’m around, and I won’t let her bully Ruby.”

I wanted to avoid conflict with Ruby, but she refused to spare me.

She pretended to be friendly and grabbed my arm as if she did not see me avoiding her. “Liana, look at the painting that won me the International Gold Award. Doesn’t it look familiar?”

I stared at the painting named “Heartbeat” hanging on the wall.

When I was pregnant with Mandy, I painted it as I listened to her heartbeat.

Ruby stared at me smugly and whispered, “You blind, useless piece of trash. When Felix brings you out, people laugh at him and Mandy.

“Your broken body is disgusting. If you have any sense, you’ll get lost.

“You have no right to be so skilled in art and have a happy family. I hate letting you have your way in life.

“Your husband and daughter will belong to me, just like that painting.”

In the past, I pitied Ruby for being an orphan. Since she was also my underclassman, I brought her back home, only to realize later that I had brought back a thief.

Ruby smiled at me ruthlessly.

Out of the blue, she brought out a knife and cut her palm before crying out in pain.

When Felix came over, he saw me panicking while Ruby bled from her hand.

“Felix, don’t blame Liana for this. It’s all my fault. She can’t paint anymore. I shouldn’t have invited her to the art exhibition and triggered her.”

At that, Felix angrily punched me.

I could taste blood with every breath I took. My heart trembled, and the blood that it pumped out rushed to my temple.

“I didn’t hurt her. Ruby—”

Before I could finish defending myself, Felix stomped down on the fingers of my left hand and broke them.

“Damn you, Liana! If anything happens to Ruby’s hand, I’m breaking the tendons in yours!”

He picked up the crying Ruby and ran out of the art exhibition. He did not spare me a single glance, even after I fainted from the pain.

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying in the hospital.

“The alarm in your heart monitor has rung for the fifth time. You have to get your family to sign the documents and proceed for an examination,” the doctor sternly said.

I gave him a self-deprecating and dejected smile. I no longer had any family left.

However, this time, Felix was quick to answer his phone. “Liana, what tricks are you playing this time? You hurt Ruby’s hand, and you’re still pretending to be pitiful?”

I sighed and said, “Felix, my heart hurts…”

After a moment’s hesitation, he agreed to come. “Once Ruby’s stitches are done, I’ll accompany you for the examination.”

Yet, even after the sun set, Felix never came.

Instead, I received a message from Ruby.

[Liana, Felix is cooking dinner for me, and Mandy is playing the piano for me.

[Don’t you get it? You could die in front of them, and they wouldn’t care.]