Clayton was emotionless, a bit slow-witted and mute. Kai treated him like a loyal, obedient dog—every command given was executed without hesitation or question.

Right now, Kai had tasked him with keeping a close watch on me, making sure I didn't follow my son into the grave out of sheer grief.

"Honey, pull yourself together. Losing Leon hurts me too, but life must go on. We can always have more kids..."

Kai knelt beside the bed, his voice soft and coaxing, as if he were truly a heartbroken husband.

I turned my back to him, my face buried in the pillow, silently shedding tears. My hatred burned so fiercely inside me that my teeth ached from clenching them too hard. I wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands.

But I was too weak. His bodyguards, his power—there was no way I could take him down in a moment of fury. I needed a plan. A long one.

"Don't cry, love. Look at you—you've lost so much weight. And these bruises... what happened? Don't tell me you tried to hurt yourself..." He trailed off, then sighed dramatically. "I see now. It's all Clayton's fault for not watching you properly, isn't it?"

Kai put on his usual performance, a flawless blend of tenderness and concern, his hands brushing my hair as if I were the most precious thing in the world. "Whoever dares to harm you, I'll never forgive them."

He stood, grabbed a whip from the wall and coldly ordered, "Clayton, shirt off. Kneel."

Without hesitation, Clayton obeyed, sinking to his knees and pulling off his shirt to expose his broad back.

The whip cracked through the air and Kai struck him over and over—more than ten times, until Clayton's back was a canvas of raw, bloody welts. Not once did he make a sound. When it was over, Clayton calmly put his shirt back on, returned to his position beside the bed and stood like a statue.

Kai wiped the blood off his hands with a silk handkerchief, then cupped my face, his fingers cool against my skin. "Milly, are you satisfied now? Will you finally talk to me?"

I gagged, turning my head to the side and spitting straight onto his designer suit.

"Oh dear, sorry," I said sweetly, "my stomach's been acting up lately. Everything wants to come back up. Join me for breakfast, darling?"

The stench of bile and bitterness clung to him and his expression briefly cracked before he forced a smile. "I have a meeting," he said, using work as an excuse to flee.

As soon as he left, I sat up. I had to check the surveillance footage.

Leon had always wanted a cat. For his fourth birthday, I'd secretly arranged for a purebred British Shorthair to be shipped from overseas.

The cat hadn't arrived in time—but I had prepared everything. Cat food was tucked away in the storage room and I had secretly installed surveillance cameras all over the villa, ready to watch the cat's every move once it arrived.

Leon never got to meet that cat. But now, those cameras had a new purpose—they might've caught glimpses of Kai's crimes. Proof. Evidence. Anything. Except Clayton was watching me like a hawk. I tried everything to make him leave—screaming at him, hurling insults, even slapping him across the face.

"Are you deaf? I said get out! You're nothing but Kai's dog. Admit it—you killed Leon, didn't you?"

Clayton simply stared back. His sharp profile remained carved from stone, unmoved by my words or my fists.

In a fit of rage, I grabbed a porcelain vase from the nightstand, smashed it to the floor and seized a jagged shard, pressing it to my wrist.

Clayton moved in an instant, faster than I could blink. His iron grip locked around my wrist, forcing the shard from my hand. They said he held a ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo and a fifth-degree black belt in Karate—restraining me was no harder than handling a helpless kitten.

But desperation made me frantic. Clayton had to leave, so I slammed my head against the wall with everything I had.

Blinding pain exploded across my skull and my vision blurred red.

For the first time, Clayton hesitated. Panic flickered in his eyes and then he bolted from the room to summon a doctor.

I didn't waste a second. Fighting the waves of dizziness, I crawled to my laptop, locked the door and accessed the surveillance footage.

My fingers shook as I sped through the recordings, heart pounding in my ears.

But there was nothing. Not a single clue pointing to Kai's hand in Leon's murder or the theft of his organs. He was too careful. Too cautious.

But I did find something else.

A conversation between Rae and my father.

They were discussing how to kill me.

In the surveillance footage, Rae's voice was filled with impatience. "Leon is dead and isn't Milena making a fuss about killing herself? Why is she still alive?"

My father, sitting across from her, spoke with a hesitant tone. "I heard Kai has been keeping bodyguards around her."

Rae rolled her eyes dramatically. "The only reason we kept her around was so she could give birth to Leon and donate his kidney to me. Now that the job is done, it's best if she just dies."

My father shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe Kai's just worried about you. He probably wants to have more kids with Milena—just to create a few extra kidneys, in case something happens again."

Rae's expression darkened, sharp and venomous. "No way. I can't tolerate Milena staying by Kai's side any longer. I'm the one he loves. I need to marry him as soon as possible."

There was a flicker of guilt in my father's eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. "Milena is selfish, but... does she really deserve to die? What if I try to talk her into divorcing Kai instead?"

Rae's cold laugh rang out, echoing off the walls. "Dad, do you really think she'll just let go of Kai? She'll cling to him no matter what. We just need to give her a little push—and luckily, I just got my hands on a new drug."

My father frowned. "What kind of drug?"

With a sweet smile, Rae leaned closer, her innocent face a chilling contrast to her words. "A top-grade aphrodisiac. It'll make her lose all control. I'll find some filthy man infected with AIDS to sleep with her. She'll think it's Kai."

She chuckled softly, her tone dripping with malice. "When the time comes, I'll record the whole thing and send it to Kai. The moment he finds out she has AIDS, he'll kick her out without a second thought."

Her scheme was vile—so twisted it made my stomach churn. Even my father looked unsettled.

"That's... isn't that too much? You're seriously planning to find a man with AIDS?"

Rae's expression turned icy. "There's nothing money can't buy. Don't try to stop me, Dad. Once I marry into the Richards family, you'll live the rest of your life in luxury. I'm not an ungrateful daughter like Milena."

The next day, my mother suddenly appeared at my bedside, carrying a steaming bowl of porridge.

"Milly, you've rarely eaten lately. I made this myself. Eat it while it's warm."

Her hands trembled slightly as she scooped up a spoonful, her gaze flickering uneasily.

A terrible suspicion curled in my stomach. There was something in that porridge. It had to be the aphrodisiac Rae mentioned.

"Mom..." My voice was barely above a whisper. "Do you and Dad really think I'm... ungrateful?" My heart twisted painfully in my chest. Why did my own parents hate me so much? Why were they helping Rae destroy me?

My mother sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Back then, we asked you to donate a kidney to your sister and you refused. After you married rich, we asked you to buy a villa for your brother and you wouldn't."

The bitterness in her voice was impossible to miss and it made my hands tremble. "I was in poor health! The doctors said donating a kidney could've killed me. And even if it hadn't, I might not have saved Rae—I could've lost my life for nothing!

"As for Andy, he's a drunk, a gambler and spends his days chasing women. If I'd given him money, he would've wasted it all. Mom, why can't you see that?"

My mother's expression flickered with conflict, but in the end, her gaze dropped to the floor. "Your father said you're ungrateful, so you must be. He tells me what to do and I do it. He wanted me to make you this porridge, so eat it."

The pain in my chest was unbearable, suffocating. Without hesitation, I swiped my hand across the tray, sending the bowl crashing to the floor.

My mother's shocked expression only made the knot in my throat tighten. I staggered to my feet, stumbled to the wine cabinet and grabbed a random bottle. With a jerk, I pulled out the cork and drank directly from it.

"Screw your porridge!" My voice was hoarse. "Leon is gone. Just leave me alone and let me drink in peace!"

I was deliberately putting on a show—baiting Rae into spiking my wine instead. It would make things easier for me later.

Sure enough, exactly one week later, Rae showed up at my door, smiling sweetly and holding a crystal wine glass. "Sis, this is a 2008 Lafite. Give it a taste."

Two hours earlier, I had already seen her sneaking into the kitchen and slipping something into the wine through the surveillance cameras. Now, she stood before me, dressed in an haute couture gown, her makeup flawless, her posture radiating confidence.

Dangling around her neck was a massive ruby necklace—impossible to miss.

My stomach twisted. I knew that necklace. Kai had bought it at auction, spending over a billion just to win it.

Rae caught my gaze lingering on it and caressed her neck with deliberate slowness, her smile turning smug. "Beautiful, isn't it? Kai gave it to me to celebrate my successful kidney transplant. Now I can finally live a long, healthy life."

How shameless. Rae's so-called long and healthy life was built on Leon's death, with his kidney now sitting inside her body like a trophy.

The mere thought of it made my fingers twitch with the urge to strangle her right there, to wipe that smug smile off her face for good.

"Come on, Sis, drink up! Haven't you been drinking a lot lately?" Rae's voice was sickeningly sweet, her smile stretching just a little too wide. "Have some wine and pull yourself together. I'll take you to my birthday party."

She clapped her hands and two people stepped into the room—a makeup artist and a stylist, both already armed with brushes and racks of dresses. "Make my sister look gorgeous," Rae instructed, her eyes gleaming with barely contained malice. "I want her to shine at my party and finally move on from all that grief."

The makeup artist painted my eyes with heavy, smoky shadows that darkened my gaze, adding a sultry edge I rarely saw in the mirror. The stylist then slipped me into a mermaid-cut gown, so tight I could barely breathe, with a plunging neckline that left very little to the imagination. It wasn't a dress—it was a lure.

I knew exactly what game Rae was playing. Earlier, I had caught her on the surveillance recording, her voice dripping with glee as she made arrangements with someone over the phone.

"Don't worry, my sister's given birth before, but with some makeup and a sexy dress, she's still passable. She'll definitely satisfy you..."

Her tone was filled with a disgusting mix of amusement and cruelty.

"I already know you have AIDS. That's fine—my sister won't mind. Bring your friends, too. The more, the merrier..."

She even gave him the exact room number at the Aurelian Crown Hotel—room 8868—the same hotel where her birthday party would be held.

Rae's plan was clear as day. She wanted me drugged with the aphrodisiac at her party, dragged upstairs into that hotel room and handed over to a man with HIV. The whole thing would be recorded, of course and sent straight to Kai.

Once Kai saw that I had not only cheated on him but had also contracted HIV, he wouldn't just divorce me—he'd probably throw me out like trash. That was Rae's endgame. She didn't just want my place beside Kai; she wanted to make sure I was too tainted to ever crawl back.

What a meticulous little plan. Almost admirable—if it wasn't so vile.

I gave Rae a soft smile. "Thanks, Rae, but my stomach's been feeling off all day. I feel like I'm about to throw up. Let me go vomit first and then I'll drink that Lafite and get ready for your party."

I gagged dramatically, clutching my stomach for effect.

Rae's expression twisted with barely concealed disgust. She must have still remembered when I threw up on Kai a few days back.

"Ugh, fine. I'll leave you to it, Sis." She took a careful step back, nose wrinkled. "But don't forget to drink your wine."

She left in a hurry and the second she was gone, I poured the drugged wine into a clean glass and stared at the deep red liquid swirling inside. There was no way I'd drink it—but someone else would.

I already had a plan. Kai had a habit of bringing a bottle of fine wine to every event he attended and since he'd be going to Rae's party tonight, there was no doubt he'd pick something from his private cellar. All I had to do was make sure this particular glass of Lafite ended up in the right bottle.

Slipping on a pair of gloves, I made my way down to the villa's basement, where the wine cellar was kept. Rows of rare vintages stood in temperature-controlled perfection, but my eyes went straight to a small gift basket placed near the entrance. Nestled inside was a bottle of 1982 Château Latour and a handwritten birthday card for Rae.

So, Kai had already chosen her gift. How convenient.

I retrieved a wine opener I'd prepared in advance, carefully working the cork out of the Château Latour without damaging it. Slowly, I poured the drugged Lafite into the prized vintage, making sure not to spill a drop. The rich aroma filled the air, mingling with the cool scent of stone and aged wood.

Just as I was about to finish, a sudden pressure closed around my wrist—strong, unyielding, like an iron cuff snapping into place.

My heart leapt into my throat. I turned my head sharply, only to find myself staring straight into Clayton's face.

That damn bodyguard. The man moved like a ghost, always appearing when I least expected him. Who knew how long he'd been standing there, silently watching every move I made?