Nobody knew how long Daisie had been unconscious before the pain woke her again.

A sharp, throbbing ache pulsed from the wound on her right side, as if a blunt knife were twisting deep inside her flesh.

She barely shifted before a familiar voice broke the silence—low, tight, and edged with urgency.

“You’re awake?”

Turning her head, she saw Willard sitting beside her bed, his tall frame hunched slightly in the chair. His brows were drawn tight, his gaze fixed on her with what almost looked like… concern.

Her lips twitched into a stiff, bitter smile.

How ironic.

The man who had forced her onto the operating table, taken her kidney, and driven her father to his death now sat there pretending to care.

She closed her eyes, unwilling to even look at him.

“The doctor said your emotions got worked up and the stitches reopened,” Willard said with a sigh, sounding helpless. “Daisie, what exactly are you trying to do?”

‘Trying to do?’ she asked back inwardly.

Her eyes snapped open, burning with fury.

“My dad’s dead. You think I should be celebrating?” Her voice trembled with anger. “If it weren’t for Kendra, he wouldn’t have died at all!”

Willard’s frown deepened. He let out another sigh.

“Every surgery carries risk. Dr. Wilson is one of the best specialists in the field. No one wanted this outcome. You can’t blame Kendra for that. She was only trying to help.”

“Trying to help?” Daisie let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Willard, do you even realize? Kendra was never sick! Her kidney’s perfectly fine! She didn’t need mine at all!”

His expression darkened immediately. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I’m not making it up!” she shot back, her voice shaking with anger. “She faked her illness! She lied to you! She admitted it herself! She did it just to get back at me!”

“Enough!”

Willard shot to his feet, disappointment and disgust flashing in his eyes.

“Jeez, Daisie, I used to think you were just foolish. I didn’t realize you could be this cruel! Kendra went out of her way to bring in an expert from abroad to save your father. She’d just had her own transplant and was still weak, but she came to visit you anyway! And you? Instead of being grateful, you accuse her of faking her illness? Have you completely lost your conscience?”

Daisie trembled as she stared at him.

“Willard,” she said, her voice hoarse, “do you even dare to check the security footage? Right here, in this room, check what she did and said to me yesterday! Watch it yourself, and tell me if she looks sick! Tell me if she’s really not pretending!”

She pointed toward the security camera mounted in the corner.

Willard followed her gaze. For a fleeting moment, doubt flickered across his face.

Looking at how certain Daisie seemed, he contemplated, ‘Could it be… that Kendra really has been pretending after all?’

Just then, the door to the hospital room creaked open.

Kendra stepped in, her voice trembling with emotion as she said softly, “Hey… did I come at a bad time? I thought I heard you arguing in here…”

Willard immediately crossed the room to support her, his tone tender and full of concern.

“Why did you get out of bed? The doctor told you to rest.”

Kendra leaned into his arms, her tearful gaze drifting toward Daisie.

“Daisie… are you still mad at me? I’m sorry… I know it’s my fault. If it weren’t for me needing that kidney, you wouldn’t have had to go through this. I was heartbroken about your dad, too. I really did everything I could…”

Daisie felt a wave of nausea rise in her chest just looking at her.

“Keep pretending! Go on! Keep acting!” she shouted. “Willard, check the security footage! See for yourself how she bragged yesterday about faking her illness and how she admitted she was behind my father’s death!”

Kendra flinched violently, as though she’d been startled at those words.

“Willard… I didn’t… I know she hates me for taking you away, but I never said those things. I was devastated by Uncle Joe’s death, too. How could she accuse me like this?”

Willard instinctively wrapped his arms around Kendra, patting her back gently in comfort before turning on Daisie with a glare.

“Daisie, have you caused enough trouble?” he snapped. “Look at what you’ve done—Kendra just had surgery, her body’s weak, and she’s still worried about you. Yet you’re acting like a crazy woman throwing accusations!”

“I regret ever letting you through my family’s doors!” he blurted out. “Your dad’s death was his own bad luck. It had nothing to do with Kendra! You bring misfortune to your own parents, and now, you want to drag others down with you?!”

Daisie’s fists clenched so tight her nails bit into her palms. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, every breath catching in her throat.

‘So this is what he really thinks of me,’ she realized.

What else was there to say?

The proof was in the security footage, yet he wouldn’t even bother to look.

He only believed the fragile little angel crying in his arms.

At that moment, Kendra reached out gently toward Daisie’s exposed hand resting on the blanket.

“Daisie, it’s all my fault. Please don’t be upset anymore, alright—”

“Get away from me!” Daisie snapped, jerking her hand back.

“Ah!” Kendra gasped in fright, stumbling backward on purpose. Her elbow struck the insulated bottle on the bedside table, knocking it over.

The thermos hit the floor with a crash, and boiling water splashed in every direction.

“Kendra!” Willard’s expression changed instantly. Without a thought, he lunged forward, shielding Kendra with his back.

“Ugh!” he grunted as the scalding liquid hit his back, his face tightening in pain.

“Willard! Are you alright?” Kendra cried, clutching his arm in panic.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. Ignoring the burn, he looked down to check her anxiously. “What about you? Did you get burned?”

“I… I think my ankle hurts a little…” she whimpered pitifully, lifting her foot ever so slightly.

Willard turned sharply toward the door and shouted, “Doctor! Doctor! Somebody get in here now!”

He didn’t even spare a single glance at the hospital bed behind him.

Daisie, who had been sitting closest to the table, hadn’t even had time to react. The boiling water had splashed directly onto her.

A sharp, searing pain spread across her skin, making her body tremble uncontrollably.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

Her sudden movement had violently torn at the surgical wound on her abdomen.

She could feel the warmth of her own blood gushing from the reopened incision, soaking through her hospital gown and the sheets beneath her.

The agony was unbearable. She curled in on herself, cold sweat breaking across her forehead, her lips drained of color.

Soon, several doctors and nurses rushed into the room.

“Mr. Grantham! Ms. Spender!”

“Hurry! Check her ankle! No scars, you hear me? Use the best medication you’ve got!”

Willard’s voice was urgent, his attention fixed entirely on Kendra despite the stinging pain in his own back.

With that, the medical staff swarmed around Kendra.

No one noticed Daisie.

No one saw the blood pooling beneath her, spreading wider and darker by the second.

Her vision began to blur.

She could hear their voices, Willard’s worried tone calling Kendra’s name again and again, but it was like listening from underwater.

She tried to open her mouth to call for help, to say anything.

But the sound that came out was barely audible, even to herself.

The footsteps faded.

The room fell completely silent.

In that stillness, Daisie felt something inside her finally shatter.

Hatred bloomed in her chest like wildfire, spreading until it filled every corner of her being.

Once she went abroad, she swore she would make Willard and Kendra pay—strip them of everything, down to their skin and bones.

And when Daisie made a promise, she always meant it.

But before she could think another thought, the pain overwhelmed her. Her body gave out, and one more time, she fell into unconsciousness.

How long she lay there, Daisie didn’t know. She was just jolted out of unconsciousness by pain.

The burn on her skin had been wrapped in a few hasty turns of gauze. It was so thin she could still feel the swollen outline of the blisters underneath. The bandage at her abdomen was tied tight and crooked; she could feel a faint seep of blood through the layers.

Just then, the door burst open.

Kendra barged in. Her cheeks were flushed, her step light and composed. There wasn’t a trace of the frailty she used to pretend to have.

“Hey there, Daisie. Feeling any better?” Kendra mocked.

Daisie’s eyes reddened. She glared at Kendra, the hatred in her chest so fierce she could barely breathe.

Kendra didn’t seem to care. She sat at the bedside, crossed one leg over the other with casual ease, and lounged as if she were visiting a friend’s home, not a hospital.

“I heard… you’re planning to leave?”

Daisie’s heart tightened.

How did she know? Was she just guessing, or had someone told her?

Leaning closer, Kendra lowered her voice. “Don’t kid yourself. You really think that old woman’s going to help you? If she dares send you away behind her son’s back, Willard will turn against her in a second.”

Daisie felt her world drop as she realized that Kendra knew. Of course, she knew.

“But,” Kendra’s tone shifted, and she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, “if you really want to go, it’s not impossible.”

Daisie kept her eyes locked on her, waiting for the catch.

“Beg me.” Kendra laughed, covering her mouth. “Kneel, apologize three times. Slap your own face while you say, ‘Kendra, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have tried to steal Willard from you. I’m nothing but a delusional bitch.’ Maybe then I’ll be in a good mood and tell Willard to kick a nobody like you out.”

Daisie gripped the sheet until her nails bit into her flesh.

Kendra scoffed. “What? You’re not willing? Looks like you still haven’t faced your situation. What do you have left? No home, your father is dead, your mother is disabled, your brother is in prison, and you’ve lost a kidney. You’re literally a complete waste.”

“If you stay in the Granthams’ place, you’ll be my punching bag, my mobile blood bank, my organ reserve. I’ll use you how I please. Willard will only help me; he won’t spare you a glance!”

She rose, walked to the window and stared out with a lightness that made Daisie’s blood boil.

“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you. Those gambling debts your brother had? I arranged that trap. Your father’s company goes bankrupt—I had people mess with it. As for your mother, the driver who hit her and put her in the hospital—I hired and paid him.”

Daisie’s breath stopped. Her pupils dilated; it felt as though all the blood in her veins froze.

Her brother… her father… her mother…

Everything—the ruin of her family—had been orchestrated by Kendra from the start?!

Her rage swallowed her sanity in an instant.

“Kendra! I’m gonna kill you!” Daisie roared.

Where it came from she didn’t know, but strength surged through her. She lunged off the bed, grabbed a handful of Kendra’s hair and yanked backward with all her might.

Caught off guard, Kendra screamed and staggered, slamming into the wall.

“Ouch! Ouch! Let go! You lunatic!” she shrieked, clawing blindly at Daisie’s face.

But pain didn’t register for Daisie; she clenched Kendra’s throat, and her eyes went white with revenge.

“It’s you! It’s all you! Give me back my parents! Give me back my brother! Give me back my kidney!”

Her wound split open, blood quickly staining the hospital gown, but she didn’t care. She only wanted one thing—to drag Kendra down to hell with her!

“Help! Willard! Help me!” Kendra cried as she thrashed, her face flushing purple.

At that moment, the ward door was flung open with a violent crash.