I hung up and went straight to the hospital to cancel the kidney-donation paperwork.

The doctor told me the donor had to sign the revocation. I had seven days — seven days to make Vanessa sign the withdrawal and remove the threat to my life.

From the hospital I went to a law firm to have a lawyer draw up divorce papers.

“Oh, ma’am,” the clerk said, peering at the records on the screen, “your file shows you are unmarried. You and Mr. Liam Foster are not listed as spouses.”

Even after the shock I’d just been through, my brain blanked for a second.

Unmarried? But Liam and I had registered a marriage five years ago.

At the time I had just stepped away from the Bennett family. As an heir I needed to hide my identity and complete certain missions to grow stronger. I got sick soon after — I remember meeting Liam outside the hospital. He courted me feverishly; he said he loved me at first sight. We fell in love and were married quickly. Until today I’d believed he loved me back the way I loved him.

I asked the clerk to check Liam’s marital status again.

He looked at me with suspicion. “Liam Foster’s spouse is listed as Vanessa Cole — they were married five years ago.”

I laughed then, a sound that broke into bitter tears.

It was all fake from the beginning. The love was fake, the marriage certificate a sham. The only thing real was the suffering — and the five children I had lost.

I tore the counterfeit marriage certificate to pieces and left the law office reeling.

Back at the villa I dragged out a suitcase from the back of the closet. My fingers trembled but I forced myself to move — if I stopped, if I let myself feel, the truth would swallow me whole.

I shoved clothes into the case mechanically. When I picked up a canary-yellow dress, my hand froze.

Liam had taken me shopping for that dress when I lost my third child. He’d said bright colors would bring us luck. My throat closed and tears rose; I blinked them away hard.

“Clara?”

Liam’s voice came from behind me, threaded with a faint alertness. “You’re home? What are you doing?”

I snapped the suitcase shut and forced a nasty smile. “Just sorting out seasonal clothes,” I said, trying to sound casual.

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the slightly messy room and the open wardrobe. He was about to speak when another voice slithered in like a snake.

“Hey, Clara.”

Vanessa walked in with him.

My gaze landed on her without permission.My five children, whose bone marrow flowed within her, sustaining her life. The thought of it tore at me — my fingertips went numb and I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms.

I stayed silent. I was afraid that if I spoke, I would scream and destroy everything.

“Clara,” Liam said with repulsive entitlement, “Vanessa is pregnant and needs a more comfortable environment. Our house is quiet, the master bedroom is larger and has better light — it’ll be better for her recovery. You’ll move to the guest room starting today.”

I stared at him in disbelief, then at Vanessa with that small, satisfied smile. They were so brazen — pushing in, taking my last sanctuary.

Vanessa stepped forward and casually rested a hand on her not-yet-prominent belly, feigning contrition with the tiniest edge of triumph. “Only temporarily, Clara. After I have the baby I’ll give it back. You understand me better than anyone, don’t you? Pregnant women need the best care.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So?”

Her smile froze, surprise flickered across her face, then she quickly replaced it with an acting pout. Her lower lip trembled. “Clara, I thought… I thought you’d be understanding. After everything we’ve been through…”

“Understanding.” The word felt like a branding iron.

She had taken my children’s marrow. Now she and my husband were trying to take my kidney, my home, even my last refuge.

“Clara!” Liam’s voice snapped, accusatory. “Look at you. She’s your friend. She’s pregnant and needs the best environment. This jealous, hateful face you’re making is sickening.”

I turned to him slowly and let a cold smile curve my mouth. “Jealous?” I repeated. “Jealous of what?”

His gaze flickered. “Because she can carry a pregnancy when you —” He cut himself off, but the implication stung like venom. Because I lost my children. Because he had killed them.

I drew a breath and suppressed the rising violence in my chest. “Liam,” I said, letting my eyes trace them both, “since you’re so eager to make room for her… is this baby yours?”

The air went still.

Liam’s jaw tightened. Vanessa widened her eyes in an exaggerated hurt.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” he snapped. “Of course not.”

“Is that so?” I raised my brow. “Then why are you more invested in this baby than the father might be? Why would you insist on kicking your wife out of her own bedroom?”

“She’s alone, Clara. She’s pregnant. What kind of monster would be petty about a room right now?” he almost howled.

What kind of monster kills his five children? The question hung in my mind, unspoken.

I swallowed the words back down. I stopped looking at him, zipped my suitcase with a harsh sound, and said, voice shaking, “…Fine.”

I was already packing. I didn’t want to spend another second in this room full of betrayal.

He looked relieved, as if a problem had been solved.

“Liam?” Vanessa prompted.

He started to walk away.

“Wait, Liam.” I called calmly and picked up a folder that had been on my bedside table. “There’s one document I need you to sign.”

He scowled impatiently. “Clara, I don’t have time—”

“It’s just our fifth-anniversary gift,” I cut in, soft, and handed him the paper and a pen. “Just sign here. It’ll be quick.”

He hesitated, then Vanessa called his name. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, grabbed the pen, and scribbled his signature where I pointed without looking.

I watched his final stroke with no expression while my heart hammered in my chest.

In that moment I was oddly grateful they’d already registered a marriage —After all, it would be much easier to trick Liam into signing the agreement to revoke the donation.

He left without a backward glance for the woman who’d taken my room. The door closed.

I immediately called my lawyer, my voice steady and cold: I would keep the revocation paperwork with me and wait until Vanessa was in surgery and I was out of the city before I handed it to the hospital.

Then I called Liam’s business partners. Using the Bennett name, I announced sanctions: in seven days, companies tied to Liam would stop cooperating with him.

Seven days. I was going to make sure the rest of his world began to crumble.

Over the next few days I split my time between preparing to leave and going through the paperwork my family had sent.

I should have left immediately, but I wanted to bring my five lost children home with me.

Because they were late-term losses, each child had been cremated; the tiny urns were at the cemetery and — according to procedure — wouldn’t be released until six days later. I didn’t want to risk doing anything that might draw Liam’s attention. My trial period would end in a few days; nothing could go wrong in that time.

I put the signed revocation agreement into the safe.

Then I took out a glass jar filled with ashes. When Liam courted me he once wrote me ninety-nine love letters — I burned them all, and the ashes just filled that jar.

I pulled our photos from the treasured album and set them on fire too.

I would erase every trace of myself from this house.

The flames roared, then slowly died down, just like our love. With every handful of ash I added, my disappointment grew heavier. When the jar was full, it meant my disappointment was full too.

When Liam came home he walked into the study and caught sight of the smoke. The smell of burning filled the house; it was impossible not to notice. He frowned. “What are you burning?” he asked.

I turned to block his view and said lightly, “Just some waste paper.”

His frown deepened. He glimpsed small fragments — they looked like photos — and took a step forward to see.

Panic flared inside me; I was about to invent a story to avoid explanations when a woman’s weak sobbing came from outside the door.

Liam bolted from the room.

Before I could gather myself, he rushed back in, grabbed my hand and shoved me against the table. His palm pushed into the still-warm ash pile; the heat made me flinch. My hip struck the corner of the table — a sharp, spreading pain bloomed across my lower back.

I tried to lift my head. Liam’s eyes were bloodshot, hungrily furious. He squeezed my wrist until my knuckles went white. “Tell me! Did you drug Vanessa?!” he demanded.

Pain stole my breath; my wrist felt like it would snap. “What are you talking about? I’ve never even met her!” I gasped.

“Never met her?” He shoved me to the floor. I hit the cold tile hard; the table leg knocked into my lower back and the world swam black at the edges. He glared down at me, disgust in every syllable. “She started bleeding this morning — almost had a miscarriage. Someone gave her an abortifacient. Who else could it be besides you? You’re jealous that she’s pregnant and you want to ruin her!”

“Jealous?” I pushed myself up on my elbows; hot tears slid down my face, not from the pain but because his words were knives. “Liam, do you forget our five children? You know what it’s like to lose a child. How could I ever hurt a pregnant woman?”

“Don’t you dare bring up those children!” he snapped, kicking a chair so it clattered over. “If you hadn’t been sick, those kids wouldn’t have died! Now you see Vanessa might be carrying my child and you’re jealous — you want to destroy her, right?”

“I didn’t!” I shouted, chest heaving. “Have you even seen her prenatal record? Are you sure she’s pregnant? She hasn’t had one proper check-up. What proof do you have that this is your child?”

At that moment, footsteps came to the doorway. Vanessa stood there, clutching her belly, pale, red-rimmed eyes pleading. She rushed to Liam, grabbing his arm. “Liam, don’t be angry. Maybe it was my fault — I must have been careless. It’s not my sister’s doing…”

“Not her doing?” Liam immediately softened and shielded Vanessa with his body, holding her waist like a sacred thing, but his glare cut back to me like a blade. “Look how kind Vanessa is — she still speaks up for you! And you? All you do is spread jealousy and sabotage. What else are you good for?”

I watched Vanessa’s eyes peeking from behind Liam. There was no panic there — only a faint, almost imperceptible triumph. Suddenly the pieces clicked: she wasn’t pregnant at all. This whole thing was her trap.

“Vanessa,” I said, stepping forward and pinning her with my gaze, each word deliberate, “are you willing to go to the hospital with me right now for a check? Let’s see if you’re actually pregnant.”

Vanessa’s face changed in an instant. She clutched Liam’s shirt and sobbed, voice breaking, “Sister, how can you force me? I just had a miscarriage; I’m still weak…”

“Weak?” I let out a cold laugh and pushed myself to stand, the back of my hand pressed to my bruising hip. Pain made me wince. “If you were truly pregnant and had just miscarried, why won’t you go to the hospital? Liam, wake up. She’s lying to you.”

But Liam believed I was trying to corner Vanessa. He scooped her up into his arms and turned toward the door. At the threshold he paused and, with his back to me, said, “Consider this a warning: from now on you are not to come within a foot of Vanessa. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you.”

I watched their retreating figures and felt a bitter, absurd amusement. Five years of my love, given away to the dog.

I woke up again to find myself lying in my familiar bed, my lower back burning with pain.

Liam sat by the bed. Seeing me awake, a flicker of guilt crossed his eyes. He explained, “Clara, you’re awake? I was in such a rush that day. I’m sorry, don’t be angry with me…”

I closed my eyes, turning my head away, not wanting to give him even a glance.

What was there to explain? I knew the truth all too well: he simply didn’t trust me, didn’t love me.

Once upon a time, no matter where I was, no matter how far away I was, he would always find me immediately and protect me.

But now he’s changed.

His heart belongs only to the woman who drained the marrow from my five children.

During my recovery, Liam seemed to want to make amends, often staying by my side, but I remained silent.

Soon, Vanessa’s so-called banquet arrived, and Liam insisted I attend.

Liam hosted a grand banquet at the villa, with guests in droves; even his parents had come all the way from the old house.

Watching Liam's parents shower Vanessa with such warmth and care, I couldn't help but recall the first time Liam took me to meet his parents.

Back then, when Liam's parents learned I was an "orphan from the slums," their smiles vanished instantly, their attitude turning cold and indifferent, as if I were a complete stranger. The meal was incredibly oppressive.

The contrast now is stark and ironic.

At the banquet, Liam presented Vanessa with a set of priceless, rare pink diamond jewelry.

The gift Liam's parents gave him was a jade pendant of exceptional quality. Liam's mother, holding Vanessa's hand, said affectionately, "Vanessa, this is a family heirloom passed down from our Foster family to our daughter-in-law. Today, we're giving it to you."

Vanessa feigned surprise and declined, but Liam's mother glanced coldly at me standing in the corner, her voice just loud enough for everyone around to hear: "In our hearts, we've long considered you our own daughter-in-law. Some people are simply not good enough for our Liam."

Liam, noticing my dejected mood, leaned close to my ear and whispered comfortingly, "Clara, don't overthink it. My parents are old-fashioned; they don't know how good you are. You're the only one in my heart, really."

I sneered inwardly. Only me?

Then when he killed five of us children for Vanessa, didn't he think of "only me"?

I said nothing, only feeling the air in the room was suffocating.

Seeing my pale face, Liam asked softly, "Are you a little cold? I'll go upstairs and get you a shawl."

He had barely left when Vanessa suddenly exclaimed from the center of the banquet hall, "Ah! My jade pendant! The heirloom Aunt Liam just gave me is gone!"

The whole room erupted in commotion!

At that moment, one of Vanessa's best friends jumped out, pointing at me and shrilly, "I just saw Clara sneaking around Vanessa! She must have stolen it!"

Another chimed in, "Yes! We saw it too! She's definitely jealous that Vanessa is pregnant with Liam's child and is deliberately causing trouble!"

As she spoke, Vanessa's best friend, accompanied by several women, rushed forward, attempting to forcibly search me!

"What are you doing! Get away!"

I was terrified and furious, struggling desperately, but how could one person fight against several?

Under everyone's watchful eyes, my dress was roughly torn open; humiliation and anger made me tremble!

Sure enough, someone had "felt" the cold jade pendant from the lining of my underwear!

"She really stole it!" A gasp and scornful whispers erupted from the crowd.

Liam's parents, their faces ashen, demanded sharply, "Clara! We, the Foster family, have treated you well. Why did you steal?! Someone from such a poor background like you is bound to be dishonest!"

I clutched my torn clothes, my nails digging deep into my palms, but my voice remained unusually calm: "I didn't steal it."

"You're still trying to deny it!" Vanessa suddenly stepped forward, her eyes red-rimmed, her hand gently touching her lower abdomen. "Clara, I know you're upset, but this pendant means a lot to me. It's a token of Liam's mother's affection… Even if you hate me, you can't joke about a child like this."

Her words, seemingly gentle, actually confirmed my jealousy of her pregnancy and my deliberate sabotage.

I couldn't bear it any longer and instinctively took a step back, trying to avoid her insincere gaze.

Unexpectedly, Vanessa seemed to have been pushed by me, staggering backward and knocking over a stack of champagne glasses!

Crash—!

The sound of shattering glass and a woman's scream rang out simultaneously! Vanessa landed amidst the broken glass, her skirt instantly torn in several places, blood seeping from her exposed calf. She clutched her stomach and wailed, "My baby! Will my baby be alright?!"

"Vanessa!" Liam rushed downstairs with a shawl, his face changing drastically upon seeing the scene. He immediately rushed over, picked her up, and turned to glare at me, "Clara! What are you trying to do?!"