Karen had long considered Halley as her own, so naturally, she wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to save her. Without hesitation, she agreed to Rowan's request.

It was only later that she learned the truth. Rebecca's illness required Karen to constantly donate blood to her for survival. Each transfusion needed to be adjusted according to Rebecca’s condition, which placed a tremendous strain on Karen's body. The risks were enormous and if she wasn’t careful, she could end up losing her life.

Fearing that Halley would stop her once she found out, Rowan ordered Karen to sever all ties with the Greene Family. He threatened to kill Halley and Jason if she didn’t comply.

So, Karen pretended to have had enough of the impoverished life and, with the most humiliating words, scolded Halley and Jason. She arrogantly announced that she was going to recognize Rowan as her adoptive father and live a good life with the Swanson Family.

She would never forget Jason's reaction at that moment. He, who had always been so proud, knelt in front of her in public, begging her not to leave. His eyes, which had never shed a tear, were red and swollen from crying.

He said he would work hard to earn money, save Halley and never let Karen suffer again. All he asked was for her to stay and accompany him.

However, Karen only let out a cold laugh. She raised her hand and slapped him across the face before getting into the luxury car sent by the Swanson Family.

From that moment on, she became Rebecca’s mobile blood bag. Whenever Rebecca needed it, Karen was required to donate blood immediately.

Rowan also kept his promise and cured Halley’s illness. To ensure the transaction between him and Karen wasn’t discovered, he used an anonymous donation.

When Halley learned that Karen had abandoned her and Jason to become the Swanson Family's adopted daughter, she was heartbroken. The intense emotional pain caused her to fall ill again. She spent an entire month in bed recovering before she fully regained her health.

Jason's hatred for Karen deepened after that. He worked tirelessly to climb up the social ladder and indeed, he achieved significant success.

However, just when his career started to take off, he developed a heart disease due to overexertion and required a heart transplant. Upon learning this, Karen immediately went to get tested for a compatible match. Once successful, she proceeded to transplant a new heart into Jason, while she herself was fitted with an artificial heart with a theoretical lifespan of seven years.

Before the surgery, the doctor informed her that due to her continuous blood transfusions, her physical condition was extremely weak. She could only undergo one major surgery. If she used the artificial heart, she would only live for seven more years. After that, she would not be able to undergo another heart transplant like other people.

Karen understood the doctor's words clearly. She only had seven years left to live. Once the artificial heart failed after that, her life would come to an end.

She was worried that Jason would be heartbroken if he found out about this, so after the surgery, she left the hospital without letting him know that it was her who had given him the heart.

Seven years later, Jason finally achieved his goal and became the most powerful business tycoon in the country. His first order of business was to arrange a marriage alliance with the Swanson Family. However, the person he was marrying wasn't Karen, but Rebecca.

Karen knew that he was doing this to punish her for abandoning him, intentionally making her watch as he married someone else.

The flashback ended and Karen suppressed the indescribable pain in her heart. She forced a smile and said to Jason, “Mr. Greene, rest assured. The person you want to marry is the true daughter of the Swanson Family. I am just an adopted daughter and I can’t compare to Rebecca. Naturally, I’m not qualified to have any objections about your marriage. The reason I disappeared for three hours today is simply because I wasn’t feeling well and went to the hospital for a check-up.”

For some reason, after she finished speaking, Jason’s expression darkened even further. He impatiently threw Karen to the ground, looking down at her with disdain. “At least you know your place.”

As he spoke, he paused for a moment, his gaze falling on the bottles of alcohol on the table. A cold glint flashed in his eyes and then he spoke in a frosty tone, "But you disappeared for three whole hours today, leaving Rebecca there, alone and anxious. I can't let this slide without punishment. Drink all twenty bottles of this alcohol and I’ll consider this matter closed."

Karen froze for a moment, a flash of hurt flickering in her eyes.

Jason had always known about her allergy to alcohol. It wasn’t deadly, but even a drop could send her to the hospital. Now, he was demanding that she drink twenty bottles of strong liquor at that. His intention was clear: he wanted her to beg him, just as he had once begged her.

If it were in the past, she would have stubbornly finished all the alcohol and then spent a month in the hospital. But now, she couldn’t do that.

The doctor had warned her. She must not drink alcohol, or she wouldn’t even last five days.

She still had many things left unfinished. She couldn’t just die like this. So, she pleaded with Jason. "Mr. Greene, I was wrong today. I beg you to let me off this time. I promise this will never happen again."

Jason seemed surprised that she had given in so easily. His expression darkened even more and he almost gritted his teeth as he said, "Back then, when I begged you, you gave me a slap. Now that you're begging me, how could I not return the favor? Someone, make her drink all of it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two men stepped forward, pinning Karen down and forcing a bottle of strong liquor into her mouth.

Her artificial heart was already nearing its limit.

As soon as the alcohol slid down her throat, Karen felt a violent turmoil in her stomach. A sharp, twisting pain spread from her chest and her already fragile heart trembled forcefully, beat after beat.

She knew that this was the final burst of energy before her heart completely gave out.

She struggled desperately, but how could she possibly overpower two men? The only result was bottle after bottle being forced down her throat. She wanted to beg Jason to spare her, but she wasn’t even given a chance to speak.

Not until the last drop of alcohol was swallowed did the two men finally let go, ruthlessly throwing her to the ground.

Karen had been tortured to the point of complete exhaustion. She lay motionless on the floor like a lifeless fish, her empty gaze staring blankly ahead.

Jason’s eyes flickered with a trace of concern, but the words that left his mouth were filled with nothing but disdain.

"Do you think putting on this pitiful act will make me feel sorry for you like I used to? Stop wasting your efforts. The only thing I feel is annoyance. Someone, get her out of my sight."

The next second, Karen was dragged out of the private room and thrown into a deserted corner.

The searing pain in her heart continued, so unbearable that she didn’t even have the strength to make a phone call. All she could do was curl her body tightly into a ball to ease the agony, if only slightly.

Suddenly, footsteps approached and a sharp, mocking voice rang in her ears.

"Karen, after drinking so much, do you think your heart can still hold on?"

Karen slowly lifted her gaze and met Rebecca’s smug expression. "You knew I could die from drinking alcohol. Why didn’t you stop Jason? Aren’t you afraid that once I die, there’ll be no one left to give you blood?"

Rebecca sneered, looking at Karen as if she were a pathetic joke. "My body fully recovered a year ago. I don’t need your blood anymore. The only reason I didn’t tell you was to stop you from getting healthy enough for a heart transplant, so you wouldn’t steal Jason from me."

The words struck Karen like a bolt of lightning. She froze on the spot, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at Rebecca. "Rebecca, you’re heartless! Aren’t you afraid that Jason will find out the truth?"

"So what if he knows? Your heart can only last five more days. Do you really have the heart to let Jason live in guilt for the rest of his life after learning the truth? And what about his aging mother? If she finds out you willingly became my slave just to save her, she might just die from the shock. Can you bear that?"

Karen trembled with rage at Rebecca’s words. This woman knew exactly how much she loved Jason and his mother and how she couldn’t bear to see them in pain. That was why she dared to trample all over her without restraint.

Seeing Karen’s face contorted with pain and fury, Rebecca was beyond pleased. She crouched down, pinching Karen’s chin with a mocking smile.

"You see, Karen, the more you care, the more pathetic you are." Rebecca chuckled lightly, her tone full of disdain. "That’s not up to you..."

As she spoke, she glanced sideways at the approaching Jason before suddenly collapsing onto the ground, feigning agony.

The moment Jason saw this, his face turned pale in an instant. He rushed forward, gathering Rebecca into his arms.

"Rebecca, what’s wrong? Are you okay?"

"Jason, I feel awful... My old illness seems to be acting up again... I can’t breathe... Am I going to die?" Rebecca whimpered in distress, her voice trembling as if she were barely holding on.

Jason had heard before that Rebecca suffered from a strange illness. Her father had spent years trying to cure her, but it never completely went away and would flare up from time to time. However, he had never known the exact details of her condition.

He hadn’t expected to witness one of her episodes firsthand today.

Jason held her tightly in his arms, gently comforting her, "Rebecca, you won't die. I'll take you to the hospital right now."

Rebecca shook her head weakly and said, "It's useless. Only my sister's blood can cure me. But she drank alcohol just now and isn't feeling well. If she gives me blood now, it might harm her body."

Upon hearing this, Jason glanced at Karen. Seeing her pale face as she curled up in the corner, looking so frail that she seemed on the verge of death, his heart twisted with pain.

Noticing his reaction, Rebecca's expression darkened. She deliberately added, "Although Karen abandoned you and your mom for money back then, she did it for herself. I have no right to make her keep giving me blood..."

These words were undoubtedly a reminder of what Karen had done to Jason and his mother in the past, like a spark instantly igniting his fury. With a cold voice, he ordered, "Take her away! Send Karen to the hospital immediately and arrange for her to give Rebecca a blood transfusion!"

Karen's face changed drastically. Her eyes turned red as she pleaded with Jason. "No! I’ll die..."

She had thought that no matter how much Jason hated her, he wouldn’t go so far as to wish for her death.

But then she heard him say coldly. "What's wrong with trading your life for Rebecca's? Your living only brings pain to others."

These words were like a sharp blade stabbing deep into Karen’s heart, severing her last hope of survival.

In the end, she was forcibly taken to the hospital, where all of her blood was drained for Rebecca’s transfusion.

As Karen watched her blood being drawn away, her eyes turned red. She could feel her life slipping away, little by little.

She had thought she still had five more days to properly say goodbye to Halley and Jason. But now, it seemed she wouldn’t even get to see them one last time.

Watching smugly from the side, Rebecca leaned in and whispered, "Karen, just die in peace. I’ll take good care of Jason and his mother for you."

Karen wanted to refute her, but she didn’t even have the strength to open her mouth. She could only watch helplessly as Rebecca painted a vivid picture of her future life with Jason.

As the last drop of blood was drained from her body, Karen’s artificial heart completely stopped beating and her consciousness faded away.

Was she really going to die?

Karen had a dream.

She dreamt of the day she turned eighteen, the day Jason confessed to her.

Back then, they were both still young and innocent. Jason stood in front of her, holding a bouquet of chamomile, her favorite flowers. He was nervous and shy, his voice trembling as he clumsily confessed the feelings he had kept hidden for so long.

Finally, he looked at her with earnest eyes and asked, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Karen smiled brightly and threw herself into Jason’s embrace, saying she was willing to be his girlfriend.

Jason was so excited that he held her tightly, then carefully placed a diamond necklace around her neck. It was a gift he had saved up for through his part-time jobs. He told her that this was their symbol of love and that no matter what happened in the future, as long as she wore this necklace, he would always forgive her.

Karen laughed, calling him childish, but in her heart, she cherished the necklace deeply. She vowed to stay by Jason’s side forever, never leaving him, never abandoning him.

But just as the beautiful scene was about to end with their kiss, everything suddenly froze. In the next moment, the world shifted and Karen felt herself plunging into a dark abyss.

The shadows of her past emerged all around her, each one a reminder of the pain she had endured over the years. She saw herself abandoning Jason and his mother, the memory of that fateful choice playing over and over. She relived the torment and humiliation she suffered in the Swanson Family, treated like a mere dog. And then came Jason’s return, successful, powerful and ruthless, repaying her with endless cruelty.

These agonizing memories clawed at her like unseen hands, dragging her deeper into the darkness. Fear consumed her, yet there was no escape.

And the necklace Jason had once given her, the symbol of his love and forgiveness, had long been locked away in a metal box by her past self, buried forever, never to see the light of day.

Karen was startled awake by the terrifying scenes in her dream. She shot up from the hospital bed, gasping for breath. When her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she saw she was still in the same place as before she lost consciousness. It took her a moment to process until she realized she was still alive.

Before she could react further, Rebecca waltzed into the room, her expression smug and condescending, looking down at her like she was nothing more than an ant.

"Aren’t you curious why you’re still alive?" Rebecca sneered. "Because I changed my mind. I decided I didn’t want you to die so easily. I want you to be alive to personally witness me marrying the man you love the most, while you can do absolutely nothing about it."

She deliberately paused, watching the color drain from Karen’s face before adding, "Jason and I have already set the wedding date. It’s in five days. Coincidentally, it was the exact day your heart is supposed to fail completely. When that day comes, make sure to watch closely. Consider it my final gift to you before you die."

Karen's heart clenched in pain. Just as she was about to say something, the door was suddenly pushed open by Jason.

He seemed to have overheard part of the conversation, his brows furrowed deeply with a rare trace of concern in his eyes. His voice was tense as he asked, "What do you mean by a ‘final gift before you die’? Karen, are you dying?"