Astrid sneered and waved her hand, signaling for the palace maids to leave the Wintershade Palace. She then approached Sabrina, looking down at her with disdain.

“Fool! I only befriended you to get close to Damien! In truth, I’ve loathed you all along!” Astrid admitted the truth.

She gritted her teeth, her expression fierce as she met Sabrina’s horrified gaze.

“But to him, you are the lowest of the low, the most despised. You mean nothing compared to anyone else,” Astrid continued to mock. “But I’m different. I’ve loved him for years, entered the palace for him and spied on His Majesty for him. In short, I am important to him!”

“Stop talking! Shut up!” A thousand needles pierced Sabrina’s heart.

With a sneer, Astrid stated, “Oh poor thing! Did I mention that Damien is actually on his way here? You’re just his plaything to be used and humiliated as he pleases. Do you think if we both got hurt, he’d feel more sorry for you or for me?”

Upon understanding what Astrid meant, Sabrina was surrounded with fear and an overwhelming sense of danger surged.

As Astrid brandished the golden hairpin and aimed it at her chest, Sabrina instinctively tried to stop her.

But Astrid stumbled, falling against her and seizing her hand.

With a fierce thrust, she drove the hairpin toward Astrid's neck. Blood spurted out violently.

Outside the Wintershade Palace, a palace maid’s scream pierced the air, echoing around.

“Help! Palace maid Sabrina has attacked Consort Smith! Someone, come quickly!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Sabrina’s heart sank as she realized she had walked into a trap.

Sabrina tried to stop Astrid, but Astrid seemed determined to use the situation to provoke Damien further.

As Astrid screamed in agony, Sabrina’s heart raced. At that moment, Damien burst through the palace gates, his eyes widening in shock at the chaotic scene before him.

For an instant, Astrid collapsed onto Sabrina, her neck bleeding heavily from the scratch made by the golden hairpin, her groans of pain filling the air.

Witnessing Astrid's plan, Sabrina's face turned pale, desperately trying to fling the golden hairpin away.

“Sabrina!” Damien’s voice thundered. “You really meant to kill someone? Just like your mother; bold and vicious!”

When Damien arrived, he found Sabrina sprawled on a low couch, her face blank and resigned. She knew he wouldn’t let this go and expected punishment, possibly even to the point of death.

Terror gripped Sabrina’s heart as Damien approached. Out of nowhere, Damien did a brutal kick to her chest; he sent her stretched out. She flew through the air, hit a pillar with a sharp crack and fell hard to the ground.

In agony, she lay there, struggling to move, feeling as though her ribs might shatter into pieces any minute.

The intense pain made her vision go dark and she lost consciousness for a moment, only to be jolted awake by the agony.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Damien crouching beside Astrid, his face etched with worry as he held her neck.

“How is she? Is it serious? Call the doctor now! What are you all standing around for?!”

Astrid held the wound on her neck, gasping for breath, but her smile was joyful and satisfied, with only Damien's handsome face in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Damien. I will do anything for you. I’m willing to die for you if it helps,” Astrid said.

Damien half-knelt, holding Astrid close. His face was set in worry as he ripped off his sleeve to cover her wound.

“Don’t talk like that; you’re not going to die,” Damien assured.

The palace maids hurried to summon the imperial physician, but in the chaos, Sabrina was ignored. As she was neglected, sadness washed over Sabrina.

She lay on the ground, wracked with pain and unable to move. Despite her struggle to survive, no one paid her any attention. Damien ignored her completely and the palace maids relished her suffering as part of her punishment.

In her agony, Sabrina could only watch as Damien and Astrid clung to each other. They were lost in their world, leaving Sabrina feeling like an outsider in her misery.

The clamor of voices reached her ears. A palace maid called out, “The imperial physician has arrived! The imperial physician is here! Quickly, let him attend to her!”

Damien threatened fiercely, “What about Noble Consort Smith? Hurry and treat her! If you can’t save her, I’ll have your head!”

Fortunately, the imperial physician reassured him, “Lord Steele, Noble Consort Smith will be fine. We were lucky to rescue her in time. She only suffered flesh wounds. With immediate care, there's no danger out of it.”

“It’s not that I saved her in time; it’s that the person who harmed her didn’t get the chance to finish the job!” Damien's fury grew and Sabrina heard his heavy footsteps approaching, growing louder with each step. “You vile creature! What else do you have to say for yourself?”

Still, Sabrina was puzzled and couldn’t decide which pain the worst felt was worse. It was the pain from her injuries or the aching bitterness in her heart. She managed a weak, painful smile, struggling to mask her suffering.

Her hand throbbed so intensely that she could barely feel it and she suspected her fingers were broken. The sharp pain in her chest hinted at a possible rib fracture. She dared not breathe deeply, her vision dimming to black.

"I said I didn't mean to hurt her. I claimed she was scheming against me. Would you believe me now?” She explained that she wanted her name to be cleared from accusation.

Meanwhile, a tall figure approached, creating a dark shadow over her.

Sabrina lifted her head with the last of her strength, her gaze filled with desperate hope as she peered into the silhouette.

"Please," she pleaded, "please believe me. She’s lying. She wants to hurt me…”

In the end, Damien dared not to listen to her pleas.

Instead, Damien roared, “The palace maid Sabrina has been accused of murdering the noble consort, refuses to confess and is now sentenced to the Celestial Prison!”

The whip cracked through the dungeon and Sabrina's wounded body flinched, too weak to dodge the pain.

The lash left deep marks and blood trickled from her cuts.

Just as she was about to pass out, the guard cursed and threw a bucket of cold water on her, forcing her awake and adding to her misery.

“AH!”

Salted water splashed over her raw wounds, the burning pain overwhelming Sabrina, forcing a scream from her throat as she opened her eyes.

Everything around her was a blur; shadows emerged and swayed in the dim light.

"Guilty woman Sabrina! Why don’t you plead guilty? Why did you plot to harm the Noble Consort Smith?" someone shouted angrily, but Sabrina’s mind was too dull to make sense of it.

She was freezing, weak and in so much pain that it felt like someone was driving nails into her temples.

"I didn’t harm her," Sabrina managed to whisper, her voice barely audible. "I need to see Damien. Bring him to me!”

The jailer smirked, saying, “Sabrina, do you still believe you're the cherished daughter of the Steele Family? Do you really think you can summon Lord Steele just like that?”

Sabrina's eyes widened in disbelief and she retorted, “What?”

“What do you mean?” she stammered.

“To tell you the truth, you’re never leaving this prison,” the jailer hissed. “Consort Smith arranged for us to kill you right here. The only reason you’re still breathing is that she wants you to suffer first.”

“She wants us to torture you to death,” he added with a twisted grin.

Sabrina clenched her teeth, trying to stay strong, but despair slowly crept into her heart.

She had never feared anything before, but now, with a life growing inside her, she couldn't let anything happen to her child.

That same night, Damien returned to the Steele Mansion, restless and unable to sleep.

He tossed and turned in bed, the faint scent of peony lingering in the air. It took him a moment to realize Sabrina’s scent haunted his thoughts. He had been too bothered by him.

This bed had witnessed countless moments of passion and pain in the dead of night.

Damien shut his eyes in frustration but sat up abruptly within moments and called for his attendants.

"What's Sabrina's condition in Celestial Prison?" he asked, wanting to know whether she was still alive.

The attendant hesitated, clearly uneasy, before responding, "She's endured relentless torture but still denies trying to harm Consort Smith. I’ve heard she’s had a high fever since being imprisoned and it’s unlikely she’ll survive much longer. It is expected that she'll die from pain.”

"Who gave the order to torture her?" Damien asked in confusion, knowing he hadn't given any orders.

With that, Damien kicked over the low couch, surrounded with furiousness. He couldn't bear the thought that Sabrina would die in torture.

Without a second thought, he threw on his coat over his nightgown and stormed out, heading straight for the Celestial Prison.

In Celestial Prison, the air was thick, cold and dark.

Stained black by years of blood, the sticky ground smelled terrible. Mice, insects and cockroaches crawled over the filth.

The small, dark cell was strewn with dirty straw and the remains of forgotten prisoners lay motionless on the ground.

As the jailer dragged out Sabrina, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. She had accepted his fate and if it meant she would be in another round of beating, then she had no choice but to be on it.

Tied to the execution rack, Sabrina stared blankly, her mind drifting back to events from many years ago.

Sabrina wanted to cry her heart out but couldn't release it.

As long as Sabrina could uncover the evidence that could clear out her mother's name, perhaps Damien would stop loathing her. His perspective might change on her.

But as Sabrina drifted into these thoughts, a sharp pain lingered her back to reality.

She suddenly sensed that being tied to the execution rack felt different today, not just as a form of torture, but more like it could kill her.

"Strangle her to death!" someone ordered. "Strangle her and claim she died while struggling. Move quickly before it's too late!"

Sabrina was already dying. She could do nothing but cry out, "No, I don't want to die."

Just as she seemed about to give in, a surge of strength erupted within her, causing the execution rack to creak and tremble.

The guards struggled to secure the noose around her neck. Frustrated and furious, they drew a knife and said, "Just stab her to death.”

At the same time, a loud shout came from outside Celestial Prison, “You dare to do it?!”