The following day, Beatrice went to the laboratory by herself.

The heavy door separated her from the research work she had spent half her life on.

She still remembered that after she married Hendrix, everyone believed that as the Elliott family’s daughter, after the marriage arrangement, she only needed to look after Hendrix well.

Even her parents believed that this was her only duty, to properly become a good Mrs. Hawkins.

But Hendrix respected the path she chose.

She wanted to keep doing medical research, so Hendrix built a laboratory for her.

No matter what high-level equipment she wanted, Hendrix used his connections to get it for her.

Other people mocked her and said she did not deserve those advanced instruments, but Hendrix said, “My wife, what does she not deserve?”

Because of that, more people believed that Hendrix cared deeply for his wife.

Later, after the real daughter Liora returned, Hendrix slowly started treating her more specially.

Liora said laboratory work was dangerous and did not like that Beatrice brought risky materials back home.

After that, Hendrix quietly stopped all the research projects that had originally been done there.

She pleaded with Hendrix. That was the most important part of her work life, but Hendrix still did not agree to let her continue the research.

“Liora is living with us now. What if your experiments hurt her?”

“I can’t let any danger stay around me. Besides, I was the one who gave you this laboratory, so I can also take it away whenever I want.”

Leaving this place now also became part of Beatrice’s dream to continue her career and escape from these limits.

While she was lost in her thoughts, the sound of organized footsteps suddenly came from the entrance.

“Ma’am, sir wants to meet you. Please come back right away!”

What happened? Why did so many bodyguards suddenly come here together?

Beatrice became slightly nervous. She thought her choice had been found out, and she instinctively felt worried and wanted to refuse.

“I’m not going back now!”

The bodyguards she turned down looked at one another before walking toward her.

“Please forgive us, Ma’am.”

They held her arms and shoulders and forcefully placed her inside the nanny car.

Beatrice bit her lips and looked coldly at them as she warned them strictly.

“No matter what, I’m still the Elliott family’s daughter and your young miss. Aren’t you afraid the family will punish you for treating me this way?”

One of the bodyguards answered coldly.

“This is Sir’s command. No matter what happens, we have to bring you back! Even if you are the Elliott family’s young lady, now that the real daughter has returned, you are only an adopted daughter.”

Inside the car, Beatrice’s hands were already free. She held back her shaking and lifted her hand to hit the bodyguard.

“Even then, it’s still not your place to speak! You should remember who you are!”

The man covered his face and lowered his head, not daring to say another word.

Beatrice did not feel any better. Her heart hurt heavily and felt numb, as if many needles were stabbing into it.

She was brought back home.

Inside the living room, Hendrix was smoking.

The room was covered in smoke, and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts and ash. Beatrice could not stop herself from coughing.

She was very sensitive to cigarette smoke. In the past, Hendrix tried his best to control his smoking so she would not feel uncomfortable. Now, he did not try to hide it anymore.

Beatrice noticed his anger, but she did not know why he was upset.

Hendrix stared at Beatrice, his questioning voice dark and cold.

“So you still know how to come back?”

“Do you know what you’ve done yourself?”

Beatrice felt completely lost, though she slowly realized it might have something to do with Liora.

Watching her look innocent, the anger in Hendrix’s eyes grew stronger.

“Just because I arranged for your doctor to examine Liora, you let your doctor hurt her?”

“Do you know he touched Liora inappropriately?!”

Beatrice opened her eyes wide. The shock made her unable to respond, and she kept shaking her head again and again.

“That’s not possible!”

This doctor had a strong reputation both in the country and abroad. She had invited him all these years. There must be some misunderstanding here!

Just then, Liora appeared near the staircase.

She wore Hendrix’s white shirt. Under the oversized shirt, several pale purple marks could be seen.

Her soft face was full of fear and panic.

“Sister, I-I really won’t fight with you over anything anymore, alright? Please don’t arrange a doctor like this again!”

Liora looked at Beatrice sadly and helplessly.

Hendrix had already gotten up from the couch. He walked toward Liora near the stairs.

His fingers brushed her hair away, showing the red handprint on her face.

Liora leaned into Hendrix’s arms and cried.

“The doctor who mistreated me even laughed at me for coming from the countryside. He said someone ordered him to treat me this way. As long as he did this to me, Mr. Hawkins would stop liking me and wouldn’t keep me beside him anymore.”

“Sister, after I returned, you’ve always cared for me well. I know you wouldn’t ask him to hurt me.”

When Hendrix heard this, the coldness in his eyes grew heavier as he looked toward Beatrice nearby.

“Beatrice, maybe you dislike Liora, but don’t forget, if your identities were never swapped, then the woman who married me would have been Liora!”

“What right does a beneficiary like you have to hurt Liora?”

“I gave in again and again, but instead it only let you hurt Liora more deeply!”

Beatrice slowly breathed in. Facing such blame and suspicion without any evidence, she would never admit to it.

“Hendrix, if the doctor truly did those things, then you should call the police first and let the law deal with him instead of blaming me!”

“With your power, you could even shoot him or use countless ways to force him to tell the truth instead of accusing me like this!”

As soon as Liora heard her words, she cried even more painfully.

“Sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I should have quietly endured everything. Sorry, sister!”

Liora’s tears seemed to make Hendrix lose control. He immediately lifted Liora into his arms, his eyes cold and frightening as he looked at Beatrice.

“I’ll calm Liora down first. After she feels better, I’ll speak with you again!”

After saying that, he carried Liora upstairs.

Beatrice remained standing in the middle of the living room, only feeling a deep coldness.

After resting for a long while, she finally went back to her room.

As she returned to her room and passed by Hendrix’s bedroom, she saw the scene through the small gap in the door.

Hendrix pinned Liora onto the bed, his hand moving under Liora’s shirt as it slowly moved around. Liora’s face was red with excitement.

So this was the comfort Hendrix talked about?

Beatrice forced herself to stay calm while walking past the bedroom door, but her heart still hurt uncontrollably.

Beatrice returned to her room and kept trying to calm herself down.

There were still five days left before the divorce officially became valid. As long as she got her research data within those five days, she could completely leave this place.

After some time had passed, Hendrix finally calmed Liora down and asked the servants to call Beatrice to the study to talk.

Only after Beatrice entered the study did she notice that, at some point, it had become full of signs left behind by Liora.

There were her paintings, the jewelry she wore, along with different snacks and ripped wrappers.

Even menstrual products were left scattered around.

But when Liora was not there, it was not like this.

Hendrix always believed the study was the most important place for discussing work, and nobody was allowed to disturb it. Even Beatrice, as Mrs. Hawkins, was never allowed to touch the study carelessly.

Back then, Beatrice only placed a small doll inside the study because she wanted the room to feel less cold and hoped to warm Hendrix a little, yet Hendrix still warned her about it.

“This is a place for discussing important work. Are we supposed to put childish things here and weaken our image? Beatrice, you really are too immature!”

But when it came to Liora, all of this became acceptable.

Seeing Beatrice standing there in a daze, Hendrix angrily threw a stack of confessions at her.

The papers were scattered everywhere. Beatrice only managed to catch one page.

Written on it was the doctor’s confession.

[Mrs. Hawkins ordered me to teach Miss Liora a lesson. She wanted Miss Liora to leave this house. I truly had no choice. I am powerless and unimportant, so I could only obey Mrs. Hawkins’s orders.]

Beatrice became so angry that her face turned red.

“This is a false accusation! Hendrix, is this the interrogation method you were once so proud of?”

Hendrix tapped the wooden box on the table, signaling for Beatrice to open it.

Beatrice opened the box. Inside was one of the doctor’s cut fingers.

Caught off guard, she became so scared that she screamed.

“No matter what, this finger touched Liora first, so I punished him. This matter ends here!”

After saying that, Hendrix paused and looked at Beatrice again.

“I will not take away your position as Mrs. Hawkins, but I still need to comfort Liora about this matter.”

“If you want to keep your place as Mrs. Hawkins, then from now on, get rid of those cruel thoughts!”

Beatrice no longer even had the energy to defend herself. She forced herself to stay calm.

She wanted to leave this place, to leave completely!

She could hardly wait to get the data from the laboratory.

She held back her fear and tried her best to stop her voice from shaking.

“About going to the laboratory tomorrow...”

Hendrix cut off her words.

“Move it back by another two days. Anyway, even if these research projects lose all profit, or mistakes cause huge compensation, the Hawkins family can still cover the losses for you.”

“Liora’s mood has become very bad. I want to bring her to the auction house so she can relax.”

Beatrice clenched her teeth, not wanting Hendrix to notice anything strange.

Hendrix, who once respected her work, now spoke about her career so casually because of Liora.

“Okay.”

Beatrice did not know how she managed to walk out of the study.

What happened today quickly spread through the servants.

Many people saw Hendrix harshly scold Beatrice just to comfort Liora. Before leaving, he even stayed in the room to act closely with Liora. Because of this, everyone mocked the image Beatrice had worked so hard to protect.

“A fake young lady will always be fake. How can a man like President Hawkins choose a replacement?”

“In the past, she always gave us orders and made us do things for her. Soon, she probably won’t even remain the lady of this house anymore!”

Hendrix did not defend Beatrice, nor did he stop the servants from gossiping.

Instead, Beatrice’s adoptive mother, the madam of the Elliott family, called her.

“Beatrice, if you really cannot keep Mr. Hawkins by your side, then why not give him back to your younger sister?”

“Since your last miscarriage, you still haven’t shown any signs of becoming pregnant again. If you cannot give birth to the oldest son, then even if you continue keeping this title in name only, you still cannot protect the long-term cooperation between the two families.”

Beatrice silently held the phone tighter.

That previous miscarriage was not caused naturally by her body. Liora had done something to the food.

But later, she failed to find evidence and could only let the matter end like that.

Instead, Hendrix accused her of always imagining Liora as a terrible person, saying it reflected the darkness inside her own heart.

“Beatrice, are you listening to me or not? Return Mr. Hawkins to your younger sister!”

Her mother’s voice from the other end of the call still kept stressing those words.

She answered with an “hmm,” and hung up the phone.

From the start until the end, she was only a piece in the marriage arrangement between the two powerful families. Her body and ability to have children were her greatest worth. Sadly, she realized it too late and foolishly believed that she could find real love.

Still, her adoptive mother’s words matched exactly with what she already planned to do. She could finally do it openly, then leave this place!

During these past few days, Hendrix stayed beside Liora to comfort her, while Beatrice packed away the things she no longer wished to keep.

Many expensive luxury bags would become useless to her after she joined the confidential medical project.

Most importantly, Hendrix had given all of them to her. She no longer wanted to look at them.

The servant thought Beatrice was going to be chased out, so they assumed she was nervously selling her valuables to raise money. In private, they laughed at how sad her situation looked.

The matter slowly reached Hendrix.

“What are you doing?”

Beatrice did not bother looking up.

“I only feel I won’t be using them anymore, so I decided to sell them.”

Hendrix was unhappy with how she acted and insisted on fixing her behavior.

Since she was his wife, looking rich and eye-catching also represented his image.

So the auction that was originally for accompanying Liora now had Beatrice attending too.

“This is one of the events for the family. Wear the most luxurious clothes possible.”

He especially reminded her and ordered the butler to bring a gown created by a famous designer.

The gems added to the dress were all real. It looked extremely gorgeous!

The nearby servants who secretly watched all quickly changed their earlier attitude and showed jealous looks.

Beatrice also paused for a moment. Her heart became a little soft.

Did Hendrix hear the gossip from the servants, so he purposely came to help her?

“Okay, I’ll wear it and attend.”

On the auction day, Beatrice was putting on makeup while telling the servants to bring her dress.

But after the servant entered the cloakroom, she did not return for a long while.

Beatrice became slightly unhappy and could only go there herself.

At this time, inside the cloakroom packed with costly jewelry and handmade clothing, Liora was changing clothes.

The gown on her body was exactly Beatrice’s dress. It did not fully fit her size, but the tailor beside her was recording adjustment details again.

The servant who earlier went to fetch the gown for Beatrice was kneeling on the ground, with a visible handprint still left on half her face.

“Miss Liora, this gown belongs to Miss Beatrice. You truly can’t take it!”

“If you act like this, I can’t explain it to Miss Beatrice. Please, I’m begging you!”

Listening to her nonstop talking, Liora impatiently looked at her.

“What does your explanation have to do with me?”

“But Sir gave this to Miss Liora.” The servant became so nervous that tears kept falling as she continuously bowed her head.

“What are all of you doing?” After seeing the situation in front of her, Beatrice coldly spoke, her eyes especially cold when looking at Liora.

Liora told the servant and tailor to leave first and wait outside before slowly replying to Beatrice.

“Big sister, this dress is very pretty. I want to wear it.”

“No.” Beatrice refused immediately. That dress belonged to her. “Take it off right now!”

At that moment, no other people stayed around them. The weak look on Liora usually acted out instantly disappeared after Beatrice refused her.

She brushed up the hair she had just arranged, a little mockery in her voice.

“Older sister, I already tried to leave you some respect, so why don’t you appreciate it? I am telling you this, not asking for your thoughts.”

“You do not need to keep pretending to be the lady of the house anymore. Mom wants Hendrix and me together, and in Hendrix’s heart, there is only me, too.”

She loosened her collar a little, revealing skin marked by intimacy.

“He said he can only feel joy when he is with me. Around his older sister, he cannot feel even a little excitement. If both families did not need a child to keep their relationship connected, he would never want to with you…”

Before her sentence ended, Beatrice raised her hand and gave her a hard slap, directly knocking her face to one side.

“No matter what, I am still Hendrix’s legal wife right now! Even if he already gets tired of me, he still cannot casually remove me from this place.”

“And you! Hendrix only felt sorry for you and cared about you a little, so he stayed with you for a few years. Do you really think you can stand above me?”

“Liora, I already put up with you for a very long time. Stop bothering me again and again!”

Beatrice originally did not want to waste her strength dealing with Liora.

They were the true and false daughters, and that was already a fact nobody could change. Besides, she had already fully decided to leave on her own.

But today, Liora completely ripped away the fake act she always kept, and Beatrice could no longer keep enduring it!

Liora looked at Beatrice with hatred covering her face. After seeing a person walking closer from behind Beatrice in the distance, her expression instantly changed back, showing a slight plotting smile.

At some point, she already held a pair of sewing scissors in her hand. She grabbed Beatrice’s hand and stabbed toward the side of her own waist.

The beautiful gown instantly ripped apart with a tearing sound, and the flesh at her waist became bloody as blood quickly poured out.

“I’m sorry, big sister, I was wrong! I never dare do it again!”

“I beg you, I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”

Her crying and screams sounded painful, and Hendrix’s footsteps rushed closer and closer.

When he arrived in front of Liora, Beatrice already had no time to respond.

Hendrix quickly held Liora in his arms. The moment he saw blood flowing from her body, his eyes immediately turned red from panic.

“Where is the family doctor? Hurry and bring the family doctor here! And where are the bodyguards? All of you are useless!”

The family doctor came over. Together, they carried Liora onto the bed to clean and stitch her wound. Only then did Hendrix have time to look at Beatrice standing nearby.

Beatrice wanted to explain that she did not hurt Liora. Everything was only Liora pretending and acting by herself!

But Hendrix stood up and suddenly slapped her hard across the face.

This was the first time Hendrix hit Beatrice.

The corner of Beatrice’s mouth split from the slap, and tears quickly fell from her eyes.

“Hendrix, I did not hurt Liora! She is only pretending to fool you!”

“At first, she was also the one trying to take my gown!”

Right after that, Hendrix’s second slap landed on her face again.

“So just because of this dress, you nearly killed your younger sister? Beatrice, you really are insane!”

He breathed deeply, doing everything he could to hold back the anger in his chest.

“You have to apologize to Liora!”

Beatrice held the side of her mouth, tasting blood slowly spreading inside.

“Why can’t you trust me? That dirty woman who plays with men also deserves an apology from me? No way!”

Hendrix got mad again at the way she acted. He raised his hand again, but when he saw the slap marks and blood on her cheeks, he froze for a moment and slowly put his hand down.

Even he did not notice that, because he had panicked from worry before, he had slapped her so hard.

But when he turned to look at Liora again, lying weakly on the bed with her eyes shut tight, he could not completely hold back his anger.

“I promise on the family’s name, if you keep refusing to say sorry to Liora, I surely will not spare you!”

He told the bodyguards to lock Beatrice in the bedroom and not give her any food or water, wanting to see when she would finally give in.

Beatrice stared at his cold figure from behind. Her heart hurt like it was bleeding, but she still lifted her head proudly. While wiping away tears and blood, she kept speaking to herself inside her heart.

Beatrice, you are going away, so do not cry over him anymore!

Beatrice was shoved into the room by the same bodyguard from before, who had always treated her badly.

His actions were forceful. She dropped onto the floor, pain spreading through her whole body as if every bone had shattered from the hit.

“Mrs. Hawkin’s position without receiving Mr. Hawkins’s affection is only a useless shell.”

Before she could recover, the bedroom door shut, and her adoptive mother called her. The moment the call connected, angry curses and insults came from the other end.

“You ungrateful girl, I told you to give the Mrs. Hawkins role to Liora. Not only did you disobey me, but you even caused her injury.”

“If I had known you were this evil, when I discovered you were not the real daughter, I should have used the Elliott family’s influence to make you vanish completely from this world!”