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!”

Beatrice heard her adoptive mother’s remarks while tears kept falling nonstop. In the end, she was still the mother who cared for her for over twenty years. Saying her heart did not feel even a little pain was a lie.

Yet before she managed to speak and explain, her adoptive mother already blocked the number. No matter how often she tried calling again, only busy signals answered her.

Beatrice’s wounded heart fully broke apart.

After that, she spent the whole day unable to swallow even one bite of food or drink one sip of water.

Every three hours, the bodyguards came over and asked her, “Is Miss Beatrice ready to say sorry to Miss Liora?”

Beatrice stayed quiet the entire time.

Again and again, she reminded herself that there were still three days left before the marriage relationship inside the system ended.

After she received the experimental data, she could leave.

Again and again, she pleaded with the servants outside the door to send a message to Hendrix, saying she wished to visit the laboratory to correct the incorrect data.

Yet inside her room, not even one servant came to bring her daily needs. The only moment a servant entered was when they walked into the wrong room.

“Pardon me, Ma’am, where do I place the jewelry sent from the auction house?”

“Oh, forgive me, Ma’am, I got the wrong room, these are for Miss Liora!”

Even though Liora could not go to the auction due to her injury, Hendrix still arranged for people to attend and purchase the presents she wanted.

One after another, the presents were carried into Liora’s room, quietly showing everyone that Beatrice had already lost Hendrix’s care.

Beatrice bitterly smiled at herself and blankly waited for another day to come.

The moment morning arrived, after not drinking even one sip of water, she shakily stood up.

Who could have expected Hendrix to appear while also bringing news that struck like thunder?

“When Liora checks her injury, the doctor finds out she is pregnant, and the baby is mine.”

“If you did not make the doctor handle that matter before, this baby should already have been found much earlier; it does not wait until now.”

“Beatrice, by now, just honestly admit you are wrong. Then take this child, care for it under your name, and I can still let you keep Mrs. Hawkins title.”

Beatrice opened her eyes wide at Hendrix, her lips parting and closing, but she could not say even one word.

If Liora had not done that before, her baby would not have miscarried.

But now, Liora was pregnant and carrying her husband’s baby!

And they still expected her to raise it?

It really was too ridiculous.

Beatrice’s eyes turned red. After staying quiet for a long while, she finally rasped, “Understood.”

She was not bowing down to Liora, but telling herself, leave, get away from this place!

Liora appeared by the doorway at the right moment, holding out a glass of water to Beatrice.

Beatrice unconsciously wet her lips. They felt slightly dry, and she almost naturally wanted to stretch out her hand.

Right after that, she heard Liora speak.

“Elder sister, later on, you should be more accepting; this child still needs to grow up under elder sister’s name.”

“The doctor says this baby will most likely be a boy; later, he might take over Hendrix’s family business.”

“I wish he stays healthy and safe, not like the baby before inside elder sister’s stomach, living for such a brief time……”

Those words plainly wanted to expose Beatrice’s painful wound in front of everyone!

At once, anger rose inside her chest. She shoved aside the cup Liora handed toward her.

Even though she did not use much strength, the cup in Liora’s hand still fell down.

Water spread across the floor. Liora hurriedly tried to dodge it, but fell heavily over.

Terrified, she held her stomach and kept crying loudly.

“Elder sister, why do you treat me this way?”

“Hendrix, can our baby still survive? I beg you to save him, please save him no matter what!”

Everything took place too fast. When Beatrice finally returned to her senses, the bodyguards had already shoved her into the emergency vehicle.

The line of cars looked large and impressive as they drove straight toward the closest luxury private hospital.

Liora was taken for a checkup, while Beatrice stayed under Hendrix’s bodyguards’ watch, unable to move at all.

After not drinking even one sip of water for an entire day and night, and then facing another sudden situation, Beatrice’s sight repeatedly turned black.

Right when she nearly lost consciousness, Hendrix threw a cup of cold water onto her to wake her up.

The coldness sank deep into her body, making her unable to stop shaking.

“I never wanted to hurt Liora and the child inside her stomach!” Beatrice instinctively spoke to defend herself.

Hendrix said nothing. After seeing her wake up, he brought her away from the hospital.

This time, they headed toward the laboratory.

Beatrice believed Hendrix had finally remembered his promise to let her return to the laboratory and correct the wrong data, and she could finally leave as well.

She did not pause at all. Together, they entered the password and fingerprints, while the laboratory’s huge doors gradually opened.

Inside stood the only things Beatrice had built up, the only belongings that were truly hers!

She felt overjoyed and wanted to step ahead, yet the bodyguards once again held her down.

Hendrix’s hands repeatedly moved across the screen, erasing one completed data file after another from her earlier work.

“What are you doing! Stop! Hendrix!”

Beatrice released a painful scream, her voice rough to a terrifying level, sounding like a mad person crawling out from hell.

Hendrix stopped moving, his hand remaining raised in the air as he gave his last warning.

“You have done far too many wrong things! All I ever wanted was for you to apologize to Liora. That was the last respect I left for you because of the family’s reputation. Yet you kept refusing.”

“You greatly disappoint me. The low background of a fake daughter truly makes it hard to develop good character. So I can only use this method to make you give in. I will ask you once again, Beatrice, do you really still refuse to admit your mistake?”