"Yes, I'm very serious." Elena's voice was soft, yet every word rang clear.

Robin's gaze darkened. Then, Paul abruptly cut in just as he was about to speak, his face plastered with a flattering smile.

"Mr. Marsh, don't listen to her nonsense! She's just acting out of spite—there's no way she'd actually want to leave you and Kaney!

"She's only jealous because you've been getting close to Ms. Beck lately! Just coax her a little. There's no way she'd really walk away."

The chill in Robin's eyes eased slightly when he heard this. He looked back at Elena. "As I expected, you're doing all this just because of Constance."

Elena opened her mouth and was about to argue, but Robin had already continued, "You're nothing if you walk away from us. But if you stay and behave, I promise Constance will never affect your position. That should be enough for you, shouldn't it?"

Her fingertips dug into her palm. She was just about to refuse when Paul suddenly slammed the table with a loud smack, his voice sharp with authority.

"Elena! You're my daughter. You'll do as I say!"

Then, he put on another ingratiating smile and pulled a contract from his briefcase just as quickly, offering it to Robin with both hands.

"Mr. Marsh, here. This project still needs your signature…"

Robin glanced at the document, then looked over at Elena. He picked up the pen and signed after a moment's pause.

"Stop making trouble," he said coldly before turning around and walking out.

The door had barely clicked shut when Kane burst into the room. His small frame stood in the doorway, but his eyes were filled with hostility.

"I heard everything! Dad wants you to stay—but I don't!"

Elena looked at him, and her mind drifted back to the Kane from before he turned three. He used to call her "Mommy" in a soft voice, and he'd stretch out his arms for her to hold him.

But then… someone must've told him the truth that she wasn't his biological mother and even told him that she was the one who killed her. And from that moment on, everything changed.

"Constance is gentler and kinder than you, and she treats me well!" Kane's young voice trembled with hatred as he gritted his teeth.

"I'd rather she marry Dad and take care of me than have you a murderer like you around!"

Elena closed her eyes for a moment, her voice hoarse as she said, "Kane, I've told you so many times—your mother was already gone when I married your father…"

"You liar!" Kane screamed, cutting her off.

"Constance told me everything! You killed my mom! You're just a gold-digger who wanted to climb your way up! Don't think I'll forgive you just because you lied to me!"

A jolt shot through Elena's heart.

Constance? Had she truly gone as far as slandering her in front of Kane?

Before Elena could even explain, Kane had already barked an order at the bodyguards. "Throw her into the morgue! Let her think about what she's done!"

The bodyguards hesitated. "Mr. Kane, that's…"

"What, are you all not going to listen to me?" Kane pulled out his phone.

"Then I'll call my father right now and tell him you're disobeying me!"

The guards dared not delay any longer. They wheeled Elena away, heading straight for the coldest, darkest corner of the hospital—the morgue.

The chill cut through bone. The morgue was as cold as a freezer. Elena wore only a thin hospital gown, and her entire body shivered uncontrollably.

She tried to push the wheelchair, but her right leg, which was bound in a heavy cast, made any movement impossible.

"Kane! Kane! Let me out!"

She screamed his name again and again, but all she got in return was the slam of the iron door and the cold, mechanical turn of the lock.

Darkness swallowed her. The silence was suffocating as only the low hum of the refrigeration units echoed around her.

Elena's desperation reached its peak. She pounded on the door until her hands were sore and numb, but no one came to her rescue. Eventually, her hand slipped from the metal, sliding down the surface in defeat.

The cold seeped into her bones, and her consciousness began to fade. Everything went black at last.

When Elena woke again, she was lying on a hospital bed. There was a thick blanket draped over her. But the cold seemed to have sunk into her bones, refusing to leave.

"Are you awake?" Robin's voice came from beside her.

Elena slowly turned her head and saw him sitting at the edge of the bed, dressed neatly in a suit—yet faint red marks peeked out from beneath his collar. Hickeys, again.

She looked away and spoke with a hoarse voice. "Why are you here?"

Robin frowned. "What did you do to upset Kane this time?"

Elena tugged at the corner of her mouth, her smile laced with irony. "I upset him?

"Let's not even mention the past. Just these few days alone—he threw me into a cage with mutts, kicked me into the pool, and even stripped me naked…"

She lifted her eyes and looked directly at him as she asked, "Mr. Marsh, tell me—who exactly is provoking who?"

Robin's expression turned colder. "Weren't all of those things your fault to begin with?"

Elena let out a bitter laugh. "Then what about throwing me into the morgue? Even when I've done nothing wrong, he'll still find a reason to drive me out.

"So please, could you tell him that he doesn't need to go through all this trouble? The contract between us is about to expire. When the time comes, I'll leave on my own."

Robin's face darkened immediately at her words. "Elena! Are you seriously bringing that up again? Haven't you said enough?

"Fine. I'll talk to Kane. I'll tell him to stop trying to drive you away. From now on, you two just get along—and you, stop going on about leaving. It's irritating!"

Elena looked at him in silence, then suddenly smiled. "Sure. I won't bring it up again."

After all, everything would be over in seven days.

Seeing that she didn't argue back, Robin's expression finally eased. "Focus on recovering. Don't stir up any more trouble."

With that, he turned and walked out, his back still as cold and distant as ever. Elena stared at the closed door and slowly shut her eyes.

Just seven more days. Then, she would finally be free.

The next day, Robin forced Kane to come to Elena's hospital room. The boy stood stiffly at her bedside, his face full of reluctance and his eyes brimming with disdain.

Robin's tone was cold as he ordered, "Apologize. Then take good care of her."

Kane pouted his lips but eventually picked up a bowl of oatmeal. He scooped a spoonful and held it out to Elena.

His voice was stiff as he said, "Eat up."

Elena glanced at him, said nothing, and quietly ate it. Robin gave a satisfied nod and stepped out to take a phone call.

But Elena suddenly felt her whole body was itching not long after, as if thousands of ants were crawling across her skin. She couldn't help but scratch, but the more she scratched, the worse it got. Soon, red welts covered her pale skin, some even bleeding from being clawed open.

Then, a burst of laughter rang out beside her. She jerked her head up and stared at Kane. "Was it you?"

Kane shoved her away and sneered. "So what if it was me? I'm not apologizing to you!"

"You deserved all those injuries. If you'd just left earlier, none of this would've happened—but no, you just had to stay here and cling onto us!"

Fighting through the unbearable itching, Elena tried to get up and press the call button for the doctor, but the cast on her right leg made it nearly impossible to move. Just as she managed to lift herself up, she collapsed heavily to the floor, utterly humiliated.

Kane stood nearby, laughing cruelly. "Doesn't the itching powder feel great? You look hilarious like this—like a turtle on its back!"

Elena tried again to reach for the call button on the nightstand while gritting her teeth. But Kane pushed her down once more, gloating as he said, "Don't waste your strength. I already locked the door. No one's coming to save you!"

By the time the effects of the powder finally wore off, Elena's body was covered in wounds. She lay on the floor, weak and battered.

Only then did Kane slowly unlock the door and run out, calling loudly, "Dad! Elena fell, and I can't help her up!"

Robin rushed in and scooped her into his arms, frowning as he noticed the scratches all over her skin. "What happened?"

Elena's voice was hoarse as she said, "Kane used itching powder on me."

Robin's face darkened instantly, and he scolded sternly, "Kane!"

But before he could even begin to scold him, Kane's eyes had already turned red with tears.

"She's lying! Dad, I listened to you! I wasn't even trying to drive her away anymore!

"If you don't believe me, then have her get a gastric lavage. That'll prove who's telling the truth!"

Robin hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Elena was forcibly taken to undergo the procedure. What no one knew was that Kane had secretly added chili extract to the gastric lavage solution.

The burning sensation tore through her throat and into her stomach like fire. Elena curled into a ball from the pain, cold sweat soaking through her hospital gown.

She vomited over and over until even bile came up, but the searing agony in her stomach didn't stop. After a while, the nurse returned with the test report and gave them the results.

"There were no traces of itching powder or any similar substances."

The moment those words were spoken, Robin's face fell with disappointment.

He looked at her coldly before saying, "Elena, you've truly become nothing but a liar. Your sister was so gentle and kind. Why couldn't you learn even a fraction of that?"

Kane quickly chimed in beside him. "Exactly! She's nothing like my real mom. All she does is make up stories to slander me!"

Furious, Robin turned and left with Kane, throwing back a single sentence, "You take care of yourself."

Elena lay weakly on the bed, feeling the corners of her eyes becoming slightly damp. Several days after that, she finally recovered her health. The first thing she did after being discharged was visit her mother at the care facility.

"Mom, I'll be able to leave the Marsh family in just two more days. Let's leave this place together and start a new life somewhere else."

Her mother, Willow Peterson, let out a long, weary sigh. "Elena, you've suffered so much these past years. I'm the one who's failed you.

"I'll follow your lead. I'll go with you wherever you want to go. From now on, it's just going to be the two of us. The Larson and the Marsh families will have nothing to do with us anymore!"

Hearing that, Elena couldn't hold it in any longer. Her eyes turned red, and she choked back a sob as she nodded. When she returned home later, she found that Constance was there too.

Sitting in the living room, Constance smiled sweetly as she explained, "Kaney won an award in his piano competition, so he invited me over to celebrate with you guys. I hope you don't mind, Ms. Larson."

"Not at all."

After all, she was about to leave. She wouldn't be the hostess here any longer. Robin, Constance, and Kane laughed and chatted happily, just like a real family at the dinner table.

Meanwhile, Elena was treated like a maid. Kane kept ordering her to peel the shrimp and crack the crab. By the end of the meal, her fingertips were sliced open by the crab shells, blood staining the tips of her fingers.

Even so, no one spared her a second glance.