She remained silent.

"Livia, do you understand your mistake? Actually, I didn’t want to punish you. It’s just that you shouldn’t have treated Malva as a rival. I only see her as a little sister…"

Livia in the bed stirred slightly, but didn't respond.

A bitter feeling rose in her heart.

She pushed Mitchel's hand away, her hoarse voice catching in her throat. “No need to explain. It doesn’t matter to me anymore."

"No need for what? You’re not the one who’s been burning with fever for a month."

Realizing his words were too harsh, Mitchel paused and lowered his head to persuade her, his tone softening a little, "Actually, you've been punished as well. As long as you acknowledge your mistake and correct it, everything will be fine. In a few days, it's your birthday and we'll hold a..."

Before he could finish, Livia interrupted, saying, "I'm not in a hurry to get married..."

Upon hearing this, Mitchel's face turned completely dark. "You're not in a hurry to get married? You’ve been waiting for this for twenty-three years. Everything is already prepared and now you’re telling me you’re not in a hurry?"

"Livia, you're still angry, aren't you? You're angry because I punished you for Malva, so you're deliberately saying this, right?"

Everything was ready?

Once, all she had ever dreamed of was being his bride.

But now, just hearing the word "marriage" made her head throb with pain.

She tugged at the corner of her lips, thinking that these 23 years of liking Mitchel, this biased and gullible fool, had been nothing short of a disaster.

"I’ve already picked up the wedding dress. In two days, we’re taking our wedding photos, so you must be discharged by then!"

After leaving these few words, he walked away without looking back.

Not long after he was gone, Hailey arrived.

Livia had no mother and Hailey had watched her grow up. Their bond was more like mother and daughter rather than a future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Hearing Hailey's voice, Livia's tears instantly soaked the gauze.

"Come on, quickly take off the gauze blocking Livia's eyes!" Hailey ordered the nurse.

She then pulled Livia into her arms and comforted her, "My child, you've suffered. When I get home, I’ll make sure Mitchel kneels down and confesses!"

Hailey was not only closer to her than to her own son, but also helped her handle all the women around Mitchel.

However, after meeting Malva, who looked strikingly similar to her deceased daughter, she became somewhat soft-hearted. She even tried to persuade Livia to treat Malva as a younger sister.

But now, seeing Livia lying on the hospital bed, Hailey couldn't hold back her sobs.

Compared to Malva, Livia was the daughter she had raised since childhood. Although there was no blood relation, they were even closer than a biological mother and daughter.

Hailey felt deep regret in her heart. She shouldn’t have neglected Livia for the sake of an outsider.

To make it up to her, she specifically arranged a birthday dinner for five days later, planning to publicly gift her family heirloom that day. She also arranged for Mitchel to propose on the spot and even planned to hold the wedding the next day.

"Livia, it's all my fault! Take good care of your injuries and don't overthink things. As for the rest, I will take care of it for you!"

Hailey directly summoned all the doctors who had treated Livia to the hospital room. She questioned each of them with a cold expression, "My family supports you all to cure and save people, but you can't even cure the future mistress of my family!"

She then had someone bring Livia's medical records, carefully examining them bit by bit. With a loud slap, she slammed the desk.

"Alright, Livia's medical records are all vague and unclear. What exactly have you all been doing? You're all fired! My family can't afford to keep you!"

“Only this intern stays. The rest of you, get out!"

Hailey came from a family of medical professionals and this hospital was part of her dowry. It made her the legitimate owner of the hospital.

"It wasn't us, Miss Ritz ordered us to do this."

Hearing Malva's name, Hailey gritted her teeth. "I heard she's been causing trouble lately. I didn’t expect her to resort to such lowly tactics!"

Malva had intended to mock Livia, but when she overheard their conversation at the door, she was startled. Before she could leave, the sharp-eyed butler spotted her.

"Miss Ritz is over there!"

Upon hearing this, Hailey quickly ordered for her to be brought in.

"Kneel down!"

Malva kept her expression grim as they ordered her to kneel in front of everyone. She simply couldn’t bring herself to lower her face especially in front of the doctors she had once bossed around.

She didn’t know who kicked her, but her knee buckled and with a thud, she fell to her knees in front of the hospital bed, locking eyes with Livia’s calm gaze.

A surge of hatred rose within her. "Apologize to Livia now!"

Malva’s eyes flickered with coldness. Her hands, once supporting her on the ground, clenched tightly together until her freshly done nails dug into her skin, causing pain.

"Mom..."

Just as Malva was about to speak, a sharp, ear-piercing slap echoed through the room as Hailey slapped her across the face.

She sneered coldly. "I'm not your mother! You're just a poor student we've supported. Your mother is still working in the fields in the mountains! If it weren't for Livia's kindness, wanting to sponsor you when you couldn't afford school, you would have already been sold to some village as a bride. How could you be living comfortably like this now?"

A murmur spread through the room and the gazes directed at Malva were filled with contempt.

Malva gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride. “Mrs. West, I didn’t cause all her injuries…"

Before she could finish her sentence, another sharp slap landed on her face, leaving five distinct fingerprints.

"Isn't it clear to you? If it weren't for you meddling with Mitchel, how could he possibly let Livia wear that mermaid costume and soak in cold water for the entire night? If it weren’t for you, how would Livia have ended up covered in injuries? And if it weren’t for you bribing these ungrateful doctors, how could they dare treat Livia like this? You designed this scheme to frame Livia and you deliberately delayed her treatment! What exactly are you plotting?”

The butler raised his hand again, but after a few attempts, his hand couldn’t move.

He turned around and found himself blocked by Mitchel, who was holding a thermos in his hand.

“Have you lost your mind? How dare you hit Malva! "

At that moment, tears welled up in Malva's eyes as she threw herself at Mitchel's feet, sobbing.

"Mitchel, my biggest wish before I die was to see you again. Now you've finally come!"

Die?

Mitchel supported Malva with one hand and upon seeing her flushed cheeks, his expression froze.

"Don't be mad at your mom. It's Livia who hates me. She can't accept me. But even if I die, I don't want to leave you..."

Mitchel quickly walked to Livia's bedside and placed the thermos down.

After that, he slapped her hard across her face.

The crisp sound of a slap echoed, stunning everyone in the room and interrupting Malva, who hadn't finished speaking.

Livia’s head jerked to the side, her frail body collapsing onto the hospital bed.

Hailey never expected that her own son would actually slap Livia.

Fury surged through her as she clenched her teeth and swung her hand with all her might.

With a loud slap, Mitchel stumbled back. "Mitchel, you dare to slap Livia in front of me? I'll fight you to the end!"

Mitchel pointed at Livia and shouted, "You and your mother teamed up to bully Malva and now I'm asking for justice on her behalf. What's wrong with that?"

"You! Unworthy son! You don't deserve Livia!"

"Alright, since you say I don't deserve her, then we won’t get married!"

Mitchel's eyes reddened and the veins on his forehead bulged. He suddenly pulled Malva into his arms and kissed her.

In front of everyone's shocked gaze, he smirked and looked provocatively at Livia on the hospital bed. "Are you satisfied now?"

Malva, feeling bashful, placed her delicate hand softly on his chest. "Mitchel, how could you kiss me..."

"I kiss whoever I want!"

"Take them out!” Hailey couldn't bear the shock. She called security to drag Mitchel and Malva out.

Once the chaotic scene was over, she patted her chest to calm herself, only to notice Livia’s face was swollen on one side, with tears silently gathering and dripping down from her delicate chin.

Her heart immediately tightened with pain.

"I'm sorry, Livia, I failed to protect you. Your mother entrusted you to me and I swore I would make sure you lived a carefree life forever..."

She had once thought her son could take care of Livia for a lifetime, but now it seemed that her son was so foolish.

He couldn’t even see through Malva’s schemes and treated Livia so cruelly.

"Mom..."

Even though they were never truly family by blood, she had always called Hailey "Mom" out of gratitude for raising her.

"I just don’t have fate with him."

"Good girl, don't cry. When you cry, I want to cry too..." Hailey wept, not just for Livia, but for the years of sincere love she had wasted.

She wiped away her tears, her voice choking as she continued, "Your mother was my best friend. You actually have a twin sister, but she passed away young, leaving you all alone..."

Livia blinked her wet eyes in surprise, slightly stunned.

Before she had nearly drowned in the pool, she had seen a woman who looked exactly like her. It turned out that it was her twin sister.

People said twins have a telepathic connection.

She pressed her hand to her chest, her heart pounding fiercely.

Not only had her sister saved her, but she had also arranged for her to marry another man in her place.

On the other side…

"This marriage must be called off!" Mitchel's grandmother shouted as she noticed the slap on her beloved grandson's face, her eyes filled with deep concern.

She was furious, leaning on her cane, determined to seek justice for him. "Your mother spoiled that girl too much! She's not even a relative, yet just because of a little bit of friendship from her younger years, she raised someone else's child and ruined the future of the West Family! Now, she's even hitting her own son for her. This is going too far!"

Malva hurriedly knelt down. "Grandma, it's all my fault! If it weren't for me, Mitchel wouldn't have punished Livia and Livia wouldn't have gotten angry and caused trouble with his mother. So, everything is my fault. Family harmony leads to prosperity, please don't be angry..."

Mitchel’s grandmother, Carmen, squinted her eyes, studying Malva. Seeing her small face bruised and swollen, her tone softened. "Out of everyone in the West Family, you are the most pitiful. Malva, you're so well-behaved and sensible, much better than that arrogant and spoiled Livia!”

Upon hearing this, Malva lowered her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. But Carmen's next sentence caused her smile to instantly freeze.

"Unfortunately, your background is a bit lacking. Otherwise, I would definitely try to match you with Mitchel."

Malva was stunned for a moment, then quickly changed the topic. "But what about Livia? Her birthday is in a few days..."

Carmen's face darkened. "What birthday! Hurry up, have those people take down the decorations now! If we keep spoiling her like this, soon, the entire West Family will be at the mercy of that girl!"

Although Mitchel was angry, upon hearing about canceling the birthday party, he couldn't help but plead with his grandmother. "It can't be canceled!"