After the blood transfusion was complete, Lilian stood up quickly, only to almost fall over when her vision suddenly turned dark.

A hand caught her wrist, and Eugene glanced nervously at her. In the next second, his voice sounded in her ears. "Go home and get some rest. I'm going to stay behind and keep Aurie company."

Lilian yanked her hand out of Eugene's grasp, her face full of scorn. She said nothing, simply walking out, her legs shaking.

As she stood in the hospital corridor and stared at the date displayed on the wall calendar, her eyes suddenly widened.

Today was the day she would get her college acceptance letter!

In her past life, she had felt terribly weak after donating blood to Aurelie, so she had asked Eugene to get her acceptance letter in her stead.

However, he hadn't brought the letter back despite a day of waiting.

When she asked about it again, Eugene had told her impatiently, "You weren't accepted."

Not long after that, she had heard news that Aurelie had been accepted into college despite never even taking the SATs.

Determined not to let history repeat itself, Lilian strode quickly toward the post office, enduring the dizziness and pain she was feeling.

This time, she had to get her acceptance letter before Aurelie and Eugene did.

Half an hour later, her voice trembled as she asked the post office worker, "What? Someone collected my college acceptance letter this morning? Do you still remember who took it?"

The worker checked the name on the written receipt. "It's signed right here."

Lilian stared at the name "Aurelie Lunsford" on the receipt. A loud ringing filled her ears.

She sprinted back toward the hospital.

She would get that acceptance letter back, even if she had to resort to theft in this life. That letter was hers! Who was Aurelie to take her place?

Lilian aggressively shoved open the door of the hospital room and caught sight of Eugene hugging Aurelie, the atmosphere charged with a certain tension.

However, she didn't want to concern herself with the shameful relationship between the two. At the moment, she just wanted to get her acceptance letter and leave Eugene.

She marched up to Aurelie and held out her hand. "Give me my acceptance letter!"

Aurelie hid behind Eugene and looked at her with an innocent expression. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lilian."

Seeing her putting on an innocent act, Lilian's temper snapped. "Drop the act! The post office worker already told me that you were the one who took my acceptance letter.

"I worked day and night to get accepted into that college! Who are you to shamelessly try to take my place?"

She lunged forward and grabbed Aurelie's wrist harshly. "Where is it? Give it back."

Just as her fingers brushed against the folded letter in Aurelie's pocket, Eugene grabbed her arm. "Stop making a scene! Get lost!" he snapped.

Get lost, huh?

Yes, she should have left a long time ago.

If not for the fact that she was trying to repay Eugene for saving her life years ago, she would have followed General Linus Gurwick up north to live a good life after her parents died.

Why bother living such a miserable life full of suffering with Eugene?

Back then, she had rejected Linus' kind offer and insisted on staying behind, stubbornly determined to marry Eugene.

She had been so sure that Eugene would love her and protect her for the rest of her life, but how did that turn out?

Not only did Eugene sleep with Aurelie behind her back, but he also wanted to get Aurelie into college in her place. What gave him the right?

Lilian struggled hard against his grip. "You knew, didn't you, Eugene? You knew that Aurelie took my acceptance letter! Tell her to give it back!"

She grabbed his wrist in a tight grip, her bloodshot eyes full of grievance.

Getting her acceptance letter back was the only way she could finally leave this place and Eugene behind for good.

A trace of hesitation flashed through Eugene's eyes, but then he frowned and dragged Lilian out of the hospital room.

He shoved her to the floor and declared, "If you come back and disturb Aurie's rest again, don't blame me for treating you harshly, Lilian."

Don't blame him for treating her harshly, he said?

Lilian crawled up from the floor miserably and clenched her fingers tightly around her bleeding palm.

She glared defiantly at Eugene and was just about to speak again when a new voice suddenly rang out with urgency.

She then felt a slap across her face as someone yelled, "You wretch! You're the one who caused my grandson to suffer from vomiting and diarrhoea! I swear I'm going to beat you to death!"

Lilian froze in shock after being slapped by the old woman.

The woman—Martha Rose—didn't give her a chance to speak. She slapped her again.

Lilian lost her footing and fell to the floor. A sudden pain in her stomach instantly jolted her to full awareness.

She felt a hint of doubt creep into her heart as she looked at Martha, who was an unfamiliar face to her.

Still, she crawled to her feet to deny the accusation a second later. "I've never seen you before, ma'am, much less your grandson. I—"

"Stop trying to weasel your way out of this!" Martha shouted. "You're Lilian Sherwood, aren't you? Someone at the nursing station reported you for deliberately adding an unknown medication into my grandson's IV drip, causing him to experience symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting.

Her voice grew sharper. "If you don't give me an explanation today, I'm taking this to Chief Merrick!"

Someone reported her?

Lilian held a hand over her stomach and glanced toward Aurelie's hospital room.

In her past life, Aurelie had been playing petty tricks ever since joining their department. Back then, she had assumed that it was just because Aurelie was still young. She had thus chosen to overlook her actions on account of the fact that Aurelie was Eugene's cousin.

It was only after dying once that Lilian realized Aurelie wasn't Eugene's cousin at all. On the contrary, she was his childhood sweetheart, someone he had almost gotten married to.

This time, Aurelie was actually using such an incident to frame her.

Lilian clenched her fists tightly and forced herself to calm down.

"We have records for every medication administered in this hospital, ma'am," she said steadily. "Since you're so sure that I caused your grandson to experience symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting, I'll gladly see Chief Merrick with you to prove my innocence."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Martha's expression paled in an instant. She looked pleadingly toward Aurelie's hospital room.

Immediately afterward, Aurelie walked out, looking frail and weak.

She wore a grimace as she turned cautiously to Lilian. "Didn't you ask me to alter those records, Lilian? If this incident reaches Chief Merrick's ears, we'll both be fired. Why don't you just confess your guilt instead? It was supposed to be your job anyway."

Lilian stared mockingly at Aurelie. She was just about to speak when Martha lunged at her and started hitting her like a madwoman.

Lilian reacted fast. She grabbed hold of Aurelie and used her as a shield against Martha's blows.

Aurelie screamed at the beating she received, and a trace of annoyance bled into Eugene's indifferent expression.

"Enough!" he roared.

He shielded Aurelie behind his back, distressed, before shouting, "Come to my office, Lilian!"

Once inside, he slammed his hand angrily on the desk, though he softened his tone when he said, "Giving a patient the wrong medication constitutes medical malpractice, Lilian. Even if we're married, I can't cover for you."

Cover for her?

Lilian smiled self-deprecatingly. "What mistake have I made that I need you to cover for me? Can't you tell that Aurelie and that old woman were working together?

"Aurelie is trying to frame me so shamelessly because she wants to take my place. Even if Chief Merrick gets involved in this, I'm not afraid. I—"

Eugene frowned and sighed in exasperation, cutting her off. "You did this, Lilian. Go write a reflection report immediately. I also want you to prepare a formal apology and submit your resignation letter."

Lilian stared at Eugene's cold, indifferent face, her hands clenching into tight fists at her side.

What an utter fool she had been.

Administering the wrong medication was a sensitive and serious issue. If not for Eugene supporting Aurelie from behind, how would she have had the guts to frame Lilian?

He had already dared to let Aurelie take Lilian's place in college. Framing her and forcing her to resign from the hospital was nothing in comparison.

She should have already seen Eugene's true colors back when he chose to let her and her baby die to save Aurelie in her past life. Yet, she was actually trying to explain herself to him.

She should have come to her senses sooner.

She should have left Eugene earlier.

"Let's get a divorce, Eugene," she said at last, her nails digging into her palms.

Eugene's expression wavered slightly. He shouted angrily, looking flustered, "How utterly ridiculous! Get out right now. I want to see your resignation letter by tomorrow."

Lilian stared mockingly at him before slamming the office door behind her.

She would figure this out herself. Whether it was proving her innocence or getting back the acceptance letter, she wasn't going to give up on either of them.

At the stairwell, she bumped right into Aurelie.

Aurelie looked at her smugly and said, "Medical malpractice is a serious matter. Once you're fired, that stain will stay on your record forever. So what if you got into college?"

Lilian glared resentfully at her. "Why are you doing this to me? Ever since you came to—"

Before she could finish, Aurelie grabbed her by the wrist and glared hatefully at her before pushing her toward the stairs.

"Because I want to destroy you," she hissed. "I want to take your place in college, further my education, and stand a head above the rest. I want to become Eugene's legitimate wife, just like I was in my past life."

Lilian stared at Aurelie in shock.

Her past life?

Aurelie had been reborn too!

Seeing the shock on her face, Aurelie smirked. "In my past life, I deliberately let you witness me and Eugene behaving intimately as you were about to give birth. I also caused both you and your baby to die.

She continued, "Compared to that time, I think it would be more reassuring to me if you were to just die in this life."

Staring at the stairs behind Lilian, Aurelie laughed smugly. "If you fall from here, there's a high chance you and your baby will both die. Just like in my past life…"

Upon hearing this, Lilian grabbed Aurelie's hand tightly, desperately trying to break free. However, she was too weak and absolutely no match for Aurelie.

Aurelie shook off her hand and shoved her down the stairs.

Lilian curled up in pain as blood gushed continuously from between her legs. She tried to get up, but her abdomen hurt so much she couldn't crawl to her feet at all.

Just when she thought she was about to lose consciousness, she suddenly heard Eugene's voice coming from upstairs.

"Aurelie? What are you doing here?"

At the sound of his voice, Aurelie froze before promptly "losing her footing" and falling down the stairs.

Eugene hurriedly ran over to Aurelie and held her in his arms in distress. Then, his gaze landed on Lilian, who was lying in the corner and close to death's door.

His expression changed, and he immediately let go of Aurelie to kneel next to Lilian, pressing his ear to her chest. "Stay with me, Lilian! Don't pass out!"

Lilian blearily opened her eyes, but she was tired and her eyelids felt incredibly heavy. It felt just like when she had been dying in her past life.

Eugene sighed in great relief when he saw her open her eyes. He hurriedly stood up and hit the emergency button on the wall.

Once he heard the alarm blaring throughout the entire building, he returned to kneeling at her side. "Li—"

"My foot seems to be broken, Eugene," Aurelie interjected. "It hurts so much. Please help me take a look at it quickly. I'm afraid of not being able to dance anymore…"

Eugene immediately turned his head at the sound of her cries and frowned when he saw her extremely swollen ankle. He carefully pressed on the ankle, his expression gradually turning darker as Aurelie screamed in pain.

He bent down and scooped her into his arms, then looked worriedly at Lilian. "I'll take her to the orthopedics department first. The other doctors will be here soon, so hang on a little longer. I'll come and see you again later."

In the past, Eugene had fretted over her like this too.

She had climbed up high and accidentally fallen down, hitting her head in the process. He had also checked over her injuries in panic like this, then run all the way to the city hospital with her in his arms. By the time he arrived at the hospital, he had lost a shoe…

Since when had he stopped loving her?

Lilian clutched her stomach, feeling pained. He had probably never loved her in the first place.

She closed her eyes in despair. If she made it out of this alive, she would definitely make that phone call and ask Linus to take her away from Eugene immediately.

"Lilian! Wake up, Lilian!"

"The patient has lost consciousness and requires emergency resuscitation."