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."

Eventually, Lilian drifted back to consciousness at the sound of Aurelie's crying voice.

"I really didn't do it on purpose. Lilian insisted I turn myself in to Chief Merrick and take the blame for her. I just fought back a little. I didn't expect her to go so far as to take advantage of her baby to frame me. I feel terribly wronged, Eugene."

Lilian opened her eyes with difficulty. The first thing she saw was Eugene's indifferent expression.

Her hands trembled as she reached for her stomach.

Was the baby gone?

In her past life, she had failed to protect her unborn baby. And in this life, she and her baby still seemed destined to be torn apart.

Fortunately, the heavens had shown mercy and spared her life this time.

She struggled to move. She was going to make a phone call and leave Eugene right this instant.

"Did you frame Aurelie, Lilian?" Eugene demanded. "You didn't hesitate to use your baby to force her to take the blame for you! Is there any shred of humanity in you?"

Lilian looked at him in astonishment.

He was asking her if she had humanity?

He and Aurelie were the inhumane ones here. In both her lives, they had caused the death of her baby!

She tore the IV needle from her hand and climbed out of bed with difficulty. She then feebly made her way out of the hospital room, ignoring Eugene's attempts to stop her.

At the nursing station, she clutched at the landline for dear life as she dialed the number that her parents had traded their lives for.

"I was wrong, General Gurwick!" she cried. "I'm begging you to please take me away from here!"

Eugene's face paled upon hearing her words. He quickly snatched the receiver from Lilian's hand and hung up the call.

"You've lost your mind, Lilian!"

Lilian glared at him. "That's right. I did lose my mind. You and Aurelie were the ones who drove me insane. Aurelie's obviously your fiancee, yet you tricked me into believing she was your cousin.

"You brought her into our home and even pulled strings to let her, someone who never even graduated from nursing school, work as a nurse in the hospital. Then, you allowed her to steal my acceptance letter and go to college in my place.

"Even now that she pushed me down the stairs and killed our baby, you're only listening to her side of the story. If you care so much about her, then why won't you just divorce me, Eugene Shaw?"

Eugene felt the weight of the surrounding people's gazes on him and clenched his fists tightly.

"Lilian!" he barked.

She laughed wildly. "Did I strike a nerve? There's more where that came from. After all, the only reason you could become a military doctor is because—"

Eugene slapped her across the face. "You crossed the line, Lilian!"

Lilian wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and smiled bitterly. If she had known his true colors earlier, she wouldn't have pledged herself to him in order to repay his kindness back then.

Eugene's hand trembled upon seeing the blood oozing from the corner of her mouth and her swollen cheek.

He carefully wrapped Lilian in his arms before saying, "I know that you're emotional after losing our baby, but you still can't slander Aurelie like this. She's just my cousin, and I won't divorce you. We can have another baby in the future, so please be good and listen, okay?"

The people around them nodded in understanding, attributing Lilian's previous words to her having an emotional breakdown from losing her baby.

Seeing that the crowd was about to disperse, Lilian anxiously shoved Eugene away. She pointed an accusing finger at Aurelie, ready to continue with her rant.

Aurelie stared resentfully at her and snorted mockingly, then rolled her eyes back and pretended to faint.

When Eugene saw this, he pushed Lilian aside and quickly caught Aurelie in his arms.

At the sight of Aurelie's pale face, he hurriedly shouted at the nurse behind him, "Take Lilian and get her ready to donate blood to Aurelie! Hurry!"

Lilian didn't know how long she had been unconscious for. By the time she woke up, it was already dark outside.

Eugene's irritated voice carried through the door. "Your condition is stable now, Aurelie. You don't require immediate surgery. Besides, Lilian's in no condition to donate blood to you, and the hospital blood bank doesn't have enough…"

Aurelie looked aggrievedly at Eugene and said in a choked voice, "I'm about to go to college. Who's going to take care of me once I leave your side? If I don't go through with the surgery as soon as possible, what happens if I faint from anemia again?"

She carefully held Eugene's hand and continued, "You're a doctor, aren't you? Even if something happens to Lilian, she'll definitely be fine with you by her side, unlike me…"

Eugene pursed his lips and stared hesitantly at Aurelie. Finally, he nodded. "Alright."

Lilian sobbed in grief at his answer. Eugene had chosen Aurelie yet again.

Although she already knew things would end up like this, it still hurt terribly to hear it with her own ears.

Eugene had never once chosen her throughout both lifetimes.

Lilian slept very uneasily that night. She happened to wake up just as Eugene came in, but she didn't open her eyes.

He stood beside her bed and reached out to tug the blankets over her.

"We've found the cause of Aurelie's anemia," he said, voice tight with tension. "I'll be performing the surgery the day after tomorrow, so you have to get better as soon as possible.

"Aurelie's going to need a lot of blood the day after tomorrow, but I've heard from the staff at the blood bank that they don't have enough. I'll ask Mom to make you some iron-rich foods tomorrow. They're good for replenishing blood.

"Help me repay Aurelie by saving her life just this once, and I'll definitely take good care of you in the future."

Lilian clenched her fists in scorn.

Take good care of her? When had he ever done that?

Eugene had already been treating her as a cursed maid before Aurelie came into the picture. And after Aurelie arrived, he begged Lilian to save her and give her regular blood donations.

Over the course of three years, Lilian had suffered several miscarriages due to blood deficiency from donating blood to Aurelie.

Her mother-in-law, Olivia Ellsworth, ridiculed her for being unable to successfully carry a child to term. She had even forced her to do household chores before she could even recover from her miscarriages.

Around that same period, Eugene was by Aurelie's side, personally cooking meals for her.

…

Early the next morning, Eugene walked into the hospital room with a lunchbox. "I asked Mom to make you some beef stew. She just delivered it this morning, so eat it while it's still hot."

As Lilian gazed at the lunchbox in Eugene's hands, she recalled his words from last night and suddenly felt her stomach heave. Without warning, she vomited bile all over him.

He frowned and stared at her, then put a hand to her forehead in concern. He sighed in relief when he realized she didn't have a fever.

"Is your stomach feeling unwell?" he asked.

Lilian shook her head and lay back on the hospital bed, refusing to respond.

Seeing this, Eugene sighed. "Get up earlier tomorrow morning. I'll help you perform a comprehensive checkup."

The corners of Lilian's mouth twitched up in a faint, mocking smile. He was lying.

He didn't even dare tell her the truth, afraid she would secretly run away. He was scared that Aurelie would die on the operating table without her "blood bag" around.

She lowered her gaze, her eyes filled with worry. She didn't know if Linus still remembered their agreement from years back.

That afternoon, Lilian suddenly heard a knock on the door.

When she looked up and saw a man in a military uniform standing there, all the tension finally left her body.

"General Gurwick instructed me to come, Ms. Sherwood. He told me to support you unconditionally, no matter what you want to do."