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."

The soldier Linus had sent was named Halle Ziegler. He was Linus' right-hand man and an army talent who specialized in photography, videography, and audio recording.

Halle had specifically brought along some valuable audio and video recording equipment with him.

"General Gurwick said that this equipment would definitely be of use to you, Ms. Sherwood," he explained.

Lilian stared at all the equipment she had never seen before, her heart pounding with excitement.

With the equipment around, she doubted Aurelie would still be able to lie her way through everything.

Later in the evening, Aurelie limped her way into Lilian's hospital room with a lunchbox full of food she'd brought from the cafeteria.

Lilian carefully tucked a voice recorder under the sheets and switched it on, just as Halle had taught her.

"You're really lucky to have survived a fall like that," Aurelie commented.

She placed the lunchbox on the drawer next to Lilian's bed, but made no move to open it for Lilian.

Lilian tightened her hand around the voice recorder and intentionally struck up a conversation. "It's because the heavens wanted to see justice served. They want me to personally witness a murderer like you get your just desserts."

Aurelie laughed smugly. "I think you're the one who's going to get that. The acceptance letter you worked so hard for is mine now, and I was also the one who killed your unborn baby with my own hands."

She stared manically at Lilian. "As for you… Do you know that you're going to be on the operating table with me tomorrow?

"Eugene is obviously well aware that you won't make it through alive. But he's still going to transfuse your blood to me for my sake, despite how weak you are.

"You should know very well why he's unwilling to divorce you. Because once you're dead, he won't have anything to worry about anymore."

Lilian gripped the sheets tightly, her voice tense as she asked, "So, is the surgery something you really want?"

"Of course, though my anemia isn't that serious. I just wanted you to donate blood to me. I'm actually only mildly anemic. I'd be fine with just taking supplements.

"I certainly didn't expect Eugene to force you into becoming my personal blood bag for three whole years just because I casually brought it up with him."

Lilian suppressed her anger and continued to probe Aurelie. "Aren't you afraid that Eugene will find out about all the things you've done?"

Aurelie laughed confidently. "So what if he does? All I have to do is cry, and he'll give in immediately. How else do you think I got your acceptance letter? A little pillow talk with him, and he promptly decided to help me."

Although Lilian already knew from her past life that Aurelie and Eugene had slept together, hearing such audacious words from Aurelie's own mouth still disgusted her greatly.

Even if Eugene refused to divorce her, as long as the news of his adultery was revealed to the world, it would still be enough to make his life difficult.

As she nervously touched the voice recorder, Aurelie narrowed her eyes and approached her. "What are you hiding under the sheets?"

She stared nervously at Aurelie. Fearing that the latter would step closer still, she grabbed the lunchbox and threw it at her.

Aurelie didn't expect Lilian to have the courage to do that. It took a while before she recovered from her shock.

Just as she was about to lift Lilian's sheets, the sound of Eugene's footsteps echoed outside the door.

Aurelie's expression changed instantly. She put a hand to her bleeding forehead, looking frightened, and cried out in pain. "I came to see you out of the goodness of my heart, Lilian! How could you do this to me?"

The next instant, Eugene walked into the room in a white coat. He lent the swaying Aurelie his shoulder and stared coldly at the mess on the floor. Then, his harsh gaze landed on Lilian.

"What on earth are you doing, Lilian?" he shouted. "Aurie is severely anemic, yet you hit her in the head and made her bleed! Will you only be satisfied if you see her die in front of you?"

Lilian didn't refute his words. In fact, she didn't even glance at him.

She didn't want to explain herself anymore. After all, he wouldn't believe her no matter what she said.

She was leaving soon anyway.

Eugene's expression shifted slightly at her lack of reaction, but he quickly returned to normal.

He bent down and picked Aurelie up, then warned Lilian fiercely, "You'd better reflect properly on yourself. Why do you always have to target Aurelie every time?"

Lilian tightened her grip on the voice recorder as she watched the two of them leave.

Very soon, Aurelie's lies would be exposed to the world.