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.

Lilian tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Suddenly, she heard a noise from outside.

"Not here. If Eugene finds out, we'll both be done for."

At the mention of Eugene's name, Lilian forced her frail body out of bed.

She carefully opened the door with the voice recorder in hand to see Aurelie and another man walk into the hospital room next door.

She plucked up the nerve to follow them and carefully hid behind the door.

The man was pressing Aurelie into the bed. "I've missed you so much. When are you going to leave Eugene? You're my wife, you know. Do you know how terrible I feel every time I think of you and him together?"

Aurelie replied, "Don't leave any marks. I have surgery tomorrow. Once Lilian is dead, everything that belongs to Eugene will be ours.

"I even obtained Lilian's college acceptance letter. When the time comes and I attend college under her name, people will think I'm smart too. We won't have to live hard lives like before anymore."

Lilian's eyes widened in shock as she listened to the conversation between them.

She didn't expect Aurelie to have married another man behind Eugene's back. If Eugene found out that the woman he'd loved and pampered for so many years had actually been deceiving him all along…

She couldn't imagine what sort of expression Eugene would have, but she currently felt so excited that she felt like she might combust on the spot.

Lilian could barely wait to see Eugene's reaction after finding out the truth.

As she turned around after putting the voice recorder away, she bumped into Halle, who had come to take her away from the hospital.

He held up the camera in his hand. "I think this would be more convincing."

Lilian's eyes widened when she saw the footage of Aurelie and the other man entangled together on the camera screen.

"I want to send the evidence to Chief Merrick," she informed him, so excited that her voice came out sounding choked.

She wanted to completely ruin Eugene's reputation and ensure that he'd never be able to recover from this.

…

Early the next morning, a nurse woke Lilian up.

In order to ensure Aurelie's safety during the surgery, a series of examinations was performed on Lilian in accordance with normal surgical procedures.

At half past ten in the morning, the results were in. Lilian was then transported by nurses to the observation room adjacent to the operating room.

She would be brought in to have her blood transfused to Aurelie once the latter's surgery was more than halfway complete.

Eugene had already changed into surgical clothes, and all the medical staff seemed to be waiting for Lilian.

He sighed in relief when he saw her and bent down to gaze at her. When he spoke, his tone was softer than before.

"I know you've experienced your fair share of grievances recently. Once Aurelie's surgery is over, I'll request leave and take you out for some fresh air."

Fresh air?.

Lilian smiled mockingly. "No thanks."

They were never going to meet again, after all.

Eugene was about to say something else, but a shout from the anesthesiologist inside the operating room had him running back inside.

After the operating room door closed, Halle opened the door of the observation room and announced, "Everything's ready, Ms. Sherwood. We can leave now."

Upon hearing this, Lilian glanced toward the operating room, feeling a lingering discontent. "Will I still be able to get my acceptance letter back?"

"General Gurwick has already contacted Evermint College. They'll send you another copy and ensure that it's delivered safely into your hands," replied Halle.

Lilian suddenly sagged in relief, her nervousness vanishing. Tears flowed uncontrollably down her face. She had finally gotten everything she deserved in this life.

While they were sitting in the military vehicle heading for Andelang City, Lilian watched as Halle sent out the video and audio recording.

Only when the progress bar reached 100% did Halle turn to look at her. "I've sent the evidence to Chief Merrick. General Gurwick also asked me to invite you to attend a family dinner tonight."

Lilian gazed at the passing scenery. "Okay," she murmured.

Her new life was about to begin. There was a whole wide world before her.