When Sandra opened her eyes again, she found that her neck was in a neck brace, and she could not move at all. The intense pain on her face made her more alert. She felt sore all over, as if all the bones in her body had broken.

Keith stood by Sandra's bed. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sandra open her eyes.

"Well, you're still alive, so go and apologize to Ivy. We had difficulty persuading her to come down from the roof since you didn't come that day."

Sandra never liked to cry, but she still felt better. When she opened her eyes, she was still a little delighted to see him. However, not only did he not ask if she was fine, he also asked her to apologize to Ivy.

Sandra did not understand what she did wrong.

Did he do all of that just because Ivy claimed that she had depression? Did everyone have to pander to Ivy just because there was a risk of her committing suicide?

Sandra opened her mouth, but she could not make a sound.

"Forget it. Look for me when you have thought it through. It's time for Ivy's medication, so I have to leave now."

Sandra hated that she could not stand up and hit Keith. Tears slid down her cheeks as she felt her heart shatter.

The nurses next door whispered amongst each other.

"Mr. Farmer blocked the entire first floor for Ms. Foreman. He even requested the chief nurse to be there, claiming that Ms. Foreman would cry when she's given an injection."

"Love is in the air."

"I hope that there's a domineering man who would treat me so well too."

"I heard that Mr. Farmer is always by Ms. Foreman's side. He's afraid that something will happen to her. I checked on her earlier, and her wound has completely healed by now."

Sandra looked out of the window. The sunlight shone on her, so she could not open her eyes. She did not feel like talking.

Sandra's parents, Mike and Irene Hudson, entered the ward just when she shut her eyes and was about to rest for a while.

"Sandra, you're seriously injured."

Sandra thought that her parents still cared about her.

Irene held Sandra's hand and said, "My good girl, I know you are a strong person. You've never made us worry about you since you were a child. You'll definitely get through this."

Irene's smile suddenly turned cold. "Ivy just wants you to apologize. After all, she had nothing all these years while you lived a good life with your father and me for so many years."

Sandra pulled her hand back coldly as she turned her head to the side. She did not want to look at them.

Mike lost control, pointing at Sandra as he shouted, "Ivy wouldn't have been agitated if you didn't insist on marrying Keith! Why is it so hard for you to just apologize? You'd rather be in a car accident than apologize. How could there be such a heartless daughter like you in our family?"

Sandra looked out the window motionlessly, ignoring their words.

Her parents who loved her dearly had completely changed. They became so cruel just because she was not their biological daughter.

Keith rushed into the ward at that moment and exclaimed, "Mike, Irene, come see Ivy quickly!"

The three of them rushed out of the room without even looking at Sandra.

For a moment, Sandra wondered if she had taken everything that should have belonged to Ivy or if Ivy had taken everything from her.

A message popped up on Sandra's cell phone. It was sent by the agency that Sandra previously went to for a paternity test.

Sandra doubted the test results that Ivy showed them, so she secretly took her parents' hair for testing.

The report stated that the probability that Sandra Foreman and Mike Foreman were biological father and daughter was 99.99%.

Tears slid down Sandra's face.

It turned out that Ivy had deceived everyone.

The doctor discharged Sandra three days later.

After limping home, Sandra found the four of them in the dining hall, singing the Happy Birthday song.

Even Sandra herself had forgotten that it was her birthday.

Irene and Mike were busy serving food for Ivy, who was laughing happily. Their eyes were filled with love.

Ivy looked at Keith affectionately as she carefully wiped the cream off from the corners of his mouth.

The Hudson family housekeeper, Janet Hudley, took Sandra's bag and saw that the gauze on her forehead had not been completely removed.

"Ms. Hudson, are you alright?" Janet asked.

Those words broke the peace around them.

Everyone looked over. Ivy stood up and walked quickly to Sandra.

Suddenly, she kneeled down and said, "Sandra, it's my fault. I ruined your wedding, so you can hit me if you want."

All three of them ran over quickly to help Ivy stand up when they saw that she kneeled down.

Sandra stood and watched the drama. She did not even wish to show them the paternity test results.

She would rather be an orphan than have a family like them.

"Ivy, you don't have to kneel down to apologize to her. It's obvious that she robbed you of the life you deserved," said Keith, who wanted to help Ivy up, but she refused.

Sandra calmly watched everything taking place in front of her. "You've already got what you want. Why are you still putting up an act here?

Sandra thought, 'Didn't you want to jump off the building? Why are you standing here now? Go ahead and jump. Although our villa isn't a tall building, you'd still be disabled if you didn't die from the jump…'

Slap!

Mike slapped Sandra hard, and she fell onto the sofa.

That was the first time that Sandra was slapped by her father since she was born. However, Mike did not feel any regret or heartache at all.

"How could I have raised such an ungrateful person like you? Is this what you've been taught?

"We've been extremely generous by letting you continue to stay in the Hudson family and allowing you to marry Keith. Don't be ungrateful!"

Sandra smiled. It seemed like they expected her to thank the family for the harm they had brought to her.

Ivy smirked slyly as if she was showing off her victory.

Ivy pulled Sandra and said, "Sandra, my parents and Keith are celebrating my birthday. We're having my favorite strawberry cake. You should join us."

Sandra pushed her away and snapped, "I don't want to interrupt your family of four from celebrating."

Sandra did not push Ivy strongly, but Ivy took the opportunity to slam herself against the coffee table next to her.

Tears fell down instantly. She cried like it was the end of the world, which made the three of them feel pity for her.

"Sandra, that's too much!"

Sandra had a headache. She could not stand the happy appearance of the family of four, so she turned around and headed upstairs, leaving a few words.

"I'm allergic to strawberries."

When Sandra entered her room, she found that the room was filled with Ivy's belongings.

Irene entered and held Sandra's hand. "Sandra, don't be angry at your father. Ivy said that she liked your room and that the sunshine was good here. We were afraid of irritating her, so we followed her wishes. Your things have been moved to the first floor. Please bear with her."

A good cop and a bad cop. Her parents worked really well together.

Sandra ran to the first floor in a hurry. Her things filled up the tiny storage room. Among the messy pile of things, Sandra looked for her research reports.

Those were the reports from her hard work in the laboratory over the past six months. They were also her first copyright project.

Sandra walked to the living hall. She knew that the only person who took her report would be Ivy.

"Ivy, did you take my reports?"

Mike spoke before Ivy replied, "We decided to give the reports to Ivy. She needs them to graduate. Since you're so capable, you can just come up with another one."

Sandra clenched her fists and yelled, "So, you all know about it? Do you know what you're doing? This is called stealing, plagiarism!"

Mike did not even look up at Sandra. "Everything you have belongs to Ivy. It's just a research report, so we took it."

Sandra trembled angrily and exclaimed, "That's the result of the team's effort. It doesn't just belong to me. Ivy, give the report back to me!"

Ivy acted pitifully and hid in Irene's embrace. She even pretended to retreat.

"Sandra, we've done our best to raise you for the past twenty years. Do you want to compete with Ivy now?"

Sandra realized that she would never be able to win the argument, so she had to give in.

"Since you want to compensate her, I can give her all the assets and belongings under my name. I just want my research report back."

Mike continued to defend Ivy. "All the assets belong to Ivy in the first place. They're not yours to return."

Sandra felt completely disappointed as her heart sank, seeing the way her father reacted in front of her.

A father that she had for the past twenty years, a father that put her on the pedestal.

There was no reason for her to stay.

"Fine. I'll leave since there's no place for me in this family, but don't ever think of using my research reports."

Sandra felt angry yet somewhat amused. She wondered what would happen if her parents were to find out that their biological daughter was not Ivy.

Sandra left the Hudson family villa in a daze.

Thunder and lightning roared in the sky, and heavy rain poured down on her. It was as if God was adding to her misery.

A black sports car stopped beside her as rainwater splashed all over her. The car window rolled down, revealing none other than Keith.

"Sandra, why do you want to go against your parents' wishes? As long as you're willing to accept Ivy, you're still the daughter of the Hudson family. Our engagement is still in force."

Sandra ignored him and continued to walk forward. Keith got down with an umbrella and caught up with her. He pulled her arm so that she would look at him.

"Are you still angry about what happened at the wedding? That's a human life. I can't just sit back and do nothing."

He pulled her arm further, trying to show weakness to persuade her.

"Don't be angry. I'll compensate you with a wedding even more grand than the last one. Although Ivy is the daughter of the Hudson family, my wife will only be you."

Sandra stopped and looked back at Keith. "From the day Ivy returned to the Hudson family, all of you have leaned towards her. It was as if everything I did was owed to her. It wasn't me who switched the two babies, so why do all of you put the blame on me? If you want Ivy—"

"No, my engagement is with you. As for the rest, just bear with her."

Sandra would rather give up everything than be pitied. "If that is the case, I'd rather cancel the engagement."

Keith had never thought that Sandra would cancel their engagement. He was a little angry at her, but he could not bother to explain further. He turned around and got in the car and drove away.

Sandra had nowhere to go.

She walked to the university to see if she could find the backup of the research reports in the laboratory, but she was surrounded as soon as she arrived.

Henry Walker, one of the seniors who had worked with her, grabbed her at her collar and lifted her up. Everyone looked at her with a strange look.

Sandra did not know what had happened.

She grabbed Henry's hand and said, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

A classmate pulled Henry away.

Henry pointed at Sandra and scolded, "You published our research data! How dare you ask me what's wrong?"

Sandra shook her head, not knowing what to say.

Cecilia Johnson, another senior in Sandra's team, took out her cell phone and showed Sandra the article and research data. Those were the reports from their sleepless nights of effort from the past six months.

The article was published under Ivy Foreman.

"Henry, I'm sorry. This is indeed my mistake. I'll give everyone a satisfactory explanation."

Everyone went into a discussion. Some came forward to comfort Henry.

"I believe in Sandra's character. She didn't do this."

Sandra suddenly remembered that there was only one person who knew the password for her computer, it was Keith.

When Sandra arrived at the Farmer residence, it was dark and the rain had yet to stop. She rushed into Keith's room looking like a mess.

He had just come out of the shower and sneered when he saw Sandra.

"I was wondering how long you could stand on your own. You still come to me after all."

Sandra calmed down, trying to breathe steadily. "Did you tell Ivy my computer password? Did you know that she published my research report?"

Keith wiped his wet hair with a look of disdain. "Isn't it just some research data? You've done so many experiments. Ivy needs this experiment to graduate, so just give it to her."

Sandra furiously pulled Keith's arm and exclaimed, "What do you mean by just giving it to her? That research report doesn't just belong to could. It's the hard work of everyone in the laboratory. How can you just give it to her? Who can she blame for failing her exams for so many years? Why should I pay for her mistakes?"

Keith shook Sandra off and sat on the sofa.

"I'm your husband. How can I not have the right to deal with things like this?"

Sandra scoffed, "Have you forgotten that you left me at the wedding to find another woman? We haven't even completed the wedding ceremony. How dare you utter such shameless words?"

Keith hung the towel around his neck and took Sandra in his arms.

"I know you're still jealous. Enough. It's not worth it to be upset over such a small matter. I promise you that I'll give you a wedding even bigger than the last time."

'Small matter?'

Sandra yelled, "No, no!"

Sandra turned around and left immediately . The way Keith behaved at that moment made her sick.

Keith stopped her. "Don't you dare to even think of exposing Ivy. You know how powerful the Farmer family is. There's no way you can go against us."

Sandra and Keith grew up together, and their engagement was decided on by their parents before they were born.

Keith had always protected Sandra in school since they were little. He would always tell everyone that Sandra was his when they were only in kindergarten.

Sandra had always felt that she would be Keith's wife. She had never imagined that she would experience the darkest moment of her life that day.

Keith paused when he saw Ivy the moment she returned to the Hudson family. Ivy's pitiful and weak appearance was something that he had never seen on Sandra.

Sandra had always been a top student since she was a child, so she was never in second place when it came to her studies.

The hearts of humans could change, and the grass was always greener on the other side. When Sandra was constantly compared to Ivy, Sandra's parents and Keith gradually favored Ivy.

After leaving the Farmer residence, Sandra wandered aimlessly on the streets.

Just when she was in deep thought, a black sports car drove by and splashed water all over her.

'Again?'

That was the second time that day.

All the events that happened in the past two days made her feel suffocated. She finally lost control of her emotions.

Sandra sat on the ground, broke down, and cried hysterically.

A man got out of the car. He was flustered and apologized immediately.

Sandra cried endlessly, and passersby on the sidewalk cast strange looks at them.

The man did not know what to do, so he squatted down to comfort her. "I didn't see you. I'm so sorry for splashing water on you. I'll compensate you in any way you want, just please stop crying."

Sandra looked up and asked, "Do you have a spare room in your home?"