Hadrian’s voice became louder, as if he wanted the whole floor to come over and watch.

“Won’t you come and be the judge here? What kind of mother abandons her child because she is sick? I only wish to save the girl’s life, but this woman won’t even part with her money!”

As Hadrian had hoped, several people poked their heads into the ward, and whispers started up.

The gazes shot my way were either curious or disdainful. They were like knives in my back.

Hadrian had brought this fight into the court of opinion.

I had been turned into a cruel and heartless mother who would let my own daughter die. Meanwhile, he was the loving and dedicated father.

I let out an abrupt laugh and reached out toward him.

“You’re right. Give me the baby.”

Hadrian was frozen for a moment. There was a flash of triumph in his eyes.

He thought that I was too soft-hearted and had relented. He quickly passed Agnes to me.

I held Agnes close in my embrace.

She was so small, so light. She had the fragile warmth unique to a newborn.

In the depths of my heart, the protective instincts of a mother shone through.

But then, in the next second, I was filled with another wave of memories.

I once sat vigil with a sick Agnes all night, not daring to close my eyes for a moment of rest. When she awoke, she had sent messages to Liza, complaining about how annoying and clumsy I was.

I sold off all my assets and jewelry to pay for her heart surgery. Yet, afterward, she had helped Hadrian transfer away all the rest of my funds.

When I was admitted to the hospital for sheer exhaustion, she had drugged my milk and directly caused my death.

I forcefully pushed back against the bit of motherly love I felt.

I would retain my love for my real daughter.

As for those who had caused our separation, I would make them pay.

The hospital sent me the paternity test between Agnes and Hadrian, proving that they were father and daughter.

The person I sent also found my daughter at Liza’s parents’ house.

When I switched her back with Agnes and once again held my baby in my arms, I finally felt that empty part of myself fill up again.

I acted like nothing at all had happened and continued to recuperate after giving birth.

A month later, Liza kept showing up in my house frequently again.

However, it differed from my memories of the previous timeline in one way. This time, she brought Agnes with her.

In this timeline, Agnes had practically become an orphan considering how she was treated.

Liza put her daughter carelessly aside and picked mine up as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

“This is Agnes, right? She’s so pretty. You can tell at first glance that she’ll be a lucky girl!”

I sat there and languidly ate my soup. I did not even look up.

“I would never name my daughter such an old-fashioned name. Her name is Serena.”

Liza stiffened imperceptibly.

After a second, she forced out a laugh.

“Serena… Serena’s a nice name. You have such a way with names.”

After that, Liza visited even more often.

Hadrian suddenly became much more concerned about being home. He stopped finding excuses to stay at the office working overtime. He came home on time every evening.

As I watched him make a show of playing with Serena, the whole situation felt even more absurd.

When Agnes got hungry and bawled, Liza ignored her completely. She gently picked up Serena and rocked her.

I leaned against the doorjamb and watched them calmly.

“If I remember correctly, your daughter also has a congenital heart problem, right? Are you sure she’ll be okay if you let her keep crying like that?”

Liza did not even turn around. She shot back impatiently, “Well, she was born unlucky. No one asked her to have such an expensive medical condition! She’s not like Serena here. She was born with a silver spoon. She has all the money in the world to treat every single little sniffle.”

Liza paused and glared at Agnes, who was nearly panting at that point. Her tone was ice cold as she said, “It would be better if she died. It would save me money feeding her.”

As she spoke, Liza looked at Serena and put on a baby voice. She said, “Better to save that money and buy Serena more pretty dresses. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Hadrian was sitting to one side, looking at Liza and Serena with a smile on his face. It was as if he was truly enjoying the loving sight.

I scoffed to myself.

They were such a beautiful, happy family.

I was eager to see how they would react when they found out that Agnes was their real daughter.

When Serena turned ten, her heart condition was very stable because of the care I had taken in caring for her. Her face was rosy, and she was like any other child.

Meanwhile, Agnes had suffered Liza’s poor treatment and neglect all these years. Her face was wan and jaundiced. She would start panting after only a few steps of walking. Worse, she had to do countless chores and cleaning up every day.

She was so timid and looked nothing like the pampered princess from the previous timeline.

Today, Serena had brought home yet another certificate of excellence from school.

Liza moved even faster than I did. She grabbed the certificate and praised her. “What a smart girl you are, Serena! You’re like a little angel, and you’re so brilliant, too! I’m so proud of you as your godmother!”

She tried to hug Serena, but Serena unconsciously shrunk into me.

The smile on Liza’s face froze for a second. When she saw Agnes standing sheepishly by the door, her expression changed. Agnes was too shy to even step through the door.

“What are you doing there just lolling around? Do you need me to invite you in with a red carpet? Look at you! Your grades must be at the bottom of the barrel again, am I right?”

Agnes shook from fright. Her head ducked even lower. She mumbled, “I’m the second last in my class…”

“Second last?”

Liza flicked Agnes’ forehead cruelly.

“I can’t believe you would even dare to say it out loud! You’re useless! You were born stupid and unlucky, just like your mother!”

I coldly watched all of it. I knew that Liza really meant all her insults for someone else.

When Liza was fifteen, her biased parents had tried to sell her to a fifty-year-old man to be his wife. She had fought hard and escaped, and she had ended up fainting outside the backdoor of my family’s restaurant.

Seeing how injured she was, I had been overcome with pity. I got my parents to take her in and even pay for her schooling. In return, she helped out at the restaurant.

Everything I had, she also got. We never once mistreated her.

I thought that we would be best friends forever, but she had become ungrateful and vindictive instead.

But Liza was right. Her daughter had indeed inherited all she had from her mother.

The more Liza criticized Agnes, the more worked up she got. She picked up a broom by the door and used it to hit Agnes.

“Stupid! What an embarrassment! You’re worse than a dog! At least a dog can defend its family. What can you do but eat?”

Agnes did not hide or run away. She only curled into a ball and instinctively repeated, “I’m sorry, Mommy. I’m sorry! I won’t do anything bad anymore. I’m useless, I’m stupid…”

Serena was so shocked by all this that her face turned pale. She hugged me tightly and buried her face in my chest.

Hadrian came out from the study and frowned at the scene.

When Agnes’ voice got very weak, he said evenly, “Enough. She’s just a little girl. Don’t get so upset with her.”

Liza finally stopped. She kicked Agnes disdainfully where she was still curled up on the floor.

Such a scene had happened countless times in the past decade. Yet, whenever I saw it play out before my eyes again, I felt a chill.

Hadrian’s cold distance was much more terrifying to me than Liza’s violent rage.

After all, whether or not I had switched the children back, the child being beaten and left on the floor was still his biological daughter.

Even so, he had watched this happen soundlessly for ten years.

…

Serena’s tenth birthday was to take place the following day.

The original plan was to take her for a day out at a new amusement park.

However, I was unexpectedly awoken early in the morning by the noise of crying and shouting.

It was Liza again.

She had brought Agnes over to celebrate Serena’s birthday. For the crime of taking a second look at Serena’s pink sneakers, Liza was furiously scolding Agnes.

When I went downstairs, I found Agnes with her coat ripped off, her skinny body littered with scars and injuries.

Liza twisted Agnes’ ear painfully.

“You wench! How dare you want Serena’s things? Let me tell you something. Serena is a princess, and you’re nothing but a worm! You will always rot out in the dirt!”

At some point, Serena had been woken by the noise as well. She hugged me in terror, still in her pajamas.

I spoke out to interrupt Liza’s rage. “Enough. It’s just a pair of shoes. If the girl likes them, just give them to her.”

Serena spoke up softly as well. “Liza, can you please stop hitting her? I gifted her the shoes. Her own shoes are so thin. It’s so cold in the winter, and her feet will get cold.”

Liza became even more livid at this. She grabbed Agnes by the hair.

“What did you say to Serena? How dare you? You’ve learned to manipulate people for things, have you?”

Agnes was in such pain that tears flowed freely down her face. She rushed to explain in a panic, “No, I haven’t, Mom. I never tricked anyone…”

“How dare you talk back to me?”

Liza immediately slapped her.

“How dare you trick her? How dare you even try to compare to her?”

Agnes had tried to plead for mercy, but her soft cries gradually tapered off. In the end, she could only groan and pant in pain.

“She’s bleeding!” Serena cried suddenly.

She pointed at Agnes. Bright red blood was flowing from Agnes’ wounds.

Out of terror, both girls paled and collapsed at practically the same time, both clutching their chests.

Liza’s actions had caused both girls to have a heart attack at the same time. Both were sent to the hospital.

Hadrian, Liza, and I all stood outside the surgery room. The atmosphere was very tense.

Liza complained about me in her anxiousness. “What kind of mother are you? You knew that Serena’s always been in poor health, but you let her watch what happened and gave her such a shock! If anything happens to her…”

I was already regretting letting Serena see all that unpleasantness, and I was hurt and upset. When Liza accused me, my temper overwhelmed me.

“You have no right to lecture me on how to be a mother! What about you, huh? How could you hit your daughter so badly that she has to go to the emergency room?”

Liza blurted out, “That wench can’t compare to Serena! She’s not worth a single hair on Serena’s head!”

Right then, the door of the surgery room opened. The lead surgeon came out wearing a grim expression.

“Both girls need immediate heart transplants. However, we only have one compatible heart on hand, and both girls are a match. From a medical point of view, your daughter is already showing multiple organ failure, Miss Blair. She needs the transplant immediately.

“Meanwhile, Serena’s condition is more stable, and she can temporarily…”

“No!” Liza interrupted. “That heart must go to Serena!”