Izabella stared in shock as Margaret twisted the truth. She tried to explain instinctively. "I didn't say that!"

Slap! Madison raised her hand and struck her across the face. "As long as I'm here, you don't get to speak in this house!"

Margaret's mother rushed forward and slapped Izabella a dozen more times, sobbing and begging her not to hurt Margaret.

Izabella sat numbly in place. She watched Carson scoop Margaret into his arms and hurry out. At the doorway, his steps suddenly paused. "Bring Izabella too."

Izabella froze. A faint spark of hope flickered in her chest. "Her blood type matches Margaret's. She can serve as a blood donor!"

The light in Izabella's eyes died completely.

They dragged her to the hospital like a discarded rag doll and dumped her in the blood bank. They drew 1000cc of blood by force.

When Carson left, his gaze toward her was utterly cold. "Consider yourself lucky. Margaret came out of this with minor injuries. We're taking the blood now as backup, in case a vicious person like you tries something again."

Excessive blood loss left Izabella dizzy. She lacked even the strength to argue.

Carson reached the door but could not resist glancing back. Izabella leaned against the table. Her frail frame looked as if a breeze could carry her away.

He hesitated, wondering if he should return. Then his phone rang. He paused and answered it. "Good. I'm bringing the plasma now. Tell Margaret not to worry..."

The hospital staff seemed wary of complications and did not rush her out. By the time Izabella regained enough strength, it was already the middle of the night.

She staggered to the hospital entrance and pulled out her phone to call a ride. Suddenly, darkness swallowed her vision. She pitched forward uncontrollably.

A hand grabbed her arm the next instant and stopped her fall.

Izabella looked up. It was the doctor who had examined her last time.

He eyed her with concern. "Miss Dobson, your condition is serious. Haven't you told your family yet?"

Izabella pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

Seeing she did not want to answer, the doctor glanced at the ride app on her phone. He hesitated before speaking. "It's hard to get a car this late. Where are you headed? I'll drive you."

Izabella felt too ill to refuse his offer.

When they reached the villa, she stumbled out of the car. The doctor steadied her just in time. "You should come back to the hospital for a follow-up when you can. With your condition..."

He trailed off. Izabella only smiled faintly and said nothing.

The entire house stood dark when she returned.

She started toward her room in the shadows. Suddenly, someone yanked her arm and pulled her into a corner. "Who was the man who brought you home?"

Fury laced Carson's voice. "Izabella, how can you be so cheap? You can't live without a man, can you? My brother died, and you're already eager for the next one?"

Izabella looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't..."

"Liar!" Carson grew angrier. "I saw you hugging that man with my own eyes!"

He seized her and nearly lifted her off the ground. "Any man will do, right? Then why not me..."

He swallowed the rest of the words. Madness overtook him as he dragged her toward the stairs.

Cornered, Izabella sank her teeth into his arm with all her strength.

She bit hard enough to draw blood.

"You're insane!" Carson raged. He grabbed her collar and shoved her violently toward the staircase.

Her foot slipped. She tumbled down the entire flight.

Warm blood instantly flowed from between her legs and spread across the floor along her thighs.

Carson stood at the top. In the pitch black, he could only make out Izabella sitting at the bottom, unmoving for a long time.

Unexplained panic surged through him. He started down instinctively. Then the master bedroom door opened. Madison spoke coldly. "Carson, why aren't you sleeping? You have a board meeting tomorrow!"

Carson paused. In the end, he turned and went back to his room.

Izabella lay on the cold floor. In the now-silent villa, she laughed and cried at once.

Finally, the last thread tying her to this world had snapped completely...

Izabella cleaned the blood thoroughly, leaving no trace. At dawn, she went alone to the cemetery.

She knelt before her mother's grave, wiped the stone clean, and spoke softly.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. I've booked a hospice in Coastal Bay. The doctor said the miscarriage damaged me badly. I probably won't last a month."

Her fingers traced the photo on the stone. Her voice stayed gentle. "Mom, I'll join you soon. When you see me, please don't blame me for failing you."

After a few more quiet words, Izabella gathered her things to leave. Then a group of workers arrived with heavy tools and began smashing the grave without warning.

Izabella rushed forward. "What are you doing? This is illegal! I'm calling the police!"

"Izabella!" Margaret's voice cut in. She approached carrying a small box. "Sorry, I liked the spot for your mom. Great location. Perfect for burying my little dog. I already bought it through lawyers. All legal. Calling the police won't help."

Izabella's eyes widened in fury. "Margaret, aren't you afraid of karma for something so heartless?"

"Karma?" Margaret laughed as if she heard a joke. "Like your mom getting thrown out and dying sick? Or ending up like you? Who's really getting punished here?"

She glanced at the crew. "Hurry up and dig. Stay away from this lunatic!"

"No!" Izabella fought desperately to stop them. Several men held her back. She could only watch as they opened her mother's grave and scattered the ashes across the ground.

Once Margaret buried her dog's remains, she passed Izabella with a light laugh. "You know what? Carson personally approved everything—from buying the plot to paying for it!"

Izabella whipped her head around. She watched Margaret leave with a triumphant smile.

Izabella dropped to the earth and clawed at the scattered ashes, trying to gather them. Just as she collected a small pile, a gust of wind swept through and scattered them completely.

All strength drained from her body. She collapsed onto the ground and threw her head back in wild laughter.

It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered.

She was leaving anyway.

Izabella arrived at the Coastal Bay hospice. She had booked the bed under a false identity, so no one could trace her.

She spent the final stretch of her life in unexpected peace.

The bed next to hers belonged to a ten-year-old girl, bright and innocent despite her congenital leukemia. Doctors said without a matching bone marrow transplant soon, she had only months left.

The girl's parents had died years earlier in an accident. Her grandmother raised her but could afford neither the surgery nor the connections to find a donor.

The child shared her favorite snacks with Izabella. Every night before sleep, she read aloud from her storybook, eyes sparkling as she called out "Izzy."

Memories of her own childhood flooded back.

In secret, Izabella underwent marrow testing. By some mercy, she matched.

In her final days, Izabella made a bold choice.

She wrote a statement volunteering her bone marrow. She handed it to the doctor along with all her savings, instructing him to say an anonymous donor funded the girl's surgery after her death. He must never reveal her name.

Izabella passed away one afternoon. The television played the news in the background.

A gossip segment interrupted the broadcast. It showed live coverage of the Gilbert heir marrying the daughter of an obscure small businessman. The wedding was extravagant, attended by the elite.

Izabella watched Carson on screen in a crisp white suit, noble and handsome. Beside him, Margaret wore a custom couture gown, her face radiant with uncontainable joy.

The venue overflowed with fresh roses flown in from overseas, creating a scene of perfect romance.

This had once been the wedding Izabella dreamed of. "I love roses most. If our wedding were filled with them, it would be perfect!"

Back then, deep in love, Carson pinched her nose and promised indulgently. "Anything you want."

The happy memory swirled around her like a vortex. Izabella closed her eyes peacefully.

At last, she could rest forever in the past.

At the same time, in the spotlight of the lavish wedding, the groom Carson appeared distracted.

He had made the ceremony extravagantly grand and invited countless media outlets to broadcast it live, all in hopes of forcing the vanished Izabella to show herself. Yet even now, there was no sign of her.

Did she truly not care that he was marrying someone else?

His phone suddenly vibrated with a notification. The officiant asked the vow. "Mr. Gilbert, do you take this woman as your wife?"

Silence stretched on.

Margaret noticed something wrong. She looked up and saw him staring fixedly at the new message, refusing to lift his gaze.

The screen showed only one short line. "Boss, we found news. She's at the Coastal Bay hospital, but Miss Dobson's condition seems serious."

Margaret whispered urgently. "Carson, the officiant is waiting..."

Carson whirled around abruptly and bolted toward the church doors.

Margaret lunged forward and clutched his arm, her face pale with fear. "Where are you going? You can't leave! All our friends and family are watching! Can't whatever it is wait until after the ceremony?"

Her voice grew more frantic. "Just a little longer. It will be over soon. What could possibly be more important than our wedding? If you abandon me here with all these reporters, the wedding ruined, how will I ever face the world again?"

Carson said nothing. In her terrified eyes, he pried her fingers away one by one and walked out.

Margaret stared at his retreating back and dissolved into desperate sobs.

Carson raced straight to the director's office upon reaching the hospital.

Without preamble, he demanded. "Where is the patient named Izabella Dobson in your facility? How is she now?"

The director jumped at his intensity. His eyes flickered briefly before he cleared his throat. "Sir, you must be mistaken. Our hospital has never admitted a patient by that name."

As if afraid Carson would doubt him, he pulled up the medical records system and scrolled through entries to show him. "See for yourself. These are all patient records from the past year. No Izabella Dobson."

Carson stared at the screen, his eyes bloodshot and fierce, as if trying to burn through it.

But just as the director claimed, even after checking every record from the year, Izabella's name appeared nowhere.

Frowning deeply, Carson dialed his assistant. "How did you get this information? The hospital shows no record of her at all."

As Carson berated the assistant, the director quietly exhaled and wiped cold sweat from his brow.

How could he let Carson know? On the day of Izabella's incident, he had contacted her biological father in advance, fearing the family might hold the hospital responsible if something happened.

Unexpectedly, that woman's mother immediately instructed him to cover up Izabella's records and erase all traces of her stay, offering a substantial payment in return.

Coastal Bay was a small private facility struggling to stay afloat. The large sum tempted the director greatly.

Margaret's mother also threatened to sue for malpractice and delaying treatment, which would bankrupt the place.

Gritting his teeth, the director agreed to hide everything. He warned every doctor and nurse who had contact with Izabella never to breathe a word.

So when Carson grew suspicious and questioned staff throughout the building, he received the same unified answer.

No one named Izabella Dobson had ever been there.

Listening to his assistant's fearful apologies over the phone, Carson suddenly hurled the device across the room.

Again. It was happening again, just like years ago.

The familiar pain and disappointment crashed over him. Carson felt transported back to the day Izabella suddenly ended their relationship.

No matter how he begged or tried every possible way, she never turned back.

Her resolute silhouette as she walked away had haunted his nightmares for years.

Now history repeated itself. She vanished without explanation. No matter what resources he exhausted, he found no trace of her.

"Izabella, you're something else." Carson slammed his fist against the car door and let out a bitter laugh. "Don't let me find you. Because if I do, I swear..."