The Powell family organized a grand charity gala, ostensibly to celebrate Teresa's "successful transplant," but it actually aimed to bolster their philanthropic image.

As a "family member", I was forced to attend it.

Bella warned me, saying, "Many important figures are here this evening. Behave yourself and don't embarrass the Powell family."

I stood in the corner and felt like an outsider, wearing an outdated dress from last season.

Soon, the auction began.

Teresa held Theo's arm and stood dazzlingly on stage.

"Next, we present our family's highlight item. The host unveiled a red cloth.

A flash of emerald caught my eye.

My eyes were wide open.

It was an emerald ring.

That was the only keepsake my mother had left me!

When I entered the Powell family, Bella told me that she would keep it for me and forcibly took it away from me.

No matter how I pleaded, she refused to give it back to me.

And now, they were going to sell my mother's keepsake?

"The starting bid is one million!"

"I offer one and a half million!"

"Two million!"

Watching the guests bidding fiercely, I couldn't hold back any longer.

That ring was the only thing my mother gave me.

I dashed onto the stage and grabbed the box containing the ring. "This is mine! It's my mother's keepsake! You can't sell it!"

The audience erupted in an uproar.

Security quickly stepped in and gently but firmly guided me off the stage.

Teresa held the microphone, and her eyes reddened instantly. "Dolores, how could you do this? The money from selling your ring is meant for the orphanage children. How could you be so selfish? Are you trying to take even the charity funds?"

The guests began to whisper and point.

"Isn't she the one from the other branch? She doesn't seem to understand family decorum."

"They say she's always been resentful of Teresa. No wonder she'd cause a scene like this."

"What an embarrassment! How did the Powell family raise such an ungrateful wretch?"

The insults washed over me like a relentless tide.

I struggled desperately and shouted, "No! It's mine! It's what my mother left me!"

A pair of polished leather shoes stopped in front of me.

I looked up and saw Theo.

Clinging to him like a lifeline, I pleaded with him, "Theo, help me... It's my mother's keepsake..."

Theo looked at me with nothing but disdain. "Let go," he said coldly.

The security released me.

I thought that he was going to help me.

But to my surprise, he took the box from my hands without a word. "Such a fine treasure is only fitting for Teresa," he said.

He picked up the ring and put it on Teresa's thumb in front of everyone. "Teresa, this is a gift for you."

Teresa was delighted and gasped in delight. "Thank you, Theo! I'll take good care of it."

I watched the emerald gleaming on her hand.

I was consumed by rage.

My heart skipped a beat, and everything went black.

I fainted on the spot.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, I heard Theo's cold voice. "Use some ice water to revive her. I'm tired of these fainting tricks."

I slowly came to in the lounge behind the hall, still dazed and shivering. I gasped for air and coughed violently.

I lay on the floor of the lounge behind the banquet hall, drenched. My hair was plastered to my face. I was utterly disheveled.

Outside, Theo's voice rose in anger, "Why isn't the treatment working? You said this donor match was ideal! Why are Teresa's indicators all declining?"

The doctor replied nervously, "The biological compatibility wasn't as strong as we hoped... and the donor's health during the process may have affected the outcome."

"Bang!" A loud crash was heard.

The lounge door was kicked open.

Theo burst into the room, his eyes blazing. He loomed over me. "This is your fault," he said coldly. "Your emotional state during the procedure compromised everything. When you were pregnant, you were always so gloomy. You seemed to be carrying the world's burdens! You put Teresa's life at risk! Dolores, how could you be so malicious? Did you do it on purpose?"

I was suffocated under his grip, and my face turned purple. My vision blurred.

Yet, watching his frantic rage, I felt an urge to laugh.

He killed my baby and now blamed me for not raising it well?

Could anything be more absurd?

"Haaa... This is karma..."

My laughter completely enraged Theo.

He turned away in disgust. "If the first treatment fails, we'll use another option. Your biology is still the closest match to Teresa's."

I stared wide-eyed in terror. "I have heart disease... A bone marrow extraction could be fatal for me!"

My heart was already on the brink of failure.

If I underwent a bone marrow puncture, the excruciating pain and loss of blood production would surely end my life!

"You won't die." Theo looked at me coldly. "I'm a doctor. I know what I'm doing. Even if you die, it's because you owe Teresa."

Then he said to his people, "Take her to get blood drawn for matching."

Two bodyguards rushed in and dragged me out.

I struggled desperately, and my nails left bloody marks on the floor. "Theo! I'm a human being, not an animal! I'm your wife! How can you treat me like this?"

Theo stood still and tidied the tie I had disheveled. His eyes were icy. "From the moment you caused Teresa's rejection, you were not worth being my wife. You're nothing but a means to pay for your sins."

No matter how I cried or how I pleaded with him, Theo didn't change his mind. Even though the veins on the back of my hand collapsed and made it impossible to insert a needle, even when the nurse couldn't bear it and said that drawing blood like that could kill me, Theo remained indifferent.

He even personally extracted a tube of blood from my jugular vein.

The syringe was filled with my bright red blood.

That was my life.

After he drew my blood, he took away my phone and locked me back in that dark and damp room.

There was no water or food for me.

In the darkness, I curled up in a corner, trembling.

I used to think that even if the world abandoned me, at least Theo would stand by my side.

Now I understood

that the deepest wound came from him!

The storeroom had no windows. I couldn't distinguish day from night.

Only a sliver of light through the gap in the door reminded me that time was passing.

My medication had long run out.

The symptoms of heart failure began to worsen.

It felt like a heavy stone pressed on my chest. Each breath consumed all my strength.

My lungs made a wheezing sound.

I knelt on the floor and gasped for air.

My nails dug into the gaps between the floorboards, and my fingertips were bloody.

A document was slipped through the door gap.

In the faint light, I could make out the words. It was a "Voluntary Bone Marrow Donation Agreement."

Outside, the sound of high heels striking the floor echoed, crisp and pleasant.

I heard Teresa's voice. "Dolores, don't be stubborn." She laughed coquettishly and said in a smug tone. "As long as you sign it, Theo will let you out. So he still cares about you. He is afraid you'll starve in there."

I shook with rage.

Using every last ounce of strength, I crawled to the door and pounded on it with my fists. "Get out! You're dreaming! I'd rather die than save you, you devil!"

There was a moment of silence outside the door.

Then Teresa's aggrieved voice was heard. "Theo, look, Dolores... She'd rather die than save me..."

Theo's cold voice echoed. "Since she's so stubborn, let her come to her senses. Turn off the heating in the room." When she signs, turn it back on."

It was the season of late spring chill, with freezing cold nights.

When the heating stopped, the room became cold quickly.

Cold was the worst enemy of heart conditions.

In less than half an hour, the severe blood vessel constriction triggered intense angina.

I curled into a ball from the pain, and my teeth bit into my lips.

My consciousness began to blur.

In a daze, I seemed to see my unborn baby.

He was only as large as a palm, covered in blood. He was floating in the air and waving at me. "Mom... Mom, it's so cold... Mom... why did Dad kill me..."

Tears flowed uncontrollably. "Baby... I'm sorry... It's because I am not strong enough..."

I mustered my last bit of strength to grab a vase and smash it against the door. "Help... Help me... Theo... it's hurts..."

The sound outside wasn't footsteps but the servant's mocking laughter. "Why are you shouting?" "Theo says no one will take care of you, even if you scream yourself hoarse if you don't sign it. Do you really think you're Theo's wife? You're nothing but a spare part for harvesting."

Despair engulfed me like a tide.

I knew I was on the brink of death.

But I didn't want to die.

I wasn't attached to this world, but I was unwilling to accept the fate.

Why should I have to suffer like this?

I was born illegitimate, a disgrace, but it wasn't my choice.

Why must I endure the pain of losing my baby?

Why must I endure my husband's betrayal?

Why must I give up my bone marrow, my life, to Teresa, who had taken everything from me?

I couldn't think it through.

Even if I turned into a vengeful ghost, I wouldn't let them off!