"Don't worry, I'll have the captain turn the ship around right now. We'll head back immediately and once we reach land, I'll take you to the best hospital!"

After saying that, he instructed the ship's doctor to give her the fever-reducing injection and immediately contacted the captain, commanding him to change course.

This cruise was chartered by him specifically for the New Year's Eve gathering and suddenly turning back in the middle of the event left everyone astonished.

"Mitchel, I feel so dizzy," Malva swayed a little, struggling to stay on her feet.

Mitchel quickly released Livia's hand and rushed to catch Malva, his eyes instantly reddening.

"Malva, are you feeling seasick?"

Malva looked up, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "I'm fine, Mitchel. It's just that after having a fever for a month, there are some aftereffects."

Mitchel's eyes dimmed, filled with deep concern. "I told you not to come, but you insisted on coming anyway..."

"But I wanted to spend New Year's Eve with you..." Malva's face grew increasingly flushed. "Mitchel, don’t worry about me. There’s just one fever-reducing injection on this ship. Please give it to Livia first. I’m not important."

Mitchel quickly stopped the ship's doctor. "No, give it to Malva first!"

The doctor explained that Livia’s condition was much more serious than Malva’s. "The patient’s fever is almost 40°C. If we don’t inject now, it could cause brain damage!"

But Mitchel didn’t care. "She’s faking it. She’s always pretended to be sick before just to get my attention! Now, I order you to treat Malva first!"

He yanked Livia off the bed and picked Malva up, placing her on the bed instead.

"Now, treat Malva immediately!"

Livia was thrown onto the floor, her head hitting the edge of the bed with a heavy thud. Just then, the ship swayed and she was sent rolling into the corner of the room.

Photos and oil paintings hanging on the wall crashed down on her and she let out a faint groan, but no one paid her any attention.

Luckily, the captain quickly turned the ship around and an ambulance arrived at the port.

However, when the stretcher carrying Livia was about to be taken, Mitchel stopped them. "Send Malva first!"

The doctors dared not disobey him, especially since this hospital was owned by the West Family.

When it was Livia’s turn, the doctors discovered she had lost consciousness. Her body was covered in wounds and there were signs she had almost suffocated.

They forcibly pried open her mouth, quickly extracting the blood from her oral cavity, then administered the fever-reducing medication.

Using tweezers, they carefully removed the shards of glass embedded in her body, piece by piece.

By morning, she was wheeled out of the emergency room and sent to the inpatient center.

Mitchel stayed by Malva’s side, sleepless through the night. When he saw Livia’s body wrapped in white gauze, a sense of confusion lingered in his heart.

"It’s just a fever. How could it lead to encephalitis? Why is her body all wrapped up like a mummy?”

He glared at the doctor. “What are you doctors even doing? What’s the point of the West Family supporting you all?"

Malva, weak and exhausted, lay on Mitchel’s chest. "Calm down, they all know Livia and whatever she asks them to do, they have to listen. They didn't have a choice..."

Mitchel snorted coldly in anger. "Is this place run by the West Family or the Mayer Family? She’s too full of herself. Does she really think I won’t call off the engagement?"

Malva’s eyes lit up as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Of course, in this family, it’s all about what you say, Mitchel. But when it comes to the wedding, that’s something your parents decide..."

Mitchel’s expression darkened and he fell silent.

His mother had always favored Livia. When he initially opposed the arranged marriage, he went on a hunger strike for three days, but his mother only took Livia shopping, saying Livia’s fate was so prestigious that the West Family wasn’t worthy of her.

He didn’t deny that Livia was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but she was too spoiled.

He needed to suppress her and show her who was truly in charge of this family.

Livia hadn’t even been sent to the hospital before Mitchel’s bodyguards took her away.

She was placed in the attic of a villa.

Mitchel stayed by her bedside, coldly staring at her. "You’re really weak. Malva had a fever for a month and never needed to be hospitalized, yet you only had a fever for one night and are this badly off?"

It wasn’t until the caregiver helped her turn over that they discovered the bandages were soaked in blood. When the bandages were removed, they pulled off her skin along with it. Her entire body had no healthy skin left.

Mitchel's eyes turned red and he quickly took out his phone to contact specialists for a consultation.

Malva stood outside the door, pulling out some envelopes and stuffing them into their pockets.

She said, "With Livia in this state, she probably won’t make it. From now on, I’ll be the future mistress of the West Family, so you’d better think carefully about what you say and do."

"I want you to tell him that Livia's injuries are self-inflicted, that the brain inflammation was a misdiagnosis and that everything was planned by her to force you into this. Understand?"

The heads of several departments spoke in unison, stating that Livia’s injuries were self-inflicted and even the fever and brain inflammation were misdiagnosed under her coercion.

Malva's words dripped with feigned sincerity, her voice full of pity as she wiped away a few tears. "Mitchel, I didn't expect you to have lived all this time in the web of lies she so carefully spun. Livia never loved you. She only wanted to possess you because of your status as the heir to the West Family and she would stop at nothing to get you. Mitchel, don't be so heartbroken. I know you have feelings for her, but has Livia ever… “

The words hung in the air like a heavy weight, pressing against Mitchel's chest. "Don't you want to know why she immediately mentioned breaking off the engagement after getting out of the pool?"

The mention of breaking off the engagement was like a punch to his heart. It shattered the fragile remnants of his calm.

Mitchel immediately shoved aside the crowd, forcefully tearing at Livia's bandages and carried her into the bathroom.

He ordered the maid to bring ice cubes and poured them over her, desperate to grasp at any semblance of control in the midst of this chaos.

Livia lay motionless, her eyes tightly shut as the icy chill seeped into her skin, wrapping her in an unbearable, piercing cold.

Her mind flashed back to a month ago. She remembered Malva pleading with her to come on a trip to the uninhabited island. Once they arrived, Malva deliberately let the boat drift away. In a panic, Livia swam after it, desperate to bring it back. But when she finally returned to shore, Malva was gone.

Livia’s heart raced with panic as she searched the entire island, but no trace of Malva could be found. In desperation, she was forced to return alone and report the situation to the authorities.

However, when she got back, she found Malva unconscious in Mitchel’s arms.

Livia rushed over to check on her, but Mitchel forcefully pushed her away. His eyes were filled with disgust, a look that she would never forget.

For the past month, Mitchel had kept his distance from her, punishing her by refusing to speak a single word to her. But then, on this New Year's Eve, he sent someone with a message, asking her to meet him at the swimming pool.

As Livia carefully dressed up in the tight-fitting dress Mitchel had sent her, she never imagined that the next moment she would witness him and Malva embracing by the pool.

She had always been afraid of water, but because Mitchel loved swimming, she had pushed herself to learn. However, as she fell into the water, she forgot to struggle. Her mind was overwhelmed with the image of her fiancé and another woman in a sweet embrace.

Her heart felt like it was breaking and she struggled to breathe. Desperately, she opened her mouth to cry out, but the water choked her and she couldn’t make a sound.

‘Help, Mitchel, save me!’ She pleaded in her mind, but the words refused to leave her lips.

As her consciousness began to fade, a final thought consumed her. ‘I will never love you again. I will let you go.’

After being rescued by the staff, she immediately decided to break off the engagement.

"Alright, Livia, you've grown some guts!"

Suddenly, she jolted awake, her eyes snapping open.

She looked down and saw herself completely naked, her body covered in ice cubes, while Mitchel was staring at her intently.

"Mitchel, I'll let you be with Malva... From now on, let's never see each other again!" Livia said.

Not sure which words triggered Mitchel, but he tightly gripped her neck, his deep eyes filled with anger. "Do you even know what you're saying? I only consider her as a sister and insulting her means insulting both of us!"

Even with her body covered in ice, the heart-wrenching pain refused to subside.

The places where the glass had pierced her skin throbbed, as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at her body.

As Mitchel’s grip on her neck tightened, the suffocating sensation creeped back. She opened her mouth to speak, but blood spilled out instead.

As the blood covered Mitchel's hands, he immediately panicked, "What's going on? Didn't you say you were pretending to be sick?"

Livia forced a smile, her lips trembling.

However, this attitude seemed like a provocation to Mitchel.

After loosening his long, bony fingers for a while, he tightened his grip again on her chin. "What do you mean by never seeing each other again? You love me so much. How can you live without me?"

Livia tilted her head slightly, but her body was too weak to respond.

"Livia, are you causing trouble with Mitchel because of me?" Malva chimed in. "At first, you wanted to cancel the engagement, but after seeing him care for me, you self-harmed to make him pity you. So many doctors have testified that you’re fine. Now that Mitchel is treating you so well, why won't you just treat him properly?"

Mitchel sneered, an aura of hostility surrounding him as if he wanted to tear her apart. "Did you find someone else already, that’s why you're insisting on breaking off the engagement?"

Livia felt a stir in her heart. But she turned her head away, her expression cold.

Seeing her icy demeanor, Mitchel suddenly laughed, releasing his grip on her chin and smirked. "Whether we break off the engagement or not is not for you to decide. You don’t have the right to make that decision."

Malva tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Hearing Mitchel say that, Livia lost the desire to argue. Every time she tried to reason with him in the past, he only grew closer to Malva. Moreover, whenever she tried to defend herself, he always ignored her.

Realizing this, she smiled bitterly to herself. "Yeah, you're right about everything."

"You!" Mitchel was infuriated, glaring down at her with a cold expression before clenching his teeth and storming off.

Malva waved her hand, signaling the doctors to leave and personally poured a cup of hot tea for him.

"Mitchel, you know how bad Livia's temper is. When I used to accept your family's support, she even called me shameless..."

Mitchel's face darkened further, sneering sarcastically. "Why would she look down on you? Isn't she just a little better than you in terms of background? She's just been spoiled, a rich girl with all the bad habits!"

Malva timely wiped a few tears, speaking with a nasal tone to comfort him. "Alright, Mitchel, it's not worth getting angry over her. Livia's temper really is bad. Honestly, I think you should just break up with her and marry someone with a better temperament..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Mitchel interrupted her with a cold tone. "Whether we break up or not, that's for me to decide."

He sneered, his eyes softening slightly at the edges. "Livia is just stubborn and soft-hearted. She only said those things in the heat of the moment, no need to take them seriously. Besides, her dream since childhood has been to marry me. There's no way she'd really want to break up with me."

"She's been waiting for 23 years to marry me and her birthday is coming up soon. She wouldn't be foolish enough to truly fall out with me now. Besides, I think she's been through enough this time. Maybe tomorrow she'll come to her senses and beg me not to leave her."