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."

"I have to admit, Malva, your method is really effective. I've noticed Livia has been much more subdued lately."

But as soon as he closed his eyes, the image of her bloodstained body and her indifferent gaze flashed in his mind.

His heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed, a mix of pain and bitterness rising within him.

Malva bit her lip, her hand holding the teacup starting to feel sore. She extended the cup forward and replied, "But Livia..."

Just then, the phone vibrated and Mitchel leaned back on the sofa as he swiped the screen.

"Mitchel, the custom wedding dress is ready. Would you like to come and take a look?"

Mitchel curled the corner of his mouth and said, "I have something to do, I'll go first.”

“Mitchel, let me get you a fresh cup of tea… ah, it's so hot!"

Mitchel stood up without noticing and the scalding tea splashed all over Malva.

He widened his eyes and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe the tea off her. But her fair skin was already red and swollen in patches, with her arm covered in cuts from broken porcelain.

"Mitchel, you don't need to worry about me, go ahead with what you're doing. It doesn't hurt..."

"You're covered in injuries, how can it not hurt!"

When they arrived at the hospital, a nurse helped treat her wounds. Using the excuse of going to the restroom, Malva slipped away.

***

A sudden scream rang out and several nurses scrambled to carry an unconscious Livia out. "Quick, get a stretcher!"

One of the kind-hearted nurses placed a blanket over Livia. Shortly after, Malva arrived, slipping them an envelope and threatening them.

"You all know that I am Mitchel's true love and this woman is just a marriage partner. Even if something happens to her, it'll only make Mitchel angry, so no one can leak this information!"

"Malva, are you really okay?" Mitchel's anxious voice came from outside the door.

"I'm fine, almost healed. It's just that Livia..."

"Don't worry about her!"

Malva chuckled softly and whispered to those nurses. “See? Mitchel doesn't care about Livia at all.”

After saying that, she proudly pushed open the door to leave, but several nurses couldn't stand by and did nothing.

In the hospital, Livia developed a high fever and there were shadows on her lungs. Her body had no good skin left.

The department heads who had accepted the bribes all made excuses to avoid involvement.

Fortunately, an intern doctor, unaware of the situation, still did his best to treat her.

Mitchel took the wedding dress home, but couldn't find Livia anywhere. It was then that he learned she had gone to the hospital.

Her whole body was wrapped in thick bandages, only her mouth and one arm exposed.

Mitchel furrowed his brows. "What happened to her eyes?"

"Mr. West, Miss Mayer said she doesn't want to see anyone... so she asked us to cover them."

A heavy feeling sank in his chest.

She didn’t want to see anyone including him?

"Idiot! You just listen to whatever she says? As long as we're not married, she's not the future mistress of the West Family!"

How ridiculous.

They had been engaged for so long. It was Mitchel himself who had brought her to this hospital, introducing her as his fiancée and telling the staff to respect her as they would respect him.

But because of Malva, her position had plummeted.

Livia turned her head, pretending not to hear.

Mitchel's face darkened. "When are you going to change those spoiled habits? Even lying in a hospital bed, you still have such a bad temper!"

She remained silent. With her face hidden from view, an inexplicable unease settled in Mitchel’s chest.

"Forget it, I won't argue with a patient."

He sat down, sneaking a glance at her. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t suppress the flicker of guilt.

"Does it hurt?"