"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?"

She remained silent.

"Livia, do you understand your mistake? Actually, I didn’t want to punish you. It’s just that you shouldn’t have treated Malva as a rival. I only see her as a little sister…"

Livia in the bed stirred slightly, but didn't respond.

A bitter feeling rose in her heart.

She pushed Mitchel's hand away, her hoarse voice catching in her throat. “No need to explain. It doesn’t matter to me anymore."

"No need for what? You’re not the one who’s been burning with fever for a month."

Realizing his words were too harsh, Mitchel paused and lowered his head to persuade her, his tone softening a little, "Actually, you've been punished as well. As long as you acknowledge your mistake and correct it, everything will be fine. In a few days, it's your birthday and we'll hold a..."

Before he could finish, Livia interrupted, saying, "I'm not in a hurry to get married..."

Upon hearing this, Mitchel's face turned completely dark. "You're not in a hurry to get married? You’ve been waiting for this for twenty-three years. Everything is already prepared and now you’re telling me you’re not in a hurry?"

"Livia, you're still angry, aren't you? You're angry because I punished you for Malva, so you're deliberately saying this, right?"

Everything was ready?

Once, all she had ever dreamed of was being his bride.

But now, just hearing the word "marriage" made her head throb with pain.

She tugged at the corner of her lips, thinking that these 23 years of liking Mitchel, this biased and gullible fool, had been nothing short of a disaster.

"I’ve already picked up the wedding dress. In two days, we’re taking our wedding photos, so you must be discharged by then!"

After leaving these few words, he walked away without looking back.

Not long after he was gone, Hailey arrived.

Livia had no mother and Hailey had watched her grow up. Their bond was more like mother and daughter rather than a future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Hearing Hailey's voice, Livia's tears instantly soaked the gauze.

"Come on, quickly take off the gauze blocking Livia's eyes!" Hailey ordered the nurse.

She then pulled Livia into her arms and comforted her, "My child, you've suffered. When I get home, I’ll make sure Mitchel kneels down and confesses!"

Hailey was not only closer to her than to her own son, but also helped her handle all the women around Mitchel.

However, after meeting Malva, who looked strikingly similar to her deceased daughter, she became somewhat soft-hearted. She even tried to persuade Livia to treat Malva as a younger sister.

But now, seeing Livia lying on the hospital bed, Hailey couldn't hold back her sobs.

Compared to Malva, Livia was the daughter she had raised since childhood. Although there was no blood relation, they were even closer than a biological mother and daughter.

Hailey felt deep regret in her heart. She shouldn’t have neglected Livia for the sake of an outsider.

To make it up to her, she specifically arranged a birthday dinner for five days later, planning to publicly gift her family heirloom that day. She also arranged for Mitchel to propose on the spot and even planned to hold the wedding the next day.

"Livia, it's all my fault! Take good care of your injuries and don't overthink things. As for the rest, I will take care of it for you!"

Hailey directly summoned all the doctors who had treated Livia to the hospital room. She questioned each of them with a cold expression, "My family supports you all to cure and save people, but you can't even cure the future mistress of my family!"

She then had someone bring Livia's medical records, carefully examining them bit by bit. With a loud slap, she slammed the desk.

"Alright, Livia's medical records are all vague and unclear. What exactly have you all been doing? You're all fired! My family can't afford to keep you!"

“Only this intern stays. The rest of you, get out!"

Hailey came from a family of medical professionals and this hospital was part of her dowry. It made her the legitimate owner of the hospital.

"It wasn't us, Miss Ritz ordered us to do this."

Hearing Malva's name, Hailey gritted her teeth. "I heard she's been causing trouble lately. I didn’t expect her to resort to such lowly tactics!"

Malva had intended to mock Livia, but when she overheard their conversation at the door, she was startled. Before she could leave, the sharp-eyed butler spotted her.

"Miss Ritz is over there!"

Upon hearing this, Hailey quickly ordered for her to be brought in.

"Kneel down!"

Malva kept her expression grim as they ordered her to kneel in front of everyone. She simply couldn’t bring herself to lower her face especially in front of the doctors she had once bossed around.

She didn’t know who kicked her, but her knee buckled and with a thud, she fell to her knees in front of the hospital bed, locking eyes with Livia’s calm gaze.

A surge of hatred rose within her. "Apologize to Livia now!"

Malva’s eyes flickered with coldness. Her hands, once supporting her on the ground, clenched tightly together until her freshly done nails dug into her skin, causing pain.

"Mom..."

Just as Malva was about to speak, a sharp, ear-piercing slap echoed through the room as Hailey slapped her across the face.

She sneered coldly. "I'm not your mother! You're just a poor student we've supported. Your mother is still working in the fields in the mountains! If it weren't for Livia's kindness, wanting to sponsor you when you couldn't afford school, you would have already been sold to some village as a bride. How could you be living comfortably like this now?"

A murmur spread through the room and the gazes directed at Malva were filled with contempt.

Malva gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride. “Mrs. West, I didn’t cause all her injuries…"

Before she could finish her sentence, another sharp slap landed on her face, leaving five distinct fingerprints.

"Isn't it clear to you? If it weren't for you meddling with Mitchel, how could he possibly let Livia wear that mermaid costume and soak in cold water for the entire night? If it weren’t for you, how would Livia have ended up covered in injuries? And if it weren’t for you bribing these ungrateful doctors, how could they dare treat Livia like this? You designed this scheme to frame Livia and you deliberately delayed her treatment! What exactly are you plotting?”

The butler raised his hand again, but after a few attempts, his hand couldn’t move.

He turned around and found himself blocked by Mitchel, who was holding a thermos in his hand.

“Have you lost your mind? How dare you hit Malva! "

At that moment, tears welled up in Malva's eyes as she threw herself at Mitchel's feet, sobbing.

"Mitchel, my biggest wish before I die was to see you again. Now you've finally come!"

Die?

Mitchel supported Malva with one hand and upon seeing her flushed cheeks, his expression froze.

"Don't be mad at your mom. It's Livia who hates me. She can't accept me. But even if I die, I don't want to leave you..."

Mitchel quickly walked to Livia's bedside and placed the thermos down.

After that, he slapped her hard across her face.

The crisp sound of a slap echoed, stunning everyone in the room and interrupting Malva, who hadn't finished speaking.

Livia’s head jerked to the side, her frail body collapsing onto the hospital bed.

Hailey never expected that her own son would actually slap Livia.

Fury surged through her as she clenched her teeth and swung her hand with all her might.

With a loud slap, Mitchel stumbled back. "Mitchel, you dare to slap Livia in front of me? I'll fight you to the end!"

Mitchel pointed at Livia and shouted, "You and your mother teamed up to bully Malva and now I'm asking for justice on her behalf. What's wrong with that?"

"You! Unworthy son! You don't deserve Livia!"

"Alright, since you say I don't deserve her, then we won’t get married!"