Chapter 3

I became Vanessa Scott's exclusive blood bank and full-time caretaker.

She wanted not just my blood but also my dignity.

To please her, Liam Thorne allowed all her petty torments.

"Chloe Miller, this soup is too hot. Are you trying to scald me to death?"

Vanessa hurled a bowl of steaming soup onto the back of my hand.

My skin immediately turned red, blistered, and seared with pain.

I bit my lip and refused to cry out.

"What? Annoyed?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Chloe, you're nothing but a cheap imitation. Liam keeps you only because your face resembles mine a little and for your rare blood type. Now that I'm back, you are not even fit to tie my shoes."

I looked at her coldly: "Ms. Scott, if you are so noble, why do you need a 'fake's' blood? Aren't you afraid of getting dirty?"

Slap!

Vanessa backhanded me across the face.

"Who do you think you are, talking to me like that!"

The hospital room door swung open, and Liam Thorne walked in, carrying a thermos.

Vanessa's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She clutched her wrist and threw herself into Liam's arms, whimpering.

"Liam, my hand hurts so much… I just said the soup was a little hot, and Chloe got angry at me and even pushed me…"

Liam Thorne's face darkened.

He strode to my side, didn't even glance at my red, scalded hand, and slapped me hard.

The force sent me sprawling to the ground, and I tasted blood.

"Chloe Miller, are you trying to die?! Who gave you the guts to lay a hand on her!"

I covered my face and looked up at the man I had loved for three years.

Three years ago, a heavy snow trapped him in a car accident. It was I who dragged him from the wreckage, walked and carried him for over ten hours, pulling him back from death.

I lay in the hospital for half a month from severe frostbite.

But when he woke up, he only remembered the faint jasmine scent he had noticed while unconscious.

And Vanessa Scott, she loved jasmine perfume.

Vanessa took credit for saving his life and became his beloved first love. I, with my family's fall and Grandma's illness, was forced to sign that humiliating agreement for her medical expenses.

I once believed that even a heart of stone could be melted.

Now I realized Liam Thorne's heart wasn't stone; it was ice laced with poison.

"Liam, if I told you I didn't push her, that she spilled the soup on herself, would you believe me?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

Liam looked as if he'd heard the funniest joke: "You think I'd believe a lying wretch like you? Vanessa wouldn't even step on an ant, how could she frame you!"

He kicked over the trash can.

"Since you like throwing tantrums, clean all the restrooms on this floor today. If you don't finish, your grandma's medication for today is stopped!"

I lowered my gaze and hid all my emotions.

"Fine. I'll go."

I dragged my exhausted body, cleaning tools in hand, through the restrooms.

Cold water soaked into my wounds, piercing pain.

That night, leaning against the bathroom wall, I took out my phone and dialed Grandma's doctor.

"Dr. Evans, how is Grandma's health recently? I'd like to visit her."

There was a long silence on the other end, so long that dread grew in my heart.

"Ms. Miller…" Dr. Evans's voice was filled with panic and guilt. "Mr. Thorne instructed that the elderly lady is in a sterile ward and cannot have visitors…"

"Dr. Evans, you can't hide it from me anymore." I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm. "Today at the nurses' station, I saw Grandma's payment list. There was a cremation fee."

On the other end, there was a clatter, as if something had dropped.