Chapter 4

"Ms. Miller, please let me explain…"

Dr. Evans's voice trembled violently, confirming my suspicions.

"Tell me the truth." My voice was ice cold. "What exactly happened to my grandma?"

Under my relentless questioning, Dr. Evans finally broke down.

"Ms. Miller, I'm so sorry! Six months ago, the elderly lady had sudden heart failure… she didn't make it. Mr. Thorne said if I told you, you would leave him. He made me forge medical records to make it seem like she was still alive and sent you bills every day… The elderly lady's body was cremated six months ago. Her ashes are stored in the cemetery outside the city…"

Boom!

It was as if a thunderclap exploded in my mind, shattering all my reason and emotion.

Six months ago.

Grandma died six months ago.

And I, like a fool, for a loved one who was no longer in this world, had been subservient to Liam Thorne, letting him trample my dignity, even draining my blood to save his first love!

Liam, how could you be so cruel!

You didn't just kill; you destroyed my spirit!

I hung up, biting my lips hard until I tasted metal, barely suppressing the scream in my throat.

Tears hit the cold floor silently.

In that moment, the Chloe Miller who loved Liam Thorne died completely.

What lived was a demon crawling out of hell.

The next day, I appeared in Vanessa Scott's hospital room on time, as usual.

My face was paler than yesterday, but my eyes were eerily calm.

Vanessa was drinking soup. Seeing me enter, she sneered.

"Oh, the restrooms are clean? I thought you would be stuck in there forever."

I walked to her bedside, picked up the water pitcher from the table, and poured her a glass of warm water.

"Ms. Scott, please drink some water."

She glanced at it disdainfully: "I don't drink plain water. I want freshly squeezed pomegranate juice from that popular place across town. Go buy it for me."

That place was over twenty miles away. Rush hour, round trip would take at least three hours.

I nodded: "Okay, I'll go."

I turned and walked out.

I didn't go for the juice. Instead, I hailed a cab to the cemetery.

In that cold niche, I saw Grandma Rose's name.

The old woman in the picture smiled so kindly, as if she were still calling my pet name: "Chloe, remember to eat on time."

I knelt before the grave, but I didn't cry.

My tears had all dried up last night.

I reached out, gently touching the urn, my voice a soft murmur: "Grandma, I'm sorry I'm late. Don't worry, I won't let any of those who hurt us get away."

After the cemetery, I went directly to a private detective agency.

I pushed all the savings I had accumulated over the past three years across the table.

"I want everything on Liam Thorne and Vanessa Scott. Especially Vanessa's three years overseas—every detail."

When I came out of the agency, it was dark.

I returned to the hospital.

Liam Thorne was sitting on the sofa outside the room, his face dark.

Seeing me, he stood up abruptly, rushed over, and grabbed my collar.

"Chloe Miller, where have you been?! Vanessa asked you to buy juice, and you disappeared all day! She fainted from anemia this afternoon and urgently needed a transfusion!"

I looked at his furious face and suddenly laughed.

A laugh full of sarcasm and desolation.

"Liam, I went for the juice, but there was traffic, and I accidentally spilled it, so I had to go back and buy another one."

I casually spun a lie.

"You dare to laugh!" Liam's hand shot up, ready to strike me again.

I didn't dodge, just looked at him coldly: "Hit me. If you kill me today, Vanessa loses her mobile blood bank. Can you afford that?"

Liam's hand froze in midair.

He looked at me, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

He seemed to realize I had changed.

I was no longer the timid substitute, but a rose covered in thorns.

He lowered his hand and snorted: "Consider yourself lucky. Get in there and give blood!"

I followed the nurse into the draw room.

Crimson blood flowed out again.

I watched the bright red and silently counted down in my mind.

Liam, take it.

Every drop of this blood, I will make you pay for in the future.