Chapter 3

I was dragged into the cold, dark emergency stairwell.

Fists and feet rained down on my body. I could only curl up, my whole body aching terribly.

"You beast! You scum!" Lily grabbed my collar, her eyes blazing with fury as if she wanted to flay me alive. "How dare you hurt Little Treasure!"

My vision kept going dark from the beating. I opened my mouth but couldn't make a sound.

"I didn't..." I managed to get out three words before she whipped me hard.

She even used the whip to choke me, pinning me brutally to the ground.

Her voice was hoarse but filled with a hatred that chilled me to the bone.

"I was going to abort that bastard child back then. So you did this to the baby for revenge?"

"Don't think that just because you became my legal husband, I'll go soft on you!"

I saw the madness in her eyes. She truly wanted to kill me.

But I had never thought our relationship would be our lifeline.

I was truly sorry about what happened back then. I had been trying my best to make amends, but she never believed a word I said.

Doctors rushed in and out to save the child. Finally, one stood anxiously in the doorway and called out, "The baby's liver is failing. We need to do an immediate transplant. Do any of you match for donation?"

Lily shoved me forward, her voice cold. "Use him!"

I closed my eyes, a bitter smile on my lips.

It seemed she had truly forgotten that I once had my liver ruptured from a beating when I rescued her from kidnappers.

The bodyguards twisted my arms behind my back and took me for testing.

Soon, the results confirmed I was a match for donation.

I was wheeled into the operating room.

As I saw the doctor inject the anesthesia, my consciousness began to slip away and my vision blurred.

Actually, I had known from the beginning that she had feelings for my brother Daniel.

My mother couldn't bear to let her pampered eldest son marry into the Lin family.

So she faked Daniel's death and sent him abroad.

She locked me in a room with a drunk Lily.

I wanted to resist, but my father fell gravely ill just then and needed a lot of money for treatment.

After that night, I tried to explain, but news came of Daniel's death.

Lily was convinced I had killed Daniel to marry into the Lin family.

She agreed to marry me, but only to avenge the man she loved.

Seeing me forced to compromise again and again, stripped of all dignity, made her feel vindicated.

But I was coerced into giving up everything, my heart breaking a little more each day.

I couldn't believe that sweet girl who used to hide behind me and call me "big brother" could be so cruel to me now.

These memories kept swirling in my mind, filling me with unbearable sadness.

As tears streamed down my face, I saw Lily sitting in front of me.

Her face was weary, with a hint of guilt.

"Are you still in pain?" I wiped away my tears and turned to look at her expressionlessly.

"I want to go see my dad."

My voice was so weak it could have been scattered by a breeze.

She lowered her eyes, staring at me for a long time. Just as she was about to speak, a commotion broke out where Quinn was.

Lily immediately stood up, her face full of anxiety as she hurried over.

Not long after, a doctor came to check on me.

"Luckily Mr. Evans was a match from before. Though he's passed away, his liver was donated to someone in need. Your wife just signed the papers on your behalf. My condolences."

I bolted upright in bed, my whole body shaking.

I clutched my chest, feeling as if my heart was being slowly torn to shreds.

So Lily's belated concern was just out of guilt.

I couldn't even protect my father's body.