Chapter 4

I was dragging my suitcase, about to leave, when I ran into Vanessa, who had come out to get a glass of water—though it was just as possible she had come out specifically to find me.

She blocked me alone on the second-floor observation terrace of the villa. Leaning against the ornate railing, her red lips curved into a venomous smile. Word by word, she crushed the stability and obsessions of half my life into dust.

“Big sister, do you really think Aunt Sophia’s fall was an accident?” Her eyes were filled with undisguised malice. “It was Noah who pushed her. He’s known for a long time that I’m his real mother. All these years, he deliberately smeared you, deliberately smashed your favorite vase, deliberately acted out in front of your mom. He even pushed her down the stairs himself—just so he could drive you, the woman who stole someone else’s place, completely out of this house.”

The blood in my body froze. My fingers clenched until they turned white. A loud ringing filled my ears.

That child I had raised with my whole heart for so many years—behind those seemingly innocent eyes, there had been such vicious calculation.

Before I could recover, Vanessa’s smile grew even crueler.

“And that National Gold Dance Trophy from seven years ago—you really thought you lost because you weren’t good enough?” She sneered. “Liam planned it himself. I was the one who took your place. You were too outstanding, too radiant—you blocked my path. He never married you because he loved you. It was all so I could stand on that podium without obstacles, so you would willingly step aside and make room for me.”

My heart felt as if it were being crushed by an invisible hand. I couldn’t breathe. Seven years of obsession, seven years of regret—I had believed it all to be fate. And yet it had been a carefully orchestrated scam.

I stared at the woman in front of me, my voice trembling.

“Why is Liam so good to you?”

Vanessa let out a soft, mocking laugh and leaned close to my ear. Her warm breath carried honeyed poison.

“That’s thanks to you, my good sister. When we were young, you saved Liam and never left your name. That’s how I got to replace you and become his lifesaver. He’ll spend his entire life repaying that debt—to me.”

My mind exploded.

Fragments of memory surged violently, but Vanessa gave me no time to think. Her tone suddenly shifted, striking straight at my weakest point, every word soaked in blood.

“Oh, right—I almost forgot to tell you. Your mom is still lying in the ICU, isn’t she? Dad still can’t get over her. A divorced woman, already old, still flirting around—what right does she have to occupy my father’s heart? If she weren’t alive, would I have been forced into an arranged marriage with that old, ugly cripple?”

She raised her brows, her eyes filled with ultimate cruelty.

“I’ve already sent people to the hospital. Take a guess—do you think the person I sent has already pulled out your mother’s oxygen tube?”

“You’re insane!”

The last shred of reason shattered under the weight of despair and rage. I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face. The sharp sound exploded across the empty terrace.

I shoved her aside and turned to run. I had to save my mom.

Vanessa clutched her face. A flash of viciousness crossed her eyes, and then she let out a piercing scream.

“Sister, I was just worried about Aunt Sophia! How could you push me?!”

Rapid footsteps followed.

Noah rushed over and grabbed my wrist tightly. His childish voice carried a brutality far beyond his age.

“You’re not allowed to hit my mom!”

He was unbelievably strong. The force of his collision knocked me backward toward the edge of the floor-to-ceiling window. In the struggle, Noah also lost his balance, and the two of us ended up clinging desperately to the window ledge.

My position was far more dangerous. My center of gravity was unstable, half my body hanging outside the building. Cold wind rushed into my throat, and suffocating terror seized me instantly.

At that moment, Liam burst into view.

Without hesitation, he reached out, pulled Noah toward him, and held him tightly in his arms.

In that single instant of separation, Vanessa pretended to take Noah from him—and then suddenly raised her hand and shoved me hard in the lower back.

The sensation of weightlessness crashed down on me.

My body fell like a kite with its string cut, plunging straight downward.

The wind roared past my ears. The last thing I saw was the triumphant smile at the corner of Vanessa’s lips—and Liam holding the child, not sparing me even a single glance.

Pain spread through my entire body.

My consciousness sank into endless darkness.

---

When I woke again, it was to the blinding white light of the hospital. The smell of disinfectant lingered in my nose. Before I could even speak, Liam’s accusations came crashing down on me, his tone filled with extreme disgust and disappointment.

“How could you be so cruel? Laying hands on a child—are you even worthy of being a mother?” He stood by the hospital bed, his features cold and rigid, every word a condemnation. “I knew it. Noah isn’t your biological child. You can’t have kids, so you don’t have even a shred of maternal love. Clara, stop fixating on Vanessa. Stop being jealous of her. She’s different from you—she has ambition, she has her dance career. Unlike you, all you know is clinging to this house, being a housewife who depends on a man.”

He paused, his voice taking on a tone of protection—one that sliced my heart apart like a blade.

“She’s about to gain Mr. G’s recognition. Everyone in the industry knows that any dancer he favors is destined for the world stage. Behave yourself. Stay home, cook properly, take care of the child—that’s enough. If you want to keep living in this family, go apologize to Vanessa. She’s my benefactor. Back then, she saved me from drowning and injured her leg. Otherwise, her achievements in dance would have been even greater. To repay that debt, I must have Mr. G invest in her and make her famous.”

Every word favored her.

Every sentence belittled and denied me.

I lay on the hospital bed, my fingers curling into fists, my nails digging deep into my palms until the pain went numb.

I already knew the truth.

I was the one who saved him back then.

The trophy was mine.

Even the so-called debt of gratitude he now cradled so carefully—it was all mine.

Everything Vanessa had stolen.

And yet, at this moment, I didn’t even have the strength to argue. I no longer had the desire to expose the truth, not even word by word.

My heart was dead.

And once your heart is dead, any explanation is nothing more than a pale joke.

I didn’t want to care about his so-called gratitude anymore.

I didn’t want to care about Vanessa’s schemes.

I didn’t want to care about this so-called family at all.

I only wanted to know one thing.

Was my mother still alive?

A metallic sweetness surged up my throat. Supporting my broken body, I forced the words out in a hoarse voice, my gaze locked onto him.

“Liam… how is my mom?”