Chapter 3

In the end, she died in the delivery room. Of the twin babies, only the girl survived.

On her deathbed, Lily gripped my hand tightly, her words dripping with anguish:

"Xanthe, you're my sister. You must raise Tina for me, and you must bear a son to protect her in the future. You owe me this!"

Years ago, when my gambling stepfather sold me to pay off his debts, it was a heavily pregnant Lily who suddenly found me, paid off the debt, and saved me from a fate worse than death.

The Gevano family, though displeased with my illegitimate status, was even more opposed to another family's daughter bearing children for the Thompson family and threatening their interests. They reluctantly accepted me back.

Dashiell, unwilling to go against his late wife's dying wish, made an agreement with me. I would raise Tina for eight years and bear a son to fulfill Lily's unfulfilled desire.

However, he ultimately didn't want to remarry. We had a hasty wedding ceremony, but we never actually filed for a marriage license.

After eight years of being Mrs. Thompson, who could have imagined that I was nothing more than an outsider all along?I quietly said:

"The previous six miscarriages were all girls. You said the Thompson family doesn't need anything extra, and I had no intention of breaking our agreement. Now that eight years have passed and I've given birth to a boy, even though I was forced to miscarry, that's not my fault."

"Tina doesn't like me. After I leave, she'll be happier. Besides, I've had too many miscarriages, and it'll be hard for me to get pregnant in the future. Staying would just be unnecessary."

After listening, Dashiell furrowed his brow, but his tone was softer than before:

"If you're worried about miscarriages hurting your body, I can find a top-notch nutritionist to help you recover. Even if you miscarry a hundred more times, your body won't..."

I shook my head, interrupting him:

"Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Thompson. I've already decided to leave."

Dashiell's patience was completely exhausted. He raised his hand and dislocated my jaw, preventing me from speaking further.

His voice was ice-cold:

"Xanthe, this isn't the answer I wanted. If your mouth can only spout meaningless garbage, then you don't need to say anything more."

"Since you're so ungrateful, I have no reason to give you the serum. You can just suffer a bit more and reflect on your words and actions!"Dashiell stormed off in a rage, leaving me collapsed on the bed, drool uncontrollably spilling out as I endured the agony brought on by the snake venom.

I don't know how much time passed before Dashiell's bodyguard appeared. He helped reset my jaw and injected me with antiserum.

He tossed a women's coat at me:

"Miss Carlisle has arrived. She just got her clothes dirty while feeding snakes with Mr. Thompson and his daughter in the greenhouse. Mr. Thompson wants you to personally clean the guest's clothes."

Being ordered around like a maid by my husband, washing clothes for another woman - it was the ultimate humiliation.

But I didn't care.

I stood up and looked out the window.

Through the transparent greenhouse glass, I could see Jolene holding Tina's hand with her left and linking arms with Dashiell on her right. The three of them were intimately feeding the snakes in the glass enclosures.

After all these years, Lily, my childhood friend, had grown to resemble her more and more in both style and demeanor.

That greenhouse was designed and built by Lily. It held countless beautiful memories between her and Dashiell.I've only been there once, shortly after I arrived at the Thompson family.

The Thompson estate was enormous. One night while taking a walk, I accidentally lost my way and stumbled into it.

It was on that day that Dashiell had those two pythons, as thick as arms, crush my legs.

A week later, he finally brought in a doctor to set my bones. His expression was so cold:

"Next time you dare set foot in that greenhouse, you'll never stand up again."

Jolene wasn't just Lily's childhood friend. From kindergarten through college, the two were like conjoined twins, never apart.

Like Lily, she had a master's in biology and shared the same love of snakes.

Most importantly, she knew every detail of Lily's life before meeting Dashiell.

That was a treasure that Dashiell and Tina had never been part of, yet desperately longed to possess.