Chapter 1

On the day of my daughter's dance competition, a madman suddenly charged towards her with an iron rod.

To protect my daughter, I was battered dozens of times by the lunatic, my arm brutally broken in the process.

My husband Brent immediately apprehended the madman and urgently rushed us to his private, high-end hospital for emergency treatment.

In the hospital room, I was jolted awake from unconsciousness by the searing pain in my broken arm, wanting to call out for Brent.

But I overheard the doctor asking him, "Wasn't the agreement just to replace the knee joint? Why did you have to harm Mrs. Frost and smother the child?"

"Seraphina's just got a broken arm, she's a bit hurt but it's not fatal."

"Her only purpose was to provide a knee joint replacement for Genevieve's son. Now that her mission is complete, there's no need for her to stay alive."

"After all... Genevieve's daughter is my biological child."

So it turns out my daughter was nothing more than an organ carrier to Brent.

But what he doesn't know is that Genevieve's daughter has no blood relation to him whatsoever.

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1

The doctor wanted to stop the bleeding from my severed arm, but the wounds all over my body had turned me into a bloody mess. He asked me reluctantly:

"Ma'am, your current injuries require the special medicine we obtained at a high price from over there. It should be able to reattach your severed arm. Should I ask your husband to get it from Genevieve?"

Brent looked at me with furrowed brows. "Seraphina has always had a strong ability to recover. She doesn't need this. What if Genevieve catches a cold or gets a fever? We could use it for emergency treatment then."

"And after our child with Genevieve gets a knee joint replacement, she could take it if she's in pain."

The doctor was so shocked he started to stutter: "Bu-but if there's pain, they can take painkillers. There's no need to use such precious medicine. And for knee joint replacement, artificial joints can be used... without harming anyone."

"Artificial joints only last for about a decade. How could I bear to let my child with Genevieve suffer through that pain again?"

"Enough. You're on my side. Remember to just focus on researching knee joint transplants."

At that moment, his assistant came in and handed him a phone. I'll never forget that madman's voice:

"It's a good thing you broke the cameras, and all the people in the competition are your people. That allowed me to vent comfortably."

Brent impatiently said, "I'm giving you a mansion so you'll keep this buried in your heart. I don't want this to ruin my marriage with Seraphina. Got it?"

After they hastily tended to my wounds and rushed to leave,

I finally broke down sobbing uncontrollably. Tears fell onto my severed arm, the stinging pain nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

So the mastermind behind it all was my husband of eight years.

Because his child with Genevieve had arthritis in the knee, and instead of an artificial joint, they wanted my daughter's - even going so far as to harm her.

Yet just yesterday morning, my daughter had excitedly asked me:

"Mom, I've been practicing this dance for so long, just for Dad to see today. Do you think he'll like it?"

Her heart was set on her father, while her father only conceived her for a knee joint.

Brent, you don't deserve such a sweet daughter!

My heartbreaking sobs brought Brent over. He awkwardly wiped away my tears, his voice hoarse:

"Seraphina, don't cry. Is the wound too painful? We've applied medicine already. Bear with it, it'll stop hurting soon."

"It's all my fault. I couldn't protect you both. You lost an arm and I still couldn't save Melody. But I will cherish you in the palm of my hand from now on, never letting another tear fall from your eyes."

Yet all this pain was caused by you!

I pounded on his body with all my might, my voice hoarse and nearly breaking: "Give me back my Melody."

Brent grabbed my hands, placing a tender kiss on them: "During the dance competition, it was my negligence that allowed that madman to enter. I'm so sorry! To let Melody rest in peace sooner, I had her cremated early this morning. She's now in the dance studio she loved so much."

You didn't even let me see Melody one last time. Brent, how could you be so heartless!

The pain was so intense that I broke out in a cold sweat, my clothes becoming damp with both sweat and blood.

I stared directly into his eyes: "Then what about that dance studio you so meticulously built? Why didn't you put Melody there?"