Chapter 3

"The coffee I stood in that long line to buy, and you deliberately knocked it all over me."

Almost the entire cup of hot coffee had poured directly onto my arm, while only a few drops had splashed onto her hand.

I gritted my teeth, fighting back the searing pain shooting up my arm as I watched Daisy's exaggerated performance.

She wailed and sobbed, all while secretly glancing at Derick to gauge his reaction.

Without a second thought, Derick rushed forward, pulling Daisy protectively behind him. He then turned to glare at me, his eyes filled with disgust.

"Lidia, you're disgusting! Daisy was kind enough to buy you coffee, and this is how you treat her?"

His voice was laced with ice, as if I were a hardened, unforgivable criminal.

"Derick, open your eyes and see what's really happening!"

I held up my red, swollen arm, my voice trembling from the pain.

"She's the one who knocked the coffee over on purpose! Why do you always believe her?"

He bent down to help Daisy up, carefully inspecting the few insignificant coffee stains on her hand, his eyes filled with heartache.

"Daisy's hand is so badly burned, and you're still trying to argue?"

Daisy leaned into Derick's arms, crying pitifully.

"Derick, I don't blame Lidia," she sobbed.

"It's all my fault for being so clumsy."Her voice was as frail as if it could be scattered by the wind, yet I could see the corner of her mouth curve into a defiant smirk.

"I'll take Daisy to get some ointment first. You'd better think long and hard about what you've done!"

Derick swept Daisy into his arms and left me under everyone's watchful eyes, like a clown for all to gawk at.

I don't know how much time had passed, but my arm was already numb by the time a doctor finally came to give my wound some emergency treatment.

The doctor they sent wasn't very skilled. He broke several of my blisters during the treatment, and a piercing pain shot through my entire body.

It was only after I made some careful inquiries that I found out all the doctors from the Wellington Group's private hospital had been summoned to Daisy's side.

For her three tiny blisters, Derick had called in countless people to attend to her.

I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, feeling how little I was valued.

But to my surprise, the next morning, Derick was like a completely different person, personally changing the dressing on my wound.

"Lidia, I took a look yesterday. It's true that you're the one who's more seriously injured."

"Daisy only has a few small blisters on her hand, while your arm is already festering and oozing pus."

I didn't know what he meant by that. I just watched numbly as he spread the ointment over my wound.

"To make it up to you, I got you a bracelet. Just stop giving Daisy a hard time."

So after all that, it was still all for Daisy Hayes.

I stared at the Pandora bracelet he pulled from his pocket. It didn't even have a box.

"I have never deliberately given her a hard time."

"On the contrary, she's the one who provokes me at every turn. Every single one of these injuries on my body—aren't they all thanks to her?"

Derick's hands, which had been dressing my wounds, paused for a moment, but the hand gripping my upper arm quietly tightened.

The blisters had festered into pus, sticking to my clothes, and the slightest touch sent a wave of pain through me that left me in a cold sweat.

"Derick, let me go!"

As beads of sweat dripped down, I couldn't help but snap at him.

But the force of his grip only increased, pinning me in place.

"Lidia, it seems I've been too indulgent with you in the past, allowing you to develop such an unreasonable and theatrical personality."

"And to think Daisy was just telling me that you didn't do it on purpose, asking me not to take my anger out on you. I actually believed her."

"It's only now that I see it clearly. Daisy is just too kind, to even speak up for you."

Looking at the man before me, his brow furrowed from the force he was exerting, I truly regretted why I had ever married him.

He surprised me, and he felt like a stranger. He didn't let go until the pain beaded his forehead with sweat.