Chapter 3

She finished with a radiant smile, then kicked Lilly into the corner in disgust.

My mind went blank as a furious heat shot to the crown of my head.

I lunged and pinned Amber hard to the floor, raising my hand to avenge Lilly.

But in the next second, excruciating pain shot through me. My wrist was brutally snapped, and my entire body was slammed against the wall.

Amber squeezed out a couple of tears in Felix's arms.

“I just told Chloe that those needles weren't harmful, but she blamed me for ruining her plan…”

“Chloe, I have been far too indulgent with you!”

“Amber and I had Mia ten years ago. She and her mother have suffered too much over the years!”

“I will never allow anyone to hurt them again!”

My insides felt as if they were being crushed.

I watched as Felix advanced on me like a vengeful demon.

He pulled a poisoned needle from Lilly's paw and plunged it viciously into my twisted wrist. “Feel this for yourself. Let's see how you can lie now—”

The poisoned needle pierced clean through my wrist. Blood instantly sprayed onto Felix’s face, a shocking splash of crimson.

For a moment, everyone was stunned.

Felix was the first to snap out of it, pulling out the poisoned needle with a trembling hand.He frantically tried to stop my bleeding, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Someone! Get Lilly over here, now!”

But Lilly was already here.

I struggled to pull away from his touch, crawling step by step toward Lilly, wanting to wipe her face clean.

But someone was faster than me.

Mimicking what Felix had just done, Mia swiftly pulled dozens of poison needles from Lilly's leg.

Lilly's frail body convulsed reflexively, but her pupils dilated even faster.

I was overwhelmed with grief.

But Mia just giggled, as if she were playing a fascinating new game.

She stared at her blood-covered hands, filled only with excitement, not a trace of fear.

But because of Felix, Lilly missed her last chance to be saved.

“Daddy, this isn't what Auntie Amber gave you.”

She blinked maliciously, “Auntie Chloe tried to stick me with this needle before, but I dodged it, you know.”

But I had no idea such a thing even existed.

Before I could explain, Felix, who had been about to stop Mia, froze and then erupted in a fit of rage.

He snatched the poison needle and plunged it back into my wrist.

“Chloe! How dare you abuse Mia right under my nose!” My throat felt as if it were being squeezed, and I couldn't utter a single word.

"For the sake of all these years we've been together, I wasn't going to strip you of your title as Mrs. Creed."

"But you brought this on yourself! We're getting a divorce, and I'm taking Lilly!"

Agonizing tears streamed down my face.

Felix froze for a moment, then turned his face away to explain.

"Don't worry. Lilly is my daughter, after all. Once she's found, I'll take care of her for the rest of her life."

Just like that, he had casually forgiven himself for everything he'd done to Lilly.

But Lilly was never coming back.

"Daddy, my leg hurts!" Mia suddenly cried out.

Felix immediately forgot all about Lilly, waving for his bodyguards to take me away.

I was dragged away like a puppet, but then I suddenly saw that Lilly was still there.

I clung desperately to the doorframe. "Let me take her with me!"

"No! Mia's foot was almost scratched by that poisoned needle. I'm going to destroy this thing completely!"

Something inside me shattered. "Give her back to me! She really is Lilly!"

Felix raised his hand and slapped me across the face. "If I hear you curse Lilly again, I swear I won't let you get away with it!"Heedless of anything else, I rushed to Lilly's side and carefully began to wipe her face.

The blood and grime gradually faded away.

Felix shot to his feet.

All his earlier composure was gone as he scrambled closer. "This is impossible," he stammered, "Hurry and wipe it! Let me get a clear look!"

But Amber suddenly stepped in front of him. "Felix, let me help! We're running out of time, and this is all I could find!"

She produced a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner and dumped it all over Lilly's face.

Panic seized Felix, and he instinctively reached out to stop her, but she said, "Don't worry, it's harmless to people. It only reacts when it touches a prop."

But the moment the liquid touched Lilly's face, her features twisted as if they'd been set on fire.

Her entire face rapidly blackened to charcoal, her features completely erased.

My heart shattered in anguish, but an enraged Felix seized me by the throat, preventing me from reaching my daughter, who was just inches away.

Thick smoke billowed out, and an acrid smell instantly filled the entire room.

It was a highly corrosive chemical! Lilly was being burned alive by the pain!

But I was the closest, and the fumes choked me, my world spinning into darkness. I couldn't even get a word out.Before I could even react, Felix slammed me to the floor and immediately switched on the room's ventilation system.

He shielded Amber and Mia, rushing them out the door. "Guards!" he bellowed. "Get them out of here! Throw them far, far away!"

I struggled to open my stinging, swollen eyes, wanting only to hold Lilly.

But when Felix saw the distressed looks on his precious wife and daughter, he turned back and viciously stomped on me.

"Throw them out separately!" he snarled. "Let her learn the consequences of harming the people most important to me!"

My world collapsed as I squeezed my eyes shut, blood and tears streaming down my face. Every breath was agony.

I was thrown by the dumpsters in the alley behind the hospital, my consciousness fading.

But I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to stay awake.

I still had to find Lilly.

I waited quietly for the bodyguard to leave, but then he suddenly answered a call from Amber.

He walked back over to me, grabbed my head, and slammed it into the ground.

After just a few impacts, I couldn't hold on any longer and slipped into unconsciousness, my heart consumed by hatred.