Chapter 4

The dinner party was suffocatingly tense.

My father announced that they were going to hold a grand welcome-home party for Maddie next Saturday.

Ostensibly, it was to celebrate my recovery, but in reality, it was to formally introduce Maddie to all of Palis and to announce her engagement to Reece.

"Chloe, you'll personally introduce Maddie to everyone," my mother said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

They were forcing me to publicly acknowledge Maddie's status and support her in becoming the heir of our family. And worse, I had to hand my fiancé over to her.

It was so cruel.

Maddie looked at me cautiously, a hint of triumph in her eyes. "Chloe, can you? I hope to receive your blessing."

Reece also looked at me, his gaze cold. "Chloe, this is what you owe Maddie."

I owed her? I sneered.

After three years in a coma, treated as nothing more than a blood supply, waking up to find I had lost everything, and I was expected to bless my enemy?

I looked at their faces, so self-assured, and slowly nodded.

"Alright."

Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

My mother's face finally showed a trace of satisfaction. "That's more like it, Chloe, you're finally being sensible."

Being sensible?

Let's see what would happen.

At that party, I planned to give them a gift that would haunt them forever.

In the following days, I behaved with unusual obedience.

I no longer argued with my parents, ignored the intimacy between Maddie and Reece, and even offered to help Maddie select her dress for the party.

My cooperative attitude completely disarmed them.

They thought I had accepted reality and surrendered.

Only I knew the turbulent undercurrents beneath the calm surface.

In the dead of night, I retrieved the key my grandfather had hidden in a secret compartment.

The next day, accompanied by my grandpa's lawyer, I opened the long-sealed safe.

Inside, there were no jewels or stocks, only a thick stack of documents detailing how my father used despicable means to seize my grandfather's life's work, falsify accounts, and engage in corporate bribery. Each one was enough to ruin him forever.

I made copies of the documents, locking the originals back inside.

Now, in my hands, was the explosive that could destroy the entire Holt family. And Dr. Russell would be the fuse.

I leveraged their guilt and relaxation, citing my need for physical recovery, to have Dr. Russell check on me daily.

Initially, he resisted, but under my father's orders, he complied.

I refrained from mentioning the "donation" again, instead asking him daily about blood and the immune system.

I feigned curiosity about my own body, all the while coaxing information out of him.

I knew he was the weakest link in this household.

He still had some conscience left.

"Dr. Russell, what happens if a person's body receives another person's hematopoietic stem cells?" I asked one day, pretending to be casual as he drew my blood for testing.

Martin's hand trembled, the needle nearly missing its mark. "There can be immune rejection, or possibly... fusion."

"Fusion? Sounds like something from a sci-fi movie." I looked at him.

He lowered his head and didn't dare to look at me. "Just a theoretical possibility."

"Is that so? Then Maddie is that theoretical miracle, isn't she?" I sneered.

Martin's face turned ashen. He raised his head, his eyes filled with terror and pleading. "Chloe, please..."

I watched him teetering on the edge of breakdown, knowing the time was right.

I wiped the smile from my face, my voice as cold as ice. "Martin, I'm not begging you. I'm giving you an opportunity to make amends."

I pushed a document towards him.

It contained all the information I had discovered through my private overseas channels in recent days.

His wife had a serious illness and needed expensive targeted medication to stay alive.

His son was studying at a top medical school abroad, with exorbitant tuition fees.

All of this was funded by my father.

"Whatever my father has promised, I can double it. I can also send your wife to the best hospital in Ladino and ensure your son enters a top research lab after graduation. What I need is simple."

I raised my head, speaking each word clearly. "On the day of the party, I want you to tell the truth in front of everyone."

Martin's body began to tremble violently, sweat soaking his back.

"And don't forget, illegally extracting someone's hematopoietic stem cells is a serious crime. If my father were to fall from power, you would be the first one to be made the scapegoat. With me, you become a key witness, protected by my grandfather's team of lawyers. Otherwise, you will have to repent in hell alongside my father." My voice grew even colder.

On one side was my father, who had threatened him for twenty years, and on the other was me, the devil, promising him a future.

He struggled for a long time, so long I thought he might refuse.

Finally, he raised his bloodshot eyes, his voice hoarse. "What should I do?"

I smiled.

The fish had taken the bait.

On the day of the party, the Holt family's estate was ablaze with lights, and the elite gathered.

I stood in the shadows on the second floor, wearing a long black dress, watching everything downstairs with a detached gaze.

Maddie, in the white princess dress I had chosen for her, looked like a proud swan, her arm linked with Reece's, basking in the compliments and blessings of the crowd.

My mother, her face flushed with pride, introduced her "sensible and obedient" adopted daughter to everyone.

My father, meanwhile, mingled with industry giants, reveling in the glory this feast brought him.

They appeared so happy, so perfect.

As if I, the original daughter, was the one who was superfluous.

"Chloe, it's time for you to go down," the butler gently reminded me from behind.

The show was about to begin.