These words were like countless needles, piercing my limbs and bones, causing me excruciating pain. I covered my mouth tightly, my nails digging deep into my palms until blood seeped out. The taste of blood filled my mouth, a nauseatingly sweet and metallic flavor.

It turns out that my near-death car accident was a carefully planned conspiracy by him.

It turns out that my weakness and prolonged illness after the surgery were because my bone marrow was forcibly extracted and used to give Vanessa a chance to live!

I looked at the hideous scar on my wrist, left from the bone marrow extraction. He had held my hand then, his eyes red, and said, "Clara, don't be afraid. Just a little bone marrow extraction will help you get better quickly and be with your son sooner."

I believed it.

I love him so much, how could I not believe him?

Liam remained silent for a long while, then sighed, his tone full of concern for Vanessa: "I didn't want to either, but your recovery after the surgery was slow. The doctor said that regular transfusions of her blood would stabilize your blood count. I could only go along with you."

Blood transfusion...

I suddenly remembered how he had begged me not long ago, his eyes red with tears. He said that his son's condition hadn't been good lately, and the master said that his son needed the blood of his biological mother to pray for him to wake up soon.

I was still very weak at the time, and I would feel dizzy when I had my blood drawn, but looking at the "earnestness" in his eyes and my son's bewildered face lying on the bed, I finally agreed.

Time and time again, my arms were bruised and purple from being pricked by needles.

I thought it was for my son.

So, I was nothing more than a portable blood bank for his beloved! A lifeline for him and Vanessa!

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, shattering on the cold floor. I could no longer hold the bowl of bird's nest porridge; it crashed to the ground with a clatter, shards flying everywhere. One shard cut my ankle, and blood mixed with the warm porridge spread across the floor, causing excruciating pain.

But this little bit of pain is nothing compared to even a fraction of what's in my heart.

That was a pain that ripped out your heart and bones, a pain that tore your liver and gallbladder apart.