I shook my head desperately, forcing the words out：
“No……that's not it, Stella is right downstairs……”
Before I could finish, Julius hurled me to the floor：
“Oh, so you want the donor heart? Then get on your knees and lick every bit of the children's filth off this floor. Lick it clean, and I'll give it to you.”
I looked up, almost unable to believe what I'd heard.
All I met were Julius's eyes—cold, utterly indifferent.
But I thought of my daughter, barely clinging to life, and I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron. I dropped to my knees and, like a dog, began licking the filth off the floor.
I didn't even dare swallow—one wrong second and everything would come back up.
Finally, every trace of that murky puddle was gone. I swayed to my feet and looked at him, full of desperate hope：
“Can I have the donor heart back now?”
Effie smiled, triumph smeared across her face, and reached into the transport case to pull out the heart.
It was still beating—alive, right there in her hands. I saw my daughter's life in every pulse. I reached for it, and Effie let go.
The next second,
the heart slammed into the floor.
Before I could even react, Effie brought her foot down on it.
The beating stopped. What was left was a smear of red pulp……
I couldn't process it. Then she leaned down next to my ear and whispered：
“Stupid woman. You really think I'd let you save her? Your daughter should've been dead a long time ago.”
“Otherwise, how are my two babies going to be the only heirs to Gilbert Group?”
Every last flicker of hope in me went out. I lost my mind. I lunged at Effie, pinned her to the bed, and locked my hands around her throat.
“You hurt my daughter—I'll make you pay with your life——”
I squeezed with everything I had, deaf to Julius's roar behind me, squeezing until Effie's eyes rolled back.
She clawed and begged, but all I could see was my daughter's face, and my fingers only tightened.
Then electricity tore through me, and my body hit the floor, convulsing, no longer mine to control.
I looked up into Julius's savage eyes and the stun baton in his hand.
“Eve Henson, you've lost your mind. You actually dare hurt Little Effie right in front of me?”
“If there's so much as a scratch on her, I will kill you and your daughter. Don't test me.”
Every word was a blade, driven straight through my chest.
I laughed.
Laughed until the tears came.
I pointed at Julius, my voice shattered：
“Yes! I've lost my mind! You drove me to it!”
“Julius Gilbert—Stella is your daughter too! How can you be this cruel! You'd kill her for them!”
His brows drew tight, and he looked at me with nothing but irritation：
“What nonsense are you spouting? I would never let my daughter die!”
“I already told you those tigers were fake……Enough! It's just a heart. I guarantee I'll find her another match within a week.”
“She's already waited two years. A few more days won't make a difference.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
So he knew. He knew that finding this one matching heart had taken Stella two years.
And now,
he had destroyed it all……
My phone buzzed in my pocket. The hospital's number. I answered with shaking hands.
The voice on the other end said：“Ms. Henson, your daughter's lungs are failing. She's down to her last breaths—please, come now……”
Whatever the doctor said after that, I couldn't hear. There was only a hole carved through the center of me, and the pain swallowed every breath I tried to take.
I bolted for the door, but Effie suddenly screamed behind me,
