Just then, the door to the hospital room creaked open.
Kendra stepped in, her voice trembling with emotion as she said softly, “Hey… did I come at a bad time? I thought I heard you arguing in here…”
Willard immediately crossed the room to support her, his tone tender and full of concern.
“Why did you get out of bed? The doctor told you to rest.”
Kendra leaned into his arms, her tearful gaze drifting toward Daisie.
“Daisie… are you still mad at me? I’m sorry… I know it’s my fault. If it weren’t for me needing that kidney, you wouldn’t have had to go through this. I was heartbroken about your dad, too. I really did everything I could…”
Daisie felt a wave of nausea rise in her chest just looking at her.
“Keep pretending! Go on! Keep acting!” she shouted. “Willard, check the security footage! See for yourself how she bragged yesterday about faking her illness and how she admitted she was behind my father’s death!”
Kendra flinched violently, as though she’d been startled at those words.
“Willard… I didn’t… I know she hates me for taking you away, but I never said those things. I was devastated by Uncle Joe’s death, too. How could she accuse me like this?”
Willard instinctively wrapped his arms around Kendra, patting her back gently in comfort before turning on Daisie with a glare.
“Daisie, have you caused enough trouble?” he snapped. “Look at what you’ve done—Kendra just had surgery, her body’s weak, and she’s still worried about you. Yet you’re acting like a crazy woman throwing accusations!”
“I regret ever letting you through my family’s doors!” he blurted out. “Your dad’s death was his own bad luck. It had nothing to do with Kendra! You bring misfortune to your own parents, and now, you want to drag others down with you?!”
Daisie’s fists clenched so tight her nails bit into her palms. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, every breath catching in her throat.
‘So this is what he really thinks of me,’ she realized.
What else was there to say?
The proof was in the security footage, yet he wouldn’t even bother to look.
He only believed the fragile little angel crying in his arms.
At that moment, Kendra reached out gently toward Daisie’s exposed hand resting on the blanket.
“Daisie, it’s all my fault. Please don’t be upset anymore, alright—”
“Get away from me!” Daisie snapped, jerking her hand back.
“Ah!” Kendra gasped in fright, stumbling backward on purpose. Her elbow struck the insulated bottle on the bedside table, knocking it over.
The thermos hit the floor with a crash, and boiling water splashed in every direction.
“Kendra!” Willard’s expression changed instantly. Without a thought, he lunged forward, shielding Kendra with his back.
“Ugh!” he grunted as the scalding liquid hit his back, his face tightening in pain.
“Willard! Are you alright?” Kendra cried, clutching his arm in panic.
“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. Ignoring the burn, he looked down to check her anxiously. “What about you? Did you get burned?”
“I… I think my ankle hurts a little…” she whimpered pitifully, lifting her foot ever so slightly.
Willard turned sharply toward the door and shouted, “Doctor! Doctor! Somebody get in here now!”
He didn’t even spare a single glance at the hospital bed behind him.
Daisie, who had been sitting closest to the table, hadn’t even had time to react. The boiling water had splashed directly onto her.
A sharp, searing pain spread across her skin, making her body tremble uncontrollably.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Her sudden movement had violently torn at the surgical wound on her abdomen.
She could feel the warmth of her own blood gushing from the reopened incision, soaking through her hospital gown and the sheets beneath her.
The agony was unbearable. She curled in on herself, cold sweat breaking across her forehead, her lips drained of color.
Soon, several doctors and nurses rushed into the room.
“Mr. Grantham! Ms. Spender!”
“Hurry! Check her ankle! No scars, you hear me? Use the best medication you’ve got!”
Willard’s voice was urgent, his attention fixed entirely on Kendra despite the stinging pain in his own back.
With that, the medical staff swarmed around Kendra.
No one noticed Daisie.
No one saw the blood pooling beneath her, spreading wider and darker by the second.
Her vision began to blur.
She could hear their voices, Willard’s worried tone calling Kendra’s name again and again, but it was like listening from underwater.
She tried to open her mouth to call for help, to say anything.
But the sound that came out was barely audible, even to herself.
The footsteps faded.
The room fell completely silent.
In that stillness, Daisie felt something inside her finally shatter.
Hatred bloomed in her chest like wildfire, spreading until it filled every corner of her being.
Once she went abroad, she swore she would make Willard and Kendra pay—strip them of everything, down to their skin and bones.
And when Daisie made a promise, she always meant it.
But before she could think another thought, the pain overwhelmed her. Her body gave out, and one more time, she fell into unconsciousness.
