I was roughly dragged back to the villa by the bodyguards and thrown onto the cold marble floor.
“Looks like I’ve been too lenient with you.” Liam looked down at me, his eyes filled with utter impatience. “Draw her blood first. Vanessa isn’t feeling well and needs a transfusion. After that, lock her in the basement. No one is allowed to let her out without my permission.”
“Liam! You can’t do this!” I finally screamed, “This is illegal!”
He acted as if he'd heard a joke, bent down and grabbed my chin with such force that he almost crushed my bones: "Illegal? In the Foster family, my word is law. Clara, you'd better know your place."
The family doctor walked in with a syringe. The needle was as thick as a child's arm and gleamed with a cold, silvery light.
The doctor walked over to me, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Liam, "Mr. Xie, although your wife and Ms. Vanessa both have Rh-negative blood, your wife has a history of heart disease since childhood and was hospitalized last year due to excessive bleeding and miscarriage. Forcing a blood draw could very likely trigger acute shock. I think it's safer to go to the hospital first for a comprehensive examination before giving Ms. Vanessa a transfusion..."
“Don’t try to persuade me anymore,” Liam interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Your only task is to get Vanessa back to health. As for Clara, she’s not that fragile.”
Before the doctor could say anything more, Liam had already stood up and walked over to me.
He looked at my pale face and suddenly said something strange: "Does it hurt a lot?"
I turned my head away, too lazy to waste words with him. I knew this man would never truly care about my pain.
The doctor picked up the syringe with trembling hands and pierced my arm.
The cold needle pierced my vein, and a chill ran down my arm and through my whole body.
I closed my eyes, and the scene from three years ago flashed through my mind.
At that time, I was pregnant, and Liam's friend was in a car accident and urgently needed rare blood.
Liam found me and said, "It's just a little bit, it'll be fine."
I believed it, and as a result, they drained 400 milliliters of blood. After returning home, I started bleeding, and the pregnancy became unstable, leading to a miscarriage.
He was filled with regret at that time and vowed never to let me donate blood to others again and never to let me be in danger again.
Now that he's met Vanessa, he's forgotten all his vows.
The blood flowed through the syringe into the blood bag, gradually filling it up.
My lips gradually lost their color and turned purple.
I could feel my heart beating faster and faster, and my chest started to feel tight; those were signs that a heart attack was about to occur.
Just then, Vanessa's coughing came from upstairs. Liam immediately rushed over and pressed down on the doctor's hand as he removed the IV: "Draw another two! Vanessa is still coughing, she definitely needs more blood!"
The doctor's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He looked at my increasingly pale face, his voice trembling with anxiety: "Mr. Xie, this won't do! We've already drained 800 milliliters. If we drain any more, Madam will really be in trouble! Her heart can't take it!"
Liam hesitated for two seconds, his eyes flickering, but he quickly regained his coldness: "Vanessa is pregnant, and everything should be done with the pregnant woman first. Clara... she can pull through."
"But..." the doctor wanted to argue.
"Go ahead and smoke," I said suddenly, my voice weak but firm. "After you're done, let me leave."
I'm exhausted, too exhausted to fight anymore, too exhausted to even think about escaping this suffocating place.
Liam looked at my pale face, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes—an emotion that seemed to be anger, or something else entirely. He opened his mouth, as if to ask me, "What are you doing?", but before he could speak, Vanessa's sweet voice came from upstairs: "Liam-gege~ I'm feeling a little unwell..."
Liam immediately turned around, ran upstairs quickly, and didn't even glance at me again.
My vision blurred and I eventually passed out.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a damp, moldy basement, with only a sliver of light coming through the crack in the door.
I curled up in the corner, hugging my knees, not knowing how much time had passed—maybe a day, maybe two. Time had lost its meaning here.
Footsteps and the sound of a lock being opened came from outside the door.
The blinding light shone in, and I instinctively squinted.
It's Vanessa.
She stood gracefully in the doorway, wearing an expensive cashmere sweater and holding a glass of water, seemingly out of place in the gloomy environment.
"Clara, why make yourself look so disheveled?" She walked in slowly, placed the water on the ground in front of me, as if she were giving alms to a stray dog.
"I've come to make a deal with you."
I looked up at her coldly, without saying a word.
"The reason why Brother Liam is still unwilling to let you go is simply because he has his eye on your rare Rh-negative blood."
She gently stroked her lower abdomen, her smile both sweet and malicious. "I'm anemic during my pregnancy and need to have blood on hand at all times. If you sign this voluntary blood donation agreement, promising to be available whenever I call before I give birth, I'll have Liam release you, including... your half-dead dog, and your seriously ill sister."
She took a document out of her designer handbag and threw it in front of me.
I stared at the agreement, and my blood seemed to freeze at that moment.
Signing means I may never truly get rid of them; not signing means my sister and Tuantuan may suffer even crueler treatment because of me.
My father's words echoed in my ears: "Clara, when you encounter setbacks, you must have the courage to start over..."
Courage is not just about being unyielding to the death, but also about enduring hardship and humiliation to protect those who are important to you.
I raised my hand, stained with blood and dust, and picked up the pen from the ground.
“I’ll sign.” My voice was hoarse but clear. “But you have to promise to release my sister immediately and take Tuantuan to the vet for treatment.”
Vanessa's lips curled into a barely perceptible, eerie smile: "Of course, I always keep my word."
I took a deep breath and signed my name in the designated place on the document.
As soon as I put down my pen, Vanessa snatched the document away almost immediately. She carefully examined my signature, a bright yet malicious smile spreading across her face.
“Clara, you’re the dumbest woman I’ve ever met.” She chuckled, her voice jarring in the empty basement. “You think this is just a blood transfusion agreement?”
