The moment I turned away from that apartment, I went straight back to the villa where Liam and I had been living.
Seven days.
Only seven days left.
I had to get my important things out while I still could.
I didn’t know how long had passed when I heard his footsteps outside the door.
My hands froze.
I quickly stuffed the pregnancy report and the mysterious man’s contact information into the hidden layer of my bra, forced my face back into the soft, obedient expression I’d worn for years, and turned around.
“Clara? Why are you here?”
Liam stepped inside, his eyes flicking over the half–open suitcase, a slight frown forming.
“Didn’t you say you were waiting for me at the apartment tonight?”
“I just wanted to pack some things a bit earlier,” I said softly, lowering my gaze like I always did.
“We’re going on our honeymoon after the wedding, right? I was afraid I’d forget something if I waited too long.”
He didn’t suspect a thing.
His arm slid around my waist — still warm, still familiar, still gentle.
But this time, my body tensed on instinct.
It was like being touched by someone cold, damp, and unfamiliar.
“No need to rush,” he murmured. “You have me.”
He leaned down to kiss me.
I turned my head slightly, pretending to adjust my hair.
Just then, a sweet, syrupy voice came from the entrance.
“Liam, my feet hurt so much… Can you come help me?”
His arm slipped off me immediately.
He didn’t even hesitate.
I stood frozen in place, watching him hurry out.
And suddenly, the truth stabbed even deeper:
This villa was supposed to be my home.
But the moment Vanessa was allowed to stay… I became an outsider again.
I walked out after him.
He was carefully helping Vanessa inside.
She was wearing **my** cashmere coat.
Her hand rested lightly over her slightly swollen stomach.
A victorious smile lingered on her lips.
When she saw me, she leaned closer into Liam’s arms on purpose.
“Such a coincidence, sis,” she said sweetly.
“Liam and I were just about to go out for dinner, and you came back.”
My jaw tightened, but I forced my voice steady.
“Why is she here?”
“She’s pregnant,” Liam answered naturally, as if stating the weather.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving her outside alone anymore.”
He looked at me like this should be obvious.
“From now on, Vanessa’s staying in the master bedroom. Better sunlight. Better for her pregnancy.”
He paused.
“Your stuff… move it to the guest room.”
The master bedroom.
The room my grandmother had personally chosen for me after I was brought back.
The one filled with sunlight every morning.
The one where her knitted scarf still hung quietly in the closet.
The guest room was dark, damp, and cold.
Vanessa used to laugh and call it *the maid’s room*.
Something heavy smashed into my chest.
And suddenly, I saw my grandmother again.
That winter, when her heart condition worsened so badly she needed surgery.
I knelt before my parents, begging.
They waved their hands impatiently.
“She’s just an old woman. What’s the point of spending that much?”
“She won’t live much longer anyway.”
Vanessa had stood beside them, arms crossed, smirking.
“Just save the money for my new bag instead.”
It was me.
Running from relative to relative.
Working illegal part–time jobs for three months straight.
Humiliating myself just to gather enough money.
The day my grandmother left the hospital, she held my hands with fingers so thin they felt like paper.
“Clara… I’m sorry I’ve burdened you…”
Her old fingers tried to push a few candies into my palm — ones she had saved her food money for.
Vanessa snatched them and tossed them into the trash.
“Disgusting. Who’d eat stuff from an old hag?”
Her eyes that day…
They looked like a lost child’s.
She was the only one who ever protected me in that house.
And because of that, she was pushed to the darkest corner of it.
“Clara?”
Liam’s voice pulled me out of my memories.
“What are you standing there for?” he asked coldly.
“Go pack. Vanessa can’t be tired.”
Vanessa smirked quietly behind him.
Her gaze dropped to the carpet.
Snowball was sleeping there.
My dog.
The stray I picked up the day I was brought back into this family.
The only living thing that had stayed with me without betraying me.
“Oh my God, is that your dog?” Vanessa lit up and walked over excitedly.
Snowball stiffened at once and hurried to my feet, rubbing against my leg.
“This is Snowball,” I whispered, instinctively bending down to pick him up.
My fingers buried into his soft fur, and for a brief second… the world felt warmer.
“I like him so much!” Vanessa clung to Liam’s arm.
“I’ve been feeling lonely since I got pregnant. Let him stay with me, okay? He’ll make me feel better.”
“No.”
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Vanessa’s expression darkened.
“Snowball is my dog,” I said quietly.
“He doesn’t like strangers.”
Her eyes instantly reddened.
“Liam…” she whispered, heartbroken.
“I just wanted some company… Why is she so petty?
Am I really less important than a dog to her?”
Liam looked straight at me.
Annoyance flashed in his eyes.
“Clara. Vanessa’s pregnant. Her emotions are fragile,” he said coldly.
“It’s just a dog. Why are you so selfish?”
“He’s not just a dog,” my hands tightened around Snowball.
“He’s been with me for five years. He’s all I have left…”
“All you have?”
Liam let out a sharp, mocking laugh. His voice turned cruelly low.
“Is he more important than Vanessa and the baby she’s carrying?”
He stepped closer, eyes dark.
“And by the way…” he added quietly,
“Your grandmother had her medical check-up yesterday.
The doctor said she might need a very expensive treatment again.”
My blood stopped moving.
“You know how your parents feel about her,” he continued softly.
“If the money isn’t ready soon… who knows what’ll happen to her condition?”
Pain crashed through me like ice water.
Grandma…
My only light.
Vanessa’s lips curved upward just slightly.
She knew exactly where to hit.
“Sis,” she said gently, fake concern coating every word,
“I promise I’ll take good care of Snowball. I won’t let anything happen to him.
You wouldn’t want something bad to happen to Grandma, right?”
I looked at Liam.
Then at her.
Then at Snowball.
He licked my face softly, his eyes full of trust.
Slowly… my arms loosened.
“…Fine.”
My voice came out broken and hoarse.
“You can have him.
But you must treat him well. Don’t hurt him.”
Vanessa beamed, reaching out.
But as she grabbed him roughly, Snowball panicked.
He struggled violently.
In the chaos, his teeth scraped her arm — not deep, but enough to break skin.
“Ah—!”
Vanessa screamed and stepped back, clutching her arm.
“He bit me! Liam! It bit me!” she cried.
“That crazy dog actually bit me!”
Liam’s face turned instantly ferocious.
He rushed over to examine her wound, his eyes filled with panic…
and fury.
“Clara!”
He spun toward me, his expression murderous.
“Is this how you trained your dog?!”
“No!» I rushed forward.
“He didn’t do it on purpose! She scared him—!”
He shoved me back hard.
“Whether on purpose or not,” his voice dropped like a guillotine,
“this dog stays no longer.”
He turned to the servants.
“Take it away,” he commanded.
“Kill it tonight. Make soup out of it.
It’ll be good for Vanessa’s body.”
“No… No, Liam, please!”
I ran forward and clung to Snowball, sobbing uncontrollably now.
“He didn’t mean it! He’s innocent! You can punish me instead, just don’t kill him!”
“Punish you?”
Liam yanked me away.
“Who’s going to punish Vanessa if something happens to her?”
Then he leaned closer, his voice a blade pressing against my throat.
“Clara, behave yourself.
Or I’ll make sure the hospital… stops treating your grandmother.”
That sentence crushed what little strength I had left.
I went completely still.
The servants pulled Snowball from my arms.
He struggled wildly, crying out in terrible, broken whines, twisting to look at me one last time.
His eyes…
Still trusted me.
Vanessa stood beside Liam, weak and shaking on the surface.
But when I glanced at her face…
There was a flicker of pure, satisfied malice in her smile.
“Oh, Liam,” she said in a soft, fake voice,
“Clara looks so pitiful… do we really need to kill the dog?”
