The nurse said urgently, "The patient's liver is ruptured and she needs type AB blood right now, but we just received word from the blood bank that they don't have the amount she needs. Her family members would be a viable donor or you can try contacting anyone with type AB blood to come forward as a donor. We've already contacted our superiors to liaise with various major hospitals for logistics."Still, she added, "However, the patient is currently in critical condition, so the faster, the better."Nancy was almost left senseless from shock.If the worst happened to Zoe… "Let's call for donors right now," Ivan said, working hard to stay calm while whipping out his phone with a shaking hand. "I'll call Johnny. He can send everyone in the company with type AB blood over. Jay stood nearby, his whole body stiff and shaking from restraint. His blood type was AB, but he could not donate to Zoe.On the other hand, after Ivan called John, he turned to Nancy. "John made the arrangem
The doors to the operation room opened just then, and a pale-faced woman was wheeled out, looking utterly enfeebled.Still, her injury was not at all serious.However, as everyone including Nancy turned toward Cora Gooding, she felt as if she was punched in the gut, her breath leaving her lungs right then.Clara had been a maid in Levine Manor when both Nancy and Clara got pregnant around the same time. After Clara delivered her baby, she insisted on returning to her hometown with her daughter and left the Levines' service…'No! That's impossible!'Nancy's face turned pale. She could not believe something so ridiculous would happen to her! She could not believe that the daughter she had raised over twenty years was not actually hers!And yet, Zoe's blood type…Nancy rushed to a doctor nearby and asked, "What is this patient's blood type?""A," he replied.Nancy felt another punch in the gut right then.And that face which looked almost just like Zoe's… Nancy could not thi
The nurse called out again, "Are the type AB blood donors here? The patient is in critical condition…"There was a crowd right outside the operation room, but none of them were coming for some reason."Aunt Nancy, this can wait. Let's help Zoe for now," John urged. "Don't you dare help her!" Nancy bellowed bluntly.Never had she been deceived so thoroughly in her entire life!It turned out that she had raised someone else's daughter for over twenty years, and to add insult to injury, it was her own husband's mistress! All while her own daughter had to live somewhere out there, suffering! The thought that Zoe enjoyed all the nice things in life and how Nancy herself cared for her every need… She felt utterly disgusted."Please, Ms. Levine." Clara suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Nancy, sobbing. "Please, you have to save Zoe. It's all my fault—take it out on me if you want! I was just bewitched back then, and my stubbornness led to this… Zoe is innocent. She has nothing
They had to save Zoe.John turned right then and saw Jay quickly and quietly approaching the nurse.Come to think of it, he was of type AB blood.Meanwhile, Clara was crying hysterically on the floor. "Please, Ms. Levine, I'm begging you… Please save Zoe! Whatever it is, just take it out on me, okay? Please…"She never thought that one moment of impulse would hurt her daughter to such an extent. And if Zoe really died… No, she refused to think about that!But even as she cried and begged, Nancy simply ignored her and walked up to Cora, who was still too feeble to speak."Send her to the best ward you have," she told the medical staff present icily. "No one is allowed to visit her without my permission." They knew who she was and therefore agreed to it immediately.Nancy then turned to tell John, "I'm your real family, Johnny—we have ties that bind. I'm sure you wouldn't betray me or do anything that would hurt me."John certainly knew what she was insinuating: he must not
It was not until the next day when Zoe opened her eyes with a head-splitting headache.She quickly remembered having another person landing on top of her and the unbearable agony afterward before blacking out.She wondered how hurt she was and how her stunt double was doing.At the same time, all she felt was a sense of feebleness. "You're awake," a familiar man's voice spoke beside her just then.As Zoe turned to find Jay, she frowned—the one she never wanted to see always seemed to show up!Still, this was a huge deal. So where were her parents? They would be heart-stricken with worry to know that she was hurt. Could they have gone home exhausted after keeping her company the entire night?She looked around to see that her ward was rather crude, and she wondered why she was arranged to stay at a place like this just then."Didn't you tell my parents that I was hurt?" she asked Jay, her feeble and upset.Did he hide this because she did not want the family to scold him?
Nancy was still not reacting at all.She stood before Zoe, looming over her as she said icily, "Don't call me that ever again. You're not my daughter."Zoe was taken aback.Even as a kid, no matter what mischief or shenanigans she was up to—no matter how disobedient or what mistakes she made—her mother had never been this harsh to her.Could she really have upset Nancy this time? She reached out to Nancy like a spoiled child, trying to be cute… only for Nancy to shift her hand away, evading her.There was also undisguised contempt in Nancy's eyes.Zoe's heart skipped a bed, feeling that something was out of place right then.No matter what happened, her mother would never be this cold to her.Even if Nancy was really upset that Zoe had been in danger, Nancy should be weeping happy tears and hugging Zoe because she cheated death.But this cold reaction… Zoe somehow felt like she was not Nancy's daughter. "Mom, what's wrong?" Zoe asked gingerly."I'll say it again, Zoe York
Zoe had always believed herself to be fortunate.Aside from a small plight in her love life, everything else was smooth sailing for her.Never could she have expected her world to fall apart like this.How did a legitimate heiress like her turn into a mistress' daughter?!"We have nothing to do with each other now, Zoe York."Nancy was being frighteningly cold.Seeing Zoe being so miserable did make her feel just a tinge of remorse, but the thought that her own daughter had suffered so much because of Zoe only made her feel even more disgusted.She hated Zoe to the core now for taking everything that was her biological daughter's!"Mom…" Zoe called out to her nonetheless."Don't call me that!" Nancy shrieked with visible disgust."I'm sorry," Zoe apologized—because she had stolen someone else's happiness. "I don't need your apologies," Nancy said icily. "Just stay out of my sight forever, and that would be the best repayment for all the kindness I've wasted on you!"And wi
So this was what it felt like to fall from heaven to hell… And Zoe thought that this stuff only happened in TV dramas. But for some bizarre reason, it happened to her."Zoe…" Jay said. "Leave," she said, finally turning toward him then and finding him looking so worried."The Levines would be upset if you stayed here. My mom…" Zoe paused for a moment then to correct herself, "I mean, Ms. Levine is an individual who makes her feelings very clear. If she hates someone, she couldn't care less about anything and would destroy anything and everyone around them. Stay with me and you'll become an eyesore." "Even if John will inherit the family estate, their favoritism isn't that obvious. You should also know that since Alan Levine spoiled her ever since she was a child, he would never allow her to be given grief."Zoe was already changing the way she addressed the same people as she worked hard to stay strong and accept everything in the present.Jay watched her silently. She was