Three

Lilian had no idea how she made her way back to the party. Her face was white, and her lips were red from biting back tears. She stood there in a daze.

Suddenly, a scream came out with the sound of shattered glass.

“Oh my God, what happened?”

Lily crumpled to the ground, with wine and glass under her, and her arm was bleeding.

Lillian stood in front of her, startled.

“What kind of person would do that?”

“She was standing right there. She must be the one who pushed her!” There was an outbreak of muttering at it.

“I mean, you think you know someone.” People pointed at Lilian, judging her with disapproval and disgust.

Lily tried to stand up, but the broken glass in her palm made her cry in pain.

Just as Lillian was about to help her and pull her up, Marcus pushed Lilian away.

"What did you do to her?" She heard Marcus' cold voice.

Marcus's eyes were icy glaciers, their frosty gaze piercing through Lilian like a winter storm, their coldness a palpable force that left her shivering, Like he was facing an enemy. Lilian shook her head and she immediately moved back which made her seem to be more guilty in Marcus’s eyes.

"I did not do anything to her. She fell herself," Lilian came closer and said though she knew the explanation sounded hollow.

Marcus walked towards Lily and bent down. He removed his suit and draped it on Lily.

“People saw you pushed her and you are still lying?” Marcus sneered, angrily, and there was a frigid contempt in this tone.

Lilian shook her head repeatedly “Believe me. I did not push her”.

"It's not her fault, Marcus. I should have been more careful." Lily said weakly with a sense of grievance.

"My hands are so painful. I don't know if I can still play the piano." She said her voice sounding weak.

As Marcus's gaze fell on Lily's bleeding form, his expression twisted in anguish. He shoved Lilian aside, and she crashed to the ground, Lilian's body stiffened, a searing pain shooting through her like a spark, igniting a fire that spread rapidly, leaving her gasping for air, her limbs trembling with a mix of shock and anguish.

“Marcus, this is not what you think. I-” Lilian tried to explain but Lily’s eyes suddenly closed.

“Lily!”

Marcus didn’t bother to give Lilian a second glance. His voice cracked with urgency, his words tumbling out in a frantic plea as he called out,

“Lily! ” He called again but there was only silence.

Lily's eyes remained closed, her stillness unsettling.

Lilian could see that he was actually scared for the first time, he was afraid of losing someone.

Someone who was not her.

Lilian's chest felt like a vise, squeezing tight, each breath a laborious effort, as if she were drowning in a sea of despair, her lungs burning for air, her heart racing with desperation., making it hard to breathe. She felt like she was drowning in a sea of despair, unable to look away from the painful scene unfolding before her.

“Marcus, we should take Lily to the hospital,” Aria said behind him. They could tell Marcus had lost his mind, panicking, and that he had even forgotten totally about the hospital.

As Marcus stood up with Lily in his arms, he stopped and looked at Lilian.

“This is not over yet, you better wish Lily was okay,” he said to her coldly before he stepped out of the hall.

“How could she do that?”

“ I can’t believe it. She must be jealous of her”

“If it hadn't happened in front of us, I wouldn’t have believed it either. She looked innocent, but she is a white lotus and seductress.”

Lilian felt her head banging from their talking.

She struggled to stand up from the floor and dusted the back of her dress.

Her right hand was also injured when Marcus pushed her away; a broken glass cut her hand.

She looked at her right hand and chuckled for the moment she even tried to help the mistress who wanted to destroy her home.

It was ridiculous.

…

Lilian pushed open the hospital door, the antiseptic smell enveloping her like a gloomy hug.

Her hand was soon wrapped in bandages. She did not even whimper or say a word till finished as if she were immune to the pain.

She felt so lonely in her heart. She was just all alone in her world. Even the husband she sacrificed everything is not with her. He is busy accompanying his lover instead.

Lilian's lips compressed into a thin line, a self-critical tension radiating from her clenched jaws.

Her eyelids grew heavy, weighed down by the exhaustion that seemed to seep into her very bones, her eyes fluttering like wounded birds, desperate to find refuge in sleep, their gentle droop a surrender to the crushing fatigue that threatened to consume her, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. More tears followed, streaming down her face as she didn't have to hold back now.

She wiped her tears and went out of the hospital but she happened to walk by Lily’s room.

Lilian hesitated for a while before she twisted the doorknob after taking several breaths.

Lily was lying down on the bed.

“You fell down yourself,” Lilian walked in and said.

“And so what? He believed my words over yours. You pushed me; he will always choose me over you.” Lily looked at Lilian with a smile of triumph on her face.

''You're my doppelganger; I suppose that's why he married you,'" Lily said, her voice laced with sarcasm, her smirk a thin veil for the venom beneath.

Lilian opened her mouth but couldn’t make any sound. She noticed this too, and even their names were so similar, but she chose not to think too much of it.

“You are just a substitute! My substitute. I’m back now; you should leave.” Lily's voice was a gentle whisper but in full malice.

Lilian's eyes fluttered shut, a protective shield against the vulnerability that threatened to surface, her tears locked away, hidden from prying eyes.. Lily was not worth it.

“What if he knows all about this? Aren’t you afraid he’ll know the truth?” Lilian held back her tears, confronting her with a steady look.

Lilian didn’t wait for an answer from Lily that Marcus came back.

The anger in his eyes was burning. Marcus grasped Lilian in the arm so hard that Lilian could feel the pain, taking her out of the room.

Marcus's grip on Lilian's arm tightened, his fingers digging into her skin like vice grips.

His eyes were two glittering infernos, their fierce blaze illuminating the dark landscape of his face, casting a fiery glow that seemed to scorch the very air around him, his voice was low and menacing as he growled, “What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough?”

"You are hurting me, Marcus” Lilian struggled to extricate herself from Marcus's grasp, her efforts a futile attempt to escape the unyielding shackles of his fingers, which held her captive with a strength that seemed almost supernatural.

"How could you be so shameless and even dare to show up here? "

“Listen, I-” Lilian said anxiously as she wanted to tell him the truth.

"Apologize," Marcus stated, tired of her excuse. Lilian was in despair with his cold and alien look.