Chapter 4

After the blood transfusion, Thomas was soon awake again.

Jenny practically threw herself at his bedside. "Dad, you're finally awake. You scared me half to death."

The nurse standing nearby smiled and chimed in, "Mr. Hinton, you have no idea how caring Miss Zackery is.

When you were in danger, she didn't care about her own health and insisted on giving you her blood. That's what saved you."

Samantha stood there, completely dumbfounded. 'Wait, wasn't it my blood that saved him?'

"Kendrick, is that really true?" Thomas's voice shook as he asked, looking for reassurance.

After a long, heavy silence, Kendrick glanced at Samantha, then finally nodded.

"That's my girl, my pride and joy." Thomas smiled, beaming with delight.

Feeling on top of the world, Thomas waved his hand and gifted Jenny a pile of luxury jewelry, then handed over shares worth tens of millions to her without a second thought.

But just then, Kendrick grabbed Samantha and dragged her away before she could say a word.

"Is your vanity really that strong? Do you have to expose everything just to satisfy your pride?" Kendrick said in a low, harsh voice, gripping Samantha's hand tightly.

Kendrick didn't even realize he was squeezing the spot where she'd just had blood drawn.

Samantha's face went even paler. She retorted, "So what, Jenny isn't vain? You know damn well she was the one who refused to donate blood to save Dad in the first place."

"Why do you have to be so hung up on getting all the glory?" Kendrick snapped, cutting her off.

Kendrick added, "Jenny just wants to smooth things over with Dad. Does it really matter whose blood it was? You're her sister-in-law, can't you just let her have this for once?"

'Just let her have it?' Samantha thought, her heart twisting in disbelief. 'I've already given up everything, even gave up my own husband. Is that still not enough?'

Samantha couldn't believe what she was hearing. And Kendrick's blatant favoritism toward Jenny felt like a knife to her heart.

With her old wounds still raw and her body drained from blood loss, Samantha's vision went black and she collapsed to the floor.

All she could hear was Kendrick shouting in disbelief. "Samantha? Don't think playing sick is gonna make me let you hurt Jenny."

*****

When Samantha finally came to, she found herself in a hospital room that reeked of disinfectant.

"Mrs. Hinton, you're finally awake," the nanny said, rushing over to help her sit up.

She propped Samantha up and set a steaming bowl of fragrant, nourishing soup right in front of her.

"The doctor said you lost so much blood. Mr. Hinton was worried sick about you, just look at this," the nanny gushed. "He even made this soup himself, and burned his hands in the process."

The nanny couldn't hide the envy on her face.

Samantha looked at the steaming bowl of soup in front of her, her feelings all tangled up inside.

But the next moment, Jenny's sweet, teasing voice floated over from the next room. "Kendrick, I just get a little woozy at the sight of blood, that's all. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? You even burned your hand making soup for me. It makes my heart ache."

Jenny also had a bowl of soup in front of her. But unlike Samantha's thin, flavorless broth, her bowl was overflowing with premium ingredients like ginseng and abalone.

So the so-called nourishing soup for Samantha was really just the scraps left over after Jenny got all the good stuff.

Samantha stood in the doorway, clutching her bowl, her expression blank.

"Samantha, you're awake. Come sit down," Jenny called out, spotting her first.

When Jenny caught sight of the bowl in Samantha's hands, a smug glint appeared in her eyes.

She suggested, "Perfect timing. I was just thinking my soup is way too rich, and yours looks so much lighter. How about we swap?"

But Kendrick stepped in, blocking her. "You're not in great shape. Why would you drink that watery stuff? Be good and eat your own soup."

Samantha listened to those words and felt frozen inside, as if all warmth had been drained from her body.

'Jenny can't stomach it, so I get stuck with it?' Samantha thought bitterly, the unfairness cutting deep. 'Just what am I to Kendrick, anyway?'

"Oh well, since I'm heading off to Novigrad as a doctor without borders in a few days, guess I'm just getting used to roughing it early," Jenny said, sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Well. Our Jenny, such a good-hearted girl, always so sweet and generous," Kendrick said, pride clear in his voice.

Kendrick didn't even bother to ask Samantha what she wanted, he just grabbed the untouched bowl of soup right out of her hands and passed it over to Jenny, like Samantha wasn't even there.

But Jenny barely took a sip before she started throwing up violently.

"What did you put in the soup?" Kendrick demanded, his gaze fixed suspiciously on Samantha.