Five years back, Vincent shockingly broke off his engagement with Kristin in a public spectacle and heartlessly landed her in prison. The day she walked out of the iron bars, he had the audacity to drag her to the hospital and coldly announced, "Ruby’s been in a car crash. She needs a kidney, yours." Kristin, born with a fragile heart condition, knew that agreeing to donate her kidney was akin to signing her own death warrant. Still, Vincent was ruthless in forcing her compliance. On the afternoon of the scheduled operation, her heart tragically gave out and despite desperate attempts, she couldn't be revived. Rumor has it that Vincent, the man who seemed to have wished for her demise, broke down and wept at her graveside for a marathon of three days and nights. Later, when he saw Kristin again in his home, she was holding a five-year-old and had married his elder brother, Rhett, who treasured her like a precious gem. Vincent, in a pitiful state of regret, pleaded, "Kristin, I've seen the err of my ways." However, Rhett shot him a glacial stare and mercilessly spat out, "Beat it, she's your sister-in-law now."

Chapter 1Outside the prison of Silvergrove City."After you get out, don't look back. Live a good life." A police officer said.Kristin Turner looked back and bowed, shivering in the biting cold wind.It had been five years.She was just 21 when she was locked up."Get in the car."A black Maybach parked by the roadside, the man's voice icy cold.He was the brother Kristin had called for twenty-one years, only to find they weren’t blood-related."Brother..." Kristin's voice was hoarse, her head lowered awkwardly."Don't call me like that again. It makes me sick," Clarence Turner's face darkened, glancing at his watch. "You’ve stolen twenty-one years of my sister's life and made her endure humiliation in that home. Who the hell do you think you are to call me brother?"Kristin's chapped lips twitched, but in the end, she said nothing.Kristin, the only darling daughter of the Turner family in Silvergrove City, turned out to be the nanny's child. And the real Ms. Turner was swapped out by the nanny."I'm sorry." After a long silence, Kristin apologized in a raspy voice.Framed for extortion, she learned to be submissive in prison and apologize to survive. She could beg for mercy at any minute.Once, she was the exalted Ms. Turner, adored by her brother and cherished by her parents.Then, Ruby, the true Ms. Turner burst into her life one day, looking ragged and destitute.Kristin’s biological mother was a criminal overnight, and she became the impostor who stole a life of wealth, the laughingstock of Silvergrove City.No one cared that she had no choice when she was switched as a baby."Sorry? You think saying sorry and five years in prison can compensate for all the hurt your family caused Ruby?" Clarence's voice was cold, his gaze on Kristin full of disgust. "Get in the car."He found Kristin filthy and didn't even want to touch her.The brother who used to love holding her and saying, "Our Kris is the prettiest," wished she was dead."I'm... dirty." Kristin gave a bitter smile, stepping back, afraid to get in the car.Clarence frowned, sizing up Kristin.The Kristin who lived like a pampered heiress for twenty-one years, fragile as a pearl in the palm, once dazzling in everyone's eyes.But she looked dusty, pale, and thin, pitifully low.She had a rough time inside."Don't make me repeat myself. Get in the damn car now!" Clarence glared at Kristin with a ferocious look. "Ruby had an accident. Are you happy now? You owe her. Go to the hospital and pay your debt!"Kristin's eyes, hollow and dodging, froze. Suddenly, she was afraid.She thought she was hallucinating when she left the prison. How could her brother come to pick her up when the entire Turner family despised her?But Clarence came, and he didn't come for her."What do you mean..." Kristin trembled."Ruby was in a car accident, and she needs a kidney transplant. You owe her," Clarence said with a grave tone.Kristin took a deep breath and stepped back again, her survival instinct kicking in, and she turned to run."Kristin, you're as vicious as ever."She hadn't run far when someone grabbed her wrist hard, throwing her to the ground.Kristin lay in a mess, her forehead hitting the curbstone, blood gushing out.That voice sounded cold and familiar.Looking back, Kristin curled up in fear.Vincent FitzGerald, her former fiancé, was also one of those who framed her and sent her to prison."You owe Ruby this," Vincent said, dragging Kristin, fresh out of prison, back into a hellish abyss.She thought she'd be free after being released.In court, she didn't explain, and she couldn't. She thought her confession, five years in prison, would atone for all her sins, but it was far from enough."Hurry up. Take this woman to the hospital. Ruby's waiting," Clarence said impatiently."What if she doesn't agree?" the driver asked."How dare she? Her life should have been Ruby's. What right does she have to say no?" Vincent sneered, grabbing Kristin's chin. "Your wicked mother is still in prison. If you want her to live, be good and trade your kidney."Kristin's trembling body stiffened. Indeed, outside prison, hell awaited.To survive among these devils, she must climb up.In Silvergrove City, the only man who could protect her was Rhett FitzGerald, president of the FitzGerald Group, Vincent's brother.Everything went black momentarily, and Kristin was shoved into a car, huddled in a corner, shaking in utter despair.There was no way she could donate a kidney. It would kill her, and she couldn't afford to die."Kristin, how's prison life been treating you these past five years?" Vincent eyed the woman curled up in the corner, who had long lost the pride she once carried. He couldn't quite put his finger on the mix of emotions brewing inside him.Kristin flinched, perhaps a reflex born from being bullied behind bars. She hugged her head in fear."Cat's got your tongue, huh?" Vincent looked at Kristin with disgust, grabbing her chin, the dark red blood on her forehead stark against her pale face."Please..." Kristin's voice shook, her eyes filled with despair and resentment.Thanks to Vincent, her time in prison was a living hell.On the day she was released, a cellmate who couldn't stand to see her mistreated any longer spilled the beans. Vincent's people had paid her to ensure Kristin 'got special attention' during those five years.Vincent's Adam's apple bobbed with disgust as he pushed her away after looking at the bruises on her face.How disgusting it was.Kristin numbly watched Vincent, the man she had once loved with all her youth, unable to stir any emotion in her anymore.She had long stopped loving him.…The car arrived at Silvergrove Hospital.Vincent dragged Kristin out of the car.She pleaded with Vincent, kneeling on the ground and begging him. Endless beating during the years in prison freaked her out."Vincent, please. I can't donate my kidney. I'm not eligible. I can make amends and do anything you ask."As Kristin kept begging and knocking her forehead on the ground, she knew she had no powerful family to back her up. She knew Vincent and the Turner family could squash her like a bug if they wanted to.They wanted her to suffer, and she had to outdo their expectations to cling to life a bit longer and then figure out her next move.It was clear to Kristin that neither Vincent nor the Turner family would let her off the hook.She had to survive. She had her reasons.Vincent stepped back involuntarily, his eyes betraying a complexity of emotions, seemingly taken aback by the sight of the once lofty Ms. Turner in such a pitiful, lowly state."Clarence, please! With the Turner family's resources, plenty of people can donate a kidney to Ruby, right? Clarence, I'm begging you. You and Mom and Dad know my body can't take it."Kristin had a congenital heart defect. Even after surgery in her childhood, she couldn't withstand the damage that donating a kidney would cause.Clarence knew that yet he looked on coldly. "This is what you owe Ruby. You would've been dead a long time ago if your mother hadn’t swapped my sister away."Kristin's body stiffened for a long time before she slumped to the ground, powerless. "Can I make amends in some other way?""Do you think you deserve that chance?" Vincent scoffed. "Kristin, you think a five-year stint in prison can wipe the slate clean? Have you forgotten what you did to me? When you betrayed me and slept with that jerk, did you ever think this day would come?"Kristin couldn't bear to remember the hell from five years ago, nor did she have the energy to explain.Upon uncovering the grim truth, Clarence, once her sworn protector, heartlessly cast her into another man's bed.In Clarence's eyes, Kristin was a counterfeit, and by extension, her fiancé Vincent belonged to Ruby Collins.So, Ruby took Vincent to catch her in the act.It was a setup by Ruby and Clarence.Ruby was the victim, the true heiress. People believed whatever she said. And nobody would believe a word from Kristin, the daughter of a thief.…Ruby was still in a coma in the hospital room, looking pale.Kristin shrank her shoulders, keeping her head down.By the sickbed stood the Turner family’s patriarch, Johnnie Turner, and his wife Mamie, the people Kristin had called Mom and Dad for twenty-one years.Snap! When Kristin entered the room, Mamie swung a slap at her, overcome with emotion.Compared to Mamie, Johnnie was much more composed. "Has she agreed?""She doesn't have the luxury of disagreeing." Vincent had already decided for Kristin, forcing her to kneel beside the bed.Trembling all over, Kristin looked up at Johnnie. "Dad... I mean, Mr. Turner, I'm not eligible to donate. Please spare me. I can make amends in other ways. I can pay back what I owe the Turner family..."Johnnie's expression darkened, his displeasure evident.Kristin looked at everyone like strangers. During her five years in prison, she even doubted if the past twenty-one years of her life had been a dream."Kristin, have you forgotten? Five years ago, you slept with some nobody and had his child, whom you gave away. That kid must be about five now," Vincent said, always knowing how to hit Kristin where it hurt most, reopening her wounds and rubbing salt in them.Kristin suddenly looked up at Vincent, who was pushing her to the edge.When mentioning that bastard child, the disgust in Vincent's eyes grew thicker. He wished Kristin would just drop dead.Back in the day, Kristin slept with another guy in a hotel, dragging the FitzGerald family name through the mud. To top it off, she got knocked up and popped out that bastard right before she had been thrown in the slammer.Desperate, Kristin gazed at Vincent as if she never truly knew him. "The child... The child is innocent," she implored."Innocent? When Ruby got swapped into your trashy life, she was innocent, too," Mamie shrieked, her voice sharp, and slapped Kristin across the face twice more for good measure.If Johnnie hadn't stepped in, she probably would've kept going until she felt better.Her ears ringing, Kristin dropped her gaze and allowed the blows from Mamie to land on her swollen face.She had a debt to repay for twenty-one years of care and upbringing. The time had come to settle it.Taking a deep breath, Kristin's eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Vincent, her voice weak but resolute. "I'll donate the kidney..."She'd do anything if they spared her child."You're something, aren't you?" Vincent watched Kristin's pathetic, groveling state, his heart tightened, but he didn’t let her off the hook. "Take her to get checked. Give her to the doctor and make her sign.""Don't touch me..." Kristin's voice trembled, but gone was the earlier cowardice and begging. She stood up on her own, a mess but with a determined look in her eyes as she stared at Johnnie. "You're fully clued into my situation... If I give you a kidney, that clears my tab, right? So, after that, let's call it quits and let me off the hook."She'd got a congenital heart defect and had been frail since she was a kid. Giving birth five years ago nearly cost her life, and the Turner family wanted her kidney, knowing they were asking for her life.Johnnie frowned a flicker of emotion in his eyes.After all, they raised her for twenty-one years. Kristin had indeed been obedient and sensible in the Turner family."You'll continue to atone even after death!" But Mamie wasn't willing to let go."Enough," Johnnie sighed. "The five years you've been in prison have punished you enough. If you agree to this kidney donation and promise to stick to the straight and narrow afterwards, we'll cut you loose, no more hassle from our end."Kristin laughed weakly.With the way things were, she probably wouldn’t even make it off the operating table."Donating a kidney makes up for your mistakes? You’ve stolen Ruby's wonderful life for twenty-one years!" Yet Vincent didn’t seem satisfied, as if he wanted to grind her into dust.“Everyone who once loved me belonged to Ruby. Wasn't that enough? What more did I have to do to atone? What did I do wrong?” Kristin thought so."Vincent..." Kristin's voice was feeble as she suddenly chuckled. "If you hate me that much, scatter my ashes after I die."Her lips were pale, her appearance a mess. "Leave my child alone."Vincent's eyes were gloomy with malice. Even then, she was still protecting that bastard!"You think we wouldn't dare?" Clarence responded to Vincent, his eyes mocking as he looked at Kristin. "You're downright rotten, following in your mother's lowly footsteps! That bastard child deserves to die. He’s an embarrassing blight!"Kristin didn't respond, her vision went dark, and before she could leave the hospital room, she collapsed to the ground, passing out."Kris!" Right before losing consciousness, Kristin thought she heard someone calling her Kris.Was it Vincent? How ironic."Don't mind her! She's just acting! I knew it. She didn't learn a thing in those five years in jail," Clarence said angrily, storming into the bathroom to fetch a basin of cold water to splash Kristin awake.Kristin attempted to open her eyes, but strength failed her.She knew why Clarence was so agitated. He feared Vincent would uncover the truth; with her congenital heart condition, giving up a kidney would be a death sentence."Clarence..." As Clarence was about to douse her, Vincent grabbed his wrist. "Enough...""Feeling sorry for her, Vincent?" Clarence sneered at him. "Don't forget, you're engaged to Ruby now. And my sister had that accident because of you!"Vincent paused, then slowly released Clarence's wrist.That basin of cold water still ended up doused all over Kristin's face.Chapter 2Outside the prison of Silvergrove City."After you get out, don't look back. Live a good life." A police officer said.Kristin Turner looked back and bowed, shivering in the biting cold wind.It had been five years.She was just 21 when she was locked up."Get in the car."A black Maybach parked by the roadside, the man's voice icy cold.He was the brother Kristin had called for twenty-one years, only to find they weren’t blood-related."Brother..." Kristin's voice was hoarse, her head lowered awkwardly."Don't call me like that again. It makes me sick," Clarence Turner's face darkened, glancing at his watch. "You’ve stolen twenty-one years of my sister's life and made her endure humiliation in that home. Who the hell do you think you are to call me brother?"Kristin's chapped lips twitched, but in the end, she said nothing.Kristin, the only darling daughter of the Turner family in Silvergrove City, turned out to be the nanny's child. And the real Ms. Turner was swapped out by the nanny."I'm sorry." After a long silence, Kristin apologized in a raspy voice.Framed for extortion, she learned to be submissive in prison and apologize to survive. She could beg for mercy at any minute.Once, she was the exalted Ms. Turner, adored by her brother and cherished by her parents.Then, Ruby, the true Ms. Turner burst into her life one day, looking ragged and destitute.Kristin’s biological mother was a criminal overnight, and she became the impostor who stole a life of wealth, the laughingstock of Silvergrove City.No one cared that she had no choice when she was switched as a baby."Sorry? You think saying sorry and five years in prison can compensate for all the hurt your family caused Ruby?" Clarence's voice was cold, his gaze on Kristin full of disgust. "Get in the car."He found Kristin filthy and didn't even want to touch her.The brother who used to love holding her and saying, "Our Kris is the prettiest," wished she was dead."I'm... dirty." Kristin gave a bitter smile, stepping back, afraid to get in the car.Clarence frowned, sizing up Kristin.The Kristin who lived like a pampered heiress for twenty-one years, fragile as a pearl in the palm, once dazzling in everyone's eyes.But she looked dusty, pale, and thin, pitifully low.She had a rough time inside."Don't make me repeat myself. Get in the damn car now!" Clarence glared at Kristin with a ferocious look. "Ruby had an accident. Are you happy now? You owe her. Go to the hospital and pay your debt!"Kristin's eyes, hollow and dodging, froze. Suddenly, she was afraid.She thought she was hallucinating when she left the prison. How could her brother come to pick her up when the entire Turner family despised her?But Clarence came, and he didn't come for her."What do you mean..." Kristin trembled."Ruby was in a car accident, and she needs a kidney transplant. You owe her," Clarence said with a grave tone.Kristin took a deep breath and stepped back again, her survival instinct kicking in, and she turned to run."Kristin, you're as vicious as ever."She hadn't run far when someone grabbed her wrist hard, throwing her to the ground.Kristin lay in a mess, her forehead hitting the curbstone, blood gushing out.That voice sounded cold and familiar.Looking back, Kristin curled up in fear.Vincent FitzGerald, her former fiancé, was also one of those who framed her and sent her to prison."You owe Ruby this," Vincent said, dragging Kristin, fresh out of prison, back into a hellish abyss.She thought she'd be free after being released.In court, she didn't explain, and she couldn't. She thought her confession, five years in prison, would atone for all her sins, but it was far from enough."Hurry up. Take this woman to the hospital. Ruby's waiting," Clarence said impatiently."What if she doesn't agree?" the driver asked."How dare she? Her life should have been Ruby's. What right does she have to say no?" Vincent sneered, grabbing Kristin's chin. "Your wicked mother is still in prison. If you want her to live, be good and trade your kidney."Kristin's trembling body stiffened. Indeed, outside prison, hell awaited.To survive among these devils, she must climb up.In Silvergrove City, the only man who could protect her was Rhett FitzGerald, president of the FitzGerald Group, Vincent's brother.Everything went black momentarily, and Kristin was shoved into a car, huddled in a corner, shaking in utter despair.There was no way she could donate a kidney. It would kill her, and she couldn't afford to die."Kristin, how's prison life been treating you these past five years?" Vincent eyed the woman curled up in the corner, who had long lost the pride she once carried. He couldn't quite put his finger on the mix of emotions brewing inside him.Kristin flinched, perhaps a reflex born from being bullied behind bars. She hugged her head in fear."Cat's got your tongue, huh?" Vincent looked at Kristin with disgust, grabbing her chin, the dark red blood on her forehead stark against her pale face."Please..." Kristin's voice shook, her eyes filled with despair and resentment.Thanks to Vincent, her time in prison was a living hell.On the day she was released, a cellmate who couldn't stand to see her mistreated any longer spilled the beans. Vincent's people had paid her to ensure Kristin 'got special attention' during those five years.Vincent's Adam's apple bobbed with disgust as he pushed her away after looking at the bruises on her face.How disgusting it was.Kristin numbly watched Vincent, the man she had once loved with all her youth, unable to stir any emotion in her anymore.She had long stopped loving him.…The car arrived at Silvergrove Hospital.Vincent dragged Kristin out of the car.She pleaded with Vincent, kneeling on the ground and begging him. Endless beating during the years in prison freaked her out."Vincent, please. I can't donate my kidney. I'm not eligible. I can make amends and do anything you ask."As Kristin kept begging and knocking her forehead on the ground, she knew she had no powerful family to back her up. She knew Vincent and the Turner family could squash her like a bug if they wanted to.They wanted her to suffer, and she had to outdo their expectations to cling to life a bit longer and then figure out her next move.It was clear to Kristin that neither Vincent nor the Turner family would let her off the hook.She had to survive. She had her reasons.Vincent stepped back involuntarily, his eyes betraying a complexity of emotions, seemingly taken aback by the sight of the once lofty Ms. Turner in such a pitiful, lowly state."Clarence, please! With the Turner family's resources, plenty of people can donate a kidney to Ruby, right? Clarence, I'm begging you. You and Mom and Dad know my body can't take it."Kristin had a congenital heart defect. Even after surgery in her childhood, she couldn't withstand the damage that donating a kidney would cause.Clarence knew that yet he looked on coldly. "This is what you owe Ruby. You would've been dead a long time ago if your mother hadn’t swapped my sister away."Kristin's body stiffened for a long time before she slumped to the ground, powerless. "Can I make amends in some other way?""Do you think you deserve that chance?" Vincent scoffed. "Kristin, you think a five-year stint in prison can wipe the slate clean? Have you forgotten what you did to me? When you betrayed me and slept with that jerk, did you ever think this day would come?"Kristin couldn't bear to remember the hell from five years ago, nor did she have the energy to explain.Upon uncovering the grim truth, Clarence, once her sworn protector, heartlessly cast her into another man's bed.In Clarence's eyes, Kristin was a counterfeit, and by extension, her fiancé Vincent belonged to Ruby Collins.So, Ruby took Vincent to catch her in the act.It was a setup by Ruby and Clarence.Ruby was the victim, the true heiress. People believed whatever she said. And nobody would believe a word from Kristin, the daughter of a thief.…Ruby was still in a coma in the hospital room, looking pale.Kristin shrank her shoulders, keeping her head down.By the sickbed stood the Turner family’s patriarch, Johnnie Turner, and his wife Mamie, the people Kristin had called Mom and Dad for twenty-one years.Snap! When Kristin entered the room, Mamie swung a slap at her, overcome with emotion.Compared to Mamie, Johnnie was much more composed. "Has she agreed?""She doesn't have the luxury of disagreeing." Vincent had already decided for Kristin, forcing her to kneel beside the bed.Trembling all over, Kristin looked up at Johnnie. "Dad... I mean, Mr. Turner, I'm not eligible to donate. Please spare me. I can make amends in other ways. I can pay back what I owe the Turner family..."Johnnie's expression darkened, his displeasure evident.Kristin looked at everyone like strangers. During her five years in prison, she even doubted if the past twenty-one years of her life had been a dream."Kristin, have you forgotten? Five years ago, you slept with some nobody and had his child, whom you gave away. That kid must be about five now," Vincent said, always knowing how to hit Kristin where it hurt most, reopening her wounds and rubbing salt in them.Kristin suddenly looked up at Vincent, who was pushing her to the edge.When mentioning that bastard child, the disgust in Vincent's eyes grew thicker. He wished Kristin would just drop dead.Back in the day, Kristin slept with another guy in a hotel, dragging the FitzGerald family name through the mud. To top it off, she got knocked up and popped out that bastard right before she had been thrown in the slammer.Desperate, Kristin gazed at Vincent as if she never truly knew him. "The child... The child is innocent," she implored."Innocent? When Ruby got swapped into your trashy life, she was innocent, too," Mamie shrieked, her voice sharp, and slapped Kristin across the face twice more for good measure.If Johnnie hadn't stepped in, she probably would've kept going until she felt better.Her ears ringing, Kristin dropped her gaze and allowed the blows from Mamie to land on her swollen face.She had a debt to repay for twenty-one years of care and upbringing. The time had come to settle it.Taking a deep breath, Kristin's eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Vincent, her voice weak but resolute. "I'll donate the kidney..."She'd do anything if they spared her child."You're something, aren't you?" Vincent watched Kristin's pathetic, groveling state, his heart tightened, but he didn’t let her off the hook. "Take her to get checked. Give her to the doctor and make her sign.""Don't touch me..." Kristin's voice trembled, but gone was the earlier cowardice and begging. She stood up on her own, a mess but with a determined look in her eyes as she stared at Johnnie. "You're fully clued into my situation... If I give you a kidney, that clears my tab, right? So, after that, let's call it quits and let me off the hook."She'd got a congenital heart defect and had been frail since she was a kid. Giving birth five years ago nearly cost her life, and the Turner family wanted her kidney, knowing they were asking for her life.Johnnie frowned a flicker of emotion in his eyes.After all, they raised her for twenty-one years. Kristin had indeed been obedient and sensible in the Turner family."You'll continue to atone even after death!" But Mamie wasn't willing to let go."Enough," Johnnie sighed. "The five years you've been in prison have punished you enough. If you agree to this kidney donation and promise to stick to the straight and narrow afterwards, we'll cut you loose, no more hassle from our end."Kristin laughed weakly.With the way things were, she probably wouldn’t even make it off the operating table."Donating a kidney makes up for your mistakes? You’ve stolen Ruby's wonderful life for twenty-one years!" Yet Vincent didn’t seem satisfied, as if he wanted to grind her into dust.“Everyone who once loved me belonged to Ruby. Wasn't that enough? What more did I have to do to atone? What did I do wrong?” Kristin thought so."Vincent..." Kristin's voice was feeble as she suddenly chuckled. "If you hate me that much, scatter my ashes after I die."Her lips were pale, her appearance a mess. "Leave my child alone."Vincent's eyes were gloomy with malice. Even then, she was still protecting that bastard!"You think we wouldn't dare?" Clarence responded to Vincent, his eyes mocking as he looked at Kristin. "You're downright rotten, following in your mother's lowly footsteps! That bastard child deserves to die. He’s an embarrassing blight!"Kristin didn't respond, her vision went dark, and before she could leave the hospital room, she collapsed to the ground, passing out."Kris!" Right before losing consciousness, Kristin thought she heard someone calling her Kris.Was it Vincent? How ironic."Don't mind her! She's just acting! I knew it. She didn't learn a thing in those five years in jail," Clarence said angrily, storming into the bathroom to fetch a basin of cold water to splash Kristin awake.Kristin attempted to open her eyes, but strength failed her.She knew why Clarence was so agitated. He feared Vincent would uncover the truth; with her congenital heart condition, giving up a kidney would be a death sentence."Clarence..." As Clarence was about to douse her, Vincent grabbed his wrist. "Enough...""Feeling sorry for her, Vincent?" Clarence sneered at him. "Don't forget, you're engaged to Ruby now. And my sister had that accident because of you!"Vincent paused, then slowly released Clarence's wrist.That basin of cold water still ended up doused all over Kristin's face.Chapter 3Outside the prison of Silvergrove City."After you get out, don't look back. Live a good life." A police officer said.Kristin Turner looked back and bowed, shivering in the biting cold wind.It had been five years.She was just 21 when she was locked up."Get in the car."A black Maybach parked by the roadside, the man's voice icy cold.He was the brother Kristin had called for twenty-one years, only to find they weren’t blood-related."Brother..." Kristin's voice was hoarse, her head lowered awkwardly."Don't call me like that again. It makes me sick," Clarence Turner's face darkened, glancing at his watch. "You’ve stolen twenty-one years of my sister's life and made her endure humiliation in that home. Who the hell do you think you are to call me brother?"Kristin's chapped lips twitched, but in the end, she said nothing.Kristin, the only darling daughter of the Turner family in Silvergrove City, turned out to be the nanny's child. And the real Ms. Turner was swapped out by the nanny."I'm sorry." After a long silence, Kristin apologized in a raspy voice.Framed for extortion, she learned to be submissive in prison and apologize to survive. She could beg for mercy at any minute.Once, she was the exalted Ms. Turner, adored by her brother and cherished by her parents.Then, Ruby, the true Ms. Turner burst into her life one day, looking ragged and destitute.Kristin’s biological mother was a criminal overnight, and she became the impostor who stole a life of wealth, the laughingstock of Silvergrove City.No one cared that she had no choice when she was switched as a baby."Sorry? You think saying sorry and five years in prison can compensate for all the hurt your family caused Ruby?" Clarence's voice was cold, his gaze on Kristin full of disgust. "Get in the car."He found Kristin filthy and didn't even want to touch her.The brother who used to love holding her and saying, "Our Kris is the prettiest," wished she was dead."I'm... dirty." Kristin gave a bitter smile, stepping back, afraid to get in the car.Clarence frowned, sizing up Kristin.The Kristin who lived like a pampered heiress for twenty-one years, fragile as a pearl in the palm, once dazzling in everyone's eyes.But she looked dusty, pale, and thin, pitifully low.She had a rough time inside."Don't make me repeat myself. Get in the damn car now!" Clarence glared at Kristin with a ferocious look. "Ruby had an accident. Are you happy now? You owe her. Go to the hospital and pay your debt!"Kristin's eyes, hollow and dodging, froze. Suddenly, she was afraid.She thought she was hallucinating when she left the prison. How could her brother come to pick her up when the entire Turner family despised her?But Clarence came, and he didn't come for her."What do you mean..." Kristin trembled."Ruby was in a car accident, and she needs a kidney transplant. You owe her," Clarence said with a grave tone.Kristin took a deep breath and stepped back again, her survival instinct kicking in, and she turned to run."Kristin, you're as vicious as ever."She hadn't run far when someone grabbed her wrist hard, throwing her to the ground.Kristin lay in a mess, her forehead hitting the curbstone, blood gushing out.That voice sounded cold and familiar.Looking back, Kristin curled up in fear.Vincent FitzGerald, her former fiancé, was also one of those who framed her and sent her to prison."You owe Ruby this," Vincent said, dragging Kristin, fresh out of prison, back into a hellish abyss.She thought she'd be free after being released.In court, she didn't explain, and she couldn't. She thought her confession, five years in prison, would atone for all her sins, but it was far from enough."Hurry up. Take this woman to the hospital. Ruby's waiting," Clarence said impatiently."What if she doesn't agree?" the driver asked."How dare she? Her life should have been Ruby's. What right does she have to say no?" Vincent sneered, grabbing Kristin's chin. "Your wicked mother is still in prison. If you want her to live, be good and trade your kidney."Kristin's trembling body stiffened. Indeed, outside prison, hell awaited.To survive among these devils, she must climb up.In Silvergrove City, the only man who could protect her was Rhett FitzGerald, president of the FitzGerald Group, Vincent's brother.Everything went black momentarily, and Kristin was shoved into a car, huddled in a corner, shaking in utter despair.There was no way she could donate a kidney. It would kill her, and she couldn't afford to die."Kristin, how's prison life been treating you these past five years?" Vincent eyed the woman curled up in the corner, who had long lost the pride she once carried. He couldn't quite put his finger on the mix of emotions brewing inside him.Kristin flinched, perhaps a reflex born from being bullied behind bars. She hugged her head in fear."Cat's got your tongue, huh?" Vincent looked at Kristin with disgust, grabbing her chin, the dark red blood on her forehead stark against her pale face."Please..." Kristin's voice shook, her eyes filled with despair and resentment.Thanks to Vincent, her time in prison was a living hell.On the day she was released, a cellmate who couldn't stand to see her mistreated any longer spilled the beans. Vincent's people had paid her to ensure Kristin 'got special attention' during those five years.Vincent's Adam's apple bobbed with disgust as he pushed her away after looking at the bruises on her face.How disgusting it was.Kristin numbly watched Vincent, the man she had once loved with all her youth, unable to stir any emotion in her anymore.She had long stopped loving him.…The car arrived at Silvergrove Hospital.Vincent dragged Kristin out of the car.She pleaded with Vincent, kneeling on the ground and begging him. Endless beating during the years in prison freaked her out."Vincent, please. I can't donate my kidney. I'm not eligible. I can make amends and do anything you ask."As Kristin kept begging and knocking her forehead on the ground, she knew she had no powerful family to back her up. She knew Vincent and the Turner family could squash her like a bug if they wanted to.They wanted her to suffer, and she had to outdo their expectations to cling to life a bit longer and then figure out her next move.It was clear to Kristin that neither Vincent nor the Turner family would let her off the hook.She had to survive. She had her reasons.Vincent stepped back involuntarily, his eyes betraying a complexity of emotions, seemingly taken aback by the sight of the once lofty Ms. Turner in such a pitiful, lowly state."Clarence, please! With the Turner family's resources, plenty of people can donate a kidney to Ruby, right? Clarence, I'm begging you. You and Mom and Dad know my body can't take it."Kristin had a congenital heart defect. Even after surgery in her childhood, she couldn't withstand the damage that donating a kidney would cause.Clarence knew that yet he looked on coldly. "This is what you owe Ruby. You would've been dead a long time ago if your mother hadn’t swapped my sister away."Kristin's body stiffened for a long time before she slumped to the ground, powerless. "Can I make amends in some other way?""Do you think you deserve that chance?" Vincent scoffed. "Kristin, you think a five-year stint in prison can wipe the slate clean? Have you forgotten what you did to me? When you betrayed me and slept with that jerk, did you ever think this day would come?"Kristin couldn't bear to remember the hell from five years ago, nor did she have the energy to explain.Upon uncovering the grim truth, Clarence, once her sworn protector, heartlessly cast her into another man's bed.In Clarence's eyes, Kristin was a counterfeit, and by extension, her fiancé Vincent belonged to Ruby Collins.So, Ruby took Vincent to catch her in the act.It was a setup by Ruby and Clarence.Ruby was the victim, the true heiress. People believed whatever she said. And nobody would believe a word from Kristin, the daughter of a thief.…Ruby was still in a coma in the hospital room, looking pale.Kristin shrank her shoulders, keeping her head down.By the sickbed stood the Turner family’s patriarch, Johnnie Turner, and his wife Mamie, the people Kristin had called Mom and Dad for twenty-one years.Snap! When Kristin entered the room, Mamie swung a slap at her, overcome with emotion.Compared to Mamie, Johnnie was much more composed. "Has she agreed?""She doesn't have the luxury of disagreeing." Vincent had already decided for Kristin, forcing her to kneel beside the bed.Trembling all over, Kristin looked up at Johnnie. "Dad... I mean, Mr. Turner, I'm not eligible to donate. Please spare me. I can make amends in other ways. I can pay back what I owe the Turner family..."Johnnie's expression darkened, his displeasure evident.Kristin looked at everyone like strangers. During her five years in prison, she even doubted if the past twenty-one years of her life had been a dream."Kristin, have you forgotten? Five years ago, you slept with some nobody and had his child, whom you gave away. That kid must be about five now," Vincent said, always knowing how to hit Kristin where it hurt most, reopening her wounds and rubbing salt in them.Kristin suddenly looked up at Vincent, who was pushing her to the edge.When mentioning that bastard child, the disgust in Vincent's eyes grew thicker. He wished Kristin would just drop dead.Back in the day, Kristin slept with another guy in a hotel, dragging the FitzGerald family name through the mud. To top it off, she got knocked up and popped out that bastard right before she had been thrown in the slammer.Desperate, Kristin gazed at Vincent as if she never truly knew him. "The child... The child is innocent," she implored."Innocent? When Ruby got swapped into your trashy life, she was innocent, too," Mamie shrieked, her voice sharp, and slapped Kristin across the face twice more for good measure.If Johnnie hadn't stepped in, she probably would've kept going until she felt better.Her ears ringing, Kristin dropped her gaze and allowed the blows from Mamie to land on her swollen face.She had a debt to repay for twenty-one years of care and upbringing. The time had come to settle it.Taking a deep breath, Kristin's eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Vincent, her voice weak but resolute. "I'll donate the kidney..."She'd do anything if they spared her child."You're something, aren't you?" Vincent watched Kristin's pathetic, groveling state, his heart tightened, but he didn’t let her off the hook. "Take her to get checked. Give her to the doctor and make her sign.""Don't touch me..." Kristin's voice trembled, but gone was the earlier cowardice and begging. She stood up on her own, a mess but with a determined look in her eyes as she stared at Johnnie. "You're fully clued into my situation... If I give you a kidney, that clears my tab, right? So, after that, let's call it quits and let me off the hook."She'd got a congenital heart defect and had been frail since she was a kid. Giving birth five years ago nearly cost her life, and the Turner family wanted her kidney, knowing they were asking for her life.Johnnie frowned a flicker of emotion in his eyes.After all, they raised her for twenty-one years. Kristin had indeed been obedient and sensible in the Turner family."You'll continue to atone even after death!" But Mamie wasn't willing to let go."Enough," Johnnie sighed. "The five years you've been in prison have punished you enough. If you agree to this kidney donation and promise to stick to the straight and narrow afterwards, we'll cut you loose, no more hassle from our end."Kristin laughed weakly.With the way things were, she probably wouldn’t even make it off the operating table."Donating a kidney makes up for your mistakes? You’ve stolen Ruby's wonderful life for twenty-one years!" Yet Vincent didn’t seem satisfied, as if he wanted to grind her into dust.“Everyone who once loved me belonged to Ruby. Wasn't that enough? What more did I have to do to atone? What did I do wrong?” Kristin thought so."Vincent..." Kristin's voice was feeble as she suddenly chuckled. "If you hate me that much, scatter my ashes after I die."Her lips were pale, her appearance a mess. "Leave my child alone."Vincent's eyes were gloomy with malice. Even then, she was still protecting that bastard!"You think we wouldn't dare?" Clarence responded to Vincent, his eyes mocking as he looked at Kristin. "You're downright rotten, following in your mother's lowly footsteps! That bastard child deserves to die. He’s an embarrassing blight!"Kristin didn't respond, her vision went dark, and before she could leave the hospital room, she collapsed to the ground, passing out."Kris!" Right before losing consciousness, Kristin thought she heard someone calling her Kris.Was it Vincent? How ironic."Don't mind her! She's just acting! I knew it. She didn't learn a thing in those five years in jail," Clarence said angrily, storming into the bathroom to fetch a basin of cold water to splash Kristin awake.Kristin attempted to open her eyes, but strength failed her.She knew why Clarence was so agitated. He feared Vincent would uncover the truth; with her congenital heart condition, giving up a kidney would be a death sentence."Clarence..." As Clarence was about to douse her, Vincent grabbed his wrist. "Enough...""Feeling sorry for her, Vincent?" Clarence sneered at him. "Don't forget, you're engaged to Ruby now. And my sister had that accident because of you!"Vincent paused, then slowly released Clarence's wrist.That basin of cold water still ended up doused all over Kristin's face.