Chapter 8
Lily had long forgotten her past with Victor and resolved to let him go completely.
Whoever he loved or married now had nothing to do with her.
Hearing those words stirred nothing within her.
She quietly joined in singing the birthday song. When she looked up, her eyes met Victor’s.
Spotting her, he frowned and whispered something to Emma, who then squeezed through the crowd toward her.
Lily hugged her gently, handing over the birthday gift with a soft “Happy birthday.”
Emma, who’d waited all evening for her, tried pulling her toward the cake, but Lily shook her head.
“It’s too crowded and noisy. I’ll skip it.
You go ahead–I’ll wait in your room. There’s something I need to discuss later.”
Emma agreed, worried seeing Victor might upset her.
Lily slipped away from the crowd and headed straight to Emma’s third- floor room.
She dozed off on the sofa after half an hour, only to jolt awake at the sound of the door opening.
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Chapter 8
But it wasn’t Emma–Sophie stood there instead.
Her expression was stormy, eyes blazing with unfriendly intensity.
“Didn’t you claim you’d given up?
Why keep showing up around Victor?
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Let me make this clear: he only has eyes for me. No amount of attention- seeking will make him like you. You’ll never win against me!”
Caught off guard by the confrontation, Lily took seconds to collect herself.
“I’m here to give Emma her birthday gift. I’ll leave shortly.”
Sophie’s suspicion only deepened, laced with disgust.
“All these years you’ve shamelessly clung to Victor, using Emma as your pathetic excuse.
Honestly, he’s cursed with a sister who can’t tell right from wrong–always siding with outsiders.”
Lily could endure insults aimed at herself, but the moment Sophie targeted Emma, her eyes instantly turned cold.
“Does Victor know you trash–talk his own flesh and blood like this?”
Sophie snorted coldly. “He’d forgive me anything. So what if I insult her?
Besides, you and Emma deserve each other–two shameless, disgraceful
“Seven years ago,” Lily snapped back, “you abandoned him overnight and nearly destroyed him. Emma never once blamed you, even while watching her brother suffer. Now you crawl back wanting to marry him, yet trash
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Chapter 8
her behind his back? Tell me who’s truly vile here?”
He
Sophie, enraged by the retaliation, slapped her across the face.
Lily struck back instantly with a stinging blow of her own.
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Clutching her burning cheek, Sophie lunged forward with tears of fury, and they tangled together in a violent struggle.
Lily grabbed her hair, fighting back with every ounce of strength.
Amid their heated argument, they knocked over the aromatherapy burner on the table.
The flame ignited the bedsheet, then spread to the carpet, soon engulfing the room in roaring fire.
Thick smoke billowed everywhere. By the time they noticed, the entire room had become an inferno.
Lily struggled toward the door but Sophie shoved her straight into the
flames.
Scorching tongues of fire licked at her skin, the searing pain making her tremble uncontrollably.
As she desperately tried to smother the flames, the bedroom door burst open with a crash.
Victor charged inside, stopping barely half a meter away. Yet his gaze swept over her for only an instant.
His eyes immediately locked onto Sophie instead. He sprinted toward her, crushing her in a protective embrace.
Choking smoke flooded Lily’s nostrils, her breathing growing fainter by
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apter 8
he second.
kan
ifting her reddened, blistered hands, she clutched at Victor’s leg.
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He merely glanced down, then callously yanked his leg free and strode
Avay.
Watching his silhouette vanish into the smoke, her consciousness faded s she passed out…
