Substitute Abandons Husband and Daughter

She snatched the lunchbox from the servant beside her and threw it on the ground.

I coughed violently by the smell of blood.

Alana was delighted by the sight of my suffering.

"This is the price you pay for daring to live out the dream of replacing my mother!"

Alana's laughter filled the room.

"Look familiar? After all, it was inside your body for a few months!"

Alana laughed maniacally, her eyes wide as if hoping to catch a trace of fear on my face.

Seeing her so cruel and heartless, my heart felt like it had dropped into an icy abyss.

She had once been such a sweet and obedient girl.

As a child, she was born through a difficult labor, leaving her physically weak and prone to allergies and indigestion. Because of that, every single meal she ate had to be prepared by me.

But back then, I was just a beginner in the kitchen, and cooking for a toddler was complicated. My hands were always covered in cuts.

Thinking of that, I held back tears and held out my blood-red hand in front of her.

"I never once wanted to replace your mother. Everything I’ve done over these years was simply to take good care of you."

Alana froze, and for a moment, panic flashed in her eyes—but it was quickly replaced by fury.

"Don’t try to fool me! I’ve already found out the truth. You married into the Greenwood family just for the money! It was Grandma who promised you a huge sum, that’s why you agreed to take care of me. You even secretly became pregnant—obviously you just wanted to stay in the Greenwood family and enjoy all this wealth and luxury!"

Looking at the sheer hatred on her face, I lifted my teary eyes and stared straight at her.

"Alana, why do you hate me so much? Haven’t I treated you well all these years?"

Her panic was obvious. She couldn’t find any words for a long while.

What could she even say?

For over 10 years, I had poured almost all of my energy into her.

Every bite of food, every piece of clothing—everything had been prepared by me.

This girl had always been frail and delicate. There were many things she couldn’t eat.

I remembered all of her habits and preferences clearly, down to the smallest detail.

When she was five, she fell seriously ill and nearly stopped breathing.

I carried her on my back to the hospital, praying to every god I could name at the doors, begging for her to be saved.

Even when I made the deal with Alex’s mother, Jane, I had warned myself—

Never give your heart to the wealthy. Their world had no place for sincerity.

But in the end, I still fell too deep. And I lost completely.

Alana’s face turned red with rage until she practically screamed her next words.

"So what if you were good to me! It was all for the Greenwood family's money! If you really loved me, if you saw me as your own daughter, you never would have gotten pregnant! You never truly cared about me, and I will never see you as my mother. I hate you!"

After shouting at me, she turned and stormed out of the room.

But the moment she reached the stairs, she ran straight into a woman.

She looked up, ready to lash out—but stopped dead in her tracks.

"Mom?"