"Huh? What did you say?" Chloe's voice was tinged with disbelief, struggling to process what she had heard.

The scene before her was eerily familiar, so much so that Charlotte instinctively clenched her fists.

Back then, outside the restaurant, Charlotte had accidentally stepped on Chloe's dress hem. Liam, ignoring the fact that she was being harassed by a group of wealthy ruffians, had insisted on her apology. The tables had turned, and Chloe, who once laughed from the comfort of her car, surely hadn't imagined that such a day would come for her as well.

"What did you just say? Apologize to Charlotte?" Chloe's eyes widened in disbelief.

Charlotte had pushed her into the pond and set her up, and now, after everything, she was expected to apologize to the very woman who had wronged her.

"You ignored everyone around and left me alone, I've already lost all face because of you, and now you want me to apologize to the instigator?! Liam, you bastard!"

Chloe was on the verge of breaking down, "I won't apologize to her! Why should I apologize to someone so lowly!"

"Good, then get lost!" Liam shot her a look of disgust and signaled the servants to take Chloe to her room for some much-needed reflection.

Chloe's despair deepened, "How could you! I'm your fiancée, Liam! You can't treat me this way! I'll tell Grandpa! I want everyone to know that you're punishing me for your cousin's woman!" Mentioning Kenneth was the last straw for Liam's waning patience.

The man who had been lingering on what seemed like his deathbed was now, curiously, by the pondside. Even with support, Kenneth's vigor was unexpected, a stark contrast to his previously frail state. Liam began to suspect that his grandpa was feigning illness.

"Go ahead," he stepped aside, gesturing for Chloe to seek out Kenneth.

A nagging doubt crept into his mind that Chloe might have been in on Kenneth's act all along.

Should this be the case, his engagement to Chloe was shaping up to be a conniving scheme tailored just for him.

His distaste for deception was strong, but what he loathed even more was being manipulated like a pawn in someone else's game.

Seeing that he wasn't stopping her, Chloe suddenly hesitated to push her luck further.

Kenneth was the only one who had any sway over Liam at this point, and she dared not risk inciting an actual ailment in him.

"Since you're not going, then get inside and reflect on your actions!" Liam issued his final ultimatum.

In the Parker family, Liam's word reigned supreme, as if he were the very sun in their universe-his command, unquestionable.

As the servants advanced, poised to sequester Chloe within her quarters, she let out a defiant roar, a fierce surrender, "Fine! I apologize, okay? I apologize!"

Better to bend like the reed in the wind than to break; Chloe knew the wisdom of living to see another day.

Being confined would leave the field wide open for Charlotte to weave her charms around Liam.

A gamble was not worth the risk.

It's just an apology, isn't it?

She'd swallow her pride and do it.

"Sorry!" The word came out through clenched teeth, a bitter pill coated in hatred as Chloe forced the apology out, each syllable heavy with resentment. "It's okay."

But what Chloe didn't anticipate was Charlotte's easy absolution.

In the midst of Chloe's surprise, Charlotte slid a ring from her ring finger, handing it over to Chloe while saying, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have flaunted so openly. I should've waited quietly." Liam's features shifted in an instant, a storm brewing over his visage.

He had asked Charlotte more than once to wait quietly.

As for Chloe, dismay washed over her-Liam had actually passed that ring back to Charlotte.

Chloe vividly remembered the rough manner in which Liam had wrenched the ring from her grasp, so she hesitated to take it now.

"She's prone to jealousy, it has nothing to do with whether you flaunt it or not," Liam said to Charlotte, not even sparing Chloe a glance.

"Perhaps..." Charlotte pulled back her hand, the ring in tow, and exhaled a faint sigh, "I was wrong to come to the party today."

Chloe bristled at Charlotte's display of feigned vulnerability,

Liam shot her a warning glare, his meaning clear, "You're tired, go rest."

His dismissive words stung Chloe, tears welling up as she grappled with the coldness in Liam's treatment of her.

Her scheme against Charlotte's mother had been a desperate bid to secure a lifelong future with Liam.

But all her efforts were met with indifference from Liam and worse, now he seemed to be under Charlotte's spell, his feelings for Chloe soured.

It was unjust!

With tears marking her path, Chloe stormed up the stairs, her presence absent for the remainder of the day.

It was near midnight when Susan, sent from the Beaumont family to care for her, came hurtling down the stairs in a state of alarm. Coincidentally, Charlotte, thirsty, was on her way to the kitchen for a glass of water when they crossed paths.

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"What's the rush?" Charlotte asked.

With a fierce glance, Susan snapped back, "Thanks to you! The lady's taken ill with a fever from an infected wound she got when she fell in the water!" holds this content.

Charlotte was perplexed, "So, no one thought to treat the wound after the fall, and now it's convenient time to point fingers at me when the fever hits in the middle of the night?" Charlotte let out a derisive laugh, "I almost drowned in that vast lake and didn't hold her responsible for a second. How can she be so petty?"

Susan, out of retort, quickly made the arrangements with the family doctor before rushing back upstairs to care for Chloe.

The family doctor didn't take long to arrive but found Charlotte standing at the entrance, effectively blocking the way.

"Miss Perry, are you the one who is ill?" the doctor inquired.

Charlotte had only crossed paths with the family doctor once before; it had been during a business trip with Liam to Leiventale when she was struck with a fierce fever. She had been burning up with a high fever, close to death, while Chloe had spitefully sent the family doctor to tend to a sick dog and purposely withheld her medication. How the tables had turned.

Charlotte chuckled lightly and replied, "I took a fall into the water today, and I'm not feeling quite myself."

As Susan descended the stairs, drawn by the commotion, she found the doctor taking Charlotte's pulse. Irritation flared within her instantly.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You know our Miss is burning up with fever, yet here you are, hogging the doctor!"

"I'm genuinely unwell, just seeking a moment with the doctor. Is Chloe so petty that she can't spare me that?" Charlotte's retort was calm but pointed.

The clamor in the dead of night surely woke Liam and Dylan. They hadn't gotten up yet, content to listen in silence for the moment, a fact Charlotte was acutely aware of.

Charlotte continued, her voice laced with exasperation, "Does she always get her way? Should I just accept my discomfort and say nothing?" Susan, flustered, began, "No one's telling you to "

"Isn't barring me from medical attention just another form of telling me to suffer quietly?" Charlotte interjected, her tone sharp with implication.

"Who's stopping you from seeing a doctor?" Susan, unable to articulate a comeback, was visibly frustrated. She rushed upstairs to knock on Liam's door. "Sir, please come quickly! The young lady is burning up, struggling to breathe, and Charlotte is blocking the doctor from seeing her!"

The next second, Liam's door swung open, his voice laced with impatience, "What's all this noise in the middle of the night!"

"Sir! Please, you must check on our Miss. The wound from Charlotte's bite, now contaminated with dirty water, has become infected. She's in a high fever, and Charlotte is preventing the doctor from treating her! How malicious she is!" Liam glanced downward, meeting Charlotte's gaze, which had been fixed upward in anticipation.

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"Let the doctor see to Chloe; I can manage for now." Charlotte's voice was steady, but as she spoke, her balance wavered. She steadied herself on the sofa, then drifted towards the kitchen to drink water.

"Charlotte." At the sight of her faltering, Liam's concern got the better of him, and he started down the stairs. Her sweaty brow and reddened eyes stirred memories of a night long past when the fever had clouded her mind in a hotel room, and his worry deepened.

"Treat Charlotte first," Liam declared with an authoritative gesture that left no room for argument, instantly determining the doctor's priority.

Susan, utterly taken aback by the unexpected direction things had taken, could only gape in shock. "Sir, the Miss, she's got a high fever..."

Liam seemed not to hear her, already making his way downstairs to stand supportively behind Charlotte.

With trepidation, the doctor began to examine Charlotte, feeling for her pulse.

Charlotte's health had been fragile recently. She'd been dealing with persistent high fevers, and a recent fall into the water had compounded her physical distress. The emotional toll of witnessing her mother's death had left her utterly devastated, and during her stay at the Thomas residence, she'd even experienced a terrifying episode of respiratory arrest.

"From what I can tell, there's no specific injury or illness plaguing Miss Perry at the moment, however..." The doctor trailed off, cautious.

Liam's tone turned icy, demanding, "Speak!"

The doctor complied, "Miss Perry is very weak."

He paused, then emphasized, "Extremely weak."

With the word 'weak' echoing twice, Charlotte felt a grim recognition of her precarious health.

The doctor handed her a list of restorative medications, but Charlotte's mind was elsewhere; she left to tend to Chloe, uninterested in the array of tonics.

Unbeknownst to her, in her absence, the doctor discreetly pulled Liam aside.

"Mr. Parker, I must warn you, Miss Perry's body is severely weak; it could pose challenges for childbearing down the line."

Liam was momentarily taken aback, the weight of the doctor's words sinking in.

"Mr. Parker]"

"I've got it," Liam acknowledged, pulling himself back to the present with a nod. He gestured for the doctor to leave. Without another word, the doctor, sensing his cue to exit, hurried off. However, he didn't get far before being intercepted.

He was escorted to where Kenneth resided, and there he relayed the details of Charlotte's delicate health once more. "Trouble with childbearing?" Kenneth's eyes unfurled slowly, a flicker of sharpness cutting through the dimness.

"A child of the Parker family must not come from such an unworthy vessel."

After a moment of contemplation, he closed his eyes again.

"Arrange for a new cook," Kenneth finally said, his voice low and resolute. "Infuse her meals with poison, subtly. Since it's already difficult for her to conceive, let's ensure she cannot."