The nurse's voice echoed urgently through the corridor. "Are the type AB blood donors here? The patient's condition is deteriorating rapidly..."

A crowd had gathered outside the operating room, yet no one stepped forward. They stood frozen, watching the scene unfold with hesitant eyes.

William Levine turned to his aunt with pleading urgency. "Aunt Nancy, we can deal with this later. Elizabeth needs our help right now."

"Don't you dare help that girl!" Nancy Levine's voice cut through the tension like shattered glass. Her entire body trembled with barely contained fury.

Never in her life had she been so thoroughly deceived. The realization that she had raised another woman's daughter for over two decades made her physically ill. And to discover it was her own husband's mistress's child? While her biological daughter had been suffering somewhere out there? The thought of Elizabeth enjoying every luxury while Nancy herself had doted on her made her stomach churn violently.

"Please, Ms. Levine."

Clara Bennett suddenly collapsed to her knees before Nancy, tears streaming down her face. Her hands trembled as she reached out imploringly.

"Please save Elizabeth. This is all my fault—punish me instead! I was young and foolish back then, driven by desperation... Elizabeth is completely innocent. She doesn't deserve to suffer for my mistakes! I'm begging you to help her..."

"Innocent?!" Nancy's voice rose to a shrill pitch.

She kicked Clara hard, sending the woman sprawling across the polished hospital floor. Nancy's eyes burned with decades of pent-up rage.

"She's innocent?! Then what about my daughter?! Why did my child have to suffer while yours lived in luxury? My daughter was working as a stunt double! If she had died during one of those dangerous scenes, I would never have known my own child!"

Nancy's words came faster, her anger building with each sentence. Her face flushed a deep, alarming crimson. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around Clara's throat and make her pay for every moment of deception.

How dare this woman do this to her? How dare Clara manipulate her life so completely?

Seeing Nancy's unwavering resistance, Clara scrambled back to her feet and turned to Ivan instead. Her movements were frantic, desperate.

"Please, Ivan, you have to help Elizabeth. No matter what, she's still your daughter. You can't let her die like this..."

Ivan York stared at Clara with pure disgust. His jaw tightened as memories flooded back.

Nancy, born into the prestigious Levine family, had always carried herself with natural authority. Ivan, coming from modest beginnings, had considered himself fortunate to marry her. But their marriage had been far from perfect. During arguments, Nancy would often remind him of everything her family had provided.

During one particularly heated argument, fueled by too much alcohol, he had stumbled into a compromising situation with Clara, then a young servant in their household. The next morning brought sobering regret—despite everything, he genuinely loved Nancy.

But the damage was done. He tried to pay Clara off, hoping to make the incident disappear.

She refused the money, insisting she needed her job and promising never to speak of what happened. Her earnestness worried him more than if she had made demands. Desperate people did desperate things.

Then came the shocking discovery that both Nancy and Clara were pregnant at the same time.

Fearing Clara's child might be his, he repeatedly urged her to leave. She claimed the baby belonged to a husband back in her hometown. But when he saw the newborn's unmistakable resemblance to himself, he knew she had lied.

He gathered a substantial amount of money and forced Clara to leave...

Never imagining she would have the audacity to switch the babies. The children were born just days apart, in different hospitals. Only Ivan recognized how much both infants resembled him—enough that a swap would go unnoticed.

To make matters worse, Nancy struggled with breastfeeding while Clara produced ample milk. Clara ended up serving as wet nurse for Cora...

Why hadn't he been more vigilant back then?

Presently, Nancy let out a cold, bitter laugh that echoed through the hospital corridor.

"You're begging him? What do you think he is in my household? A lapdog! Everything he has came from me! If I say no, he has nothing!"

Ivan flinched at Nancy's public humiliation. The words struck deeper than any physical blow.

William watched his aunt's complete loss of control with growing concern. He understood her rage—who could accept raising their husband's mistress's child while their own blood suffered elsewhere? But the situation demanded immediate action, not emotional outbursts.

The nurse reappeared, her face pale with urgency. "We're running out of time. The patient needs blood now."

Everyone's eyes turned to Nancy, waiting for her decision. The fate of the young woman in the operating room hung in the balance, caught between decades of deception and a mother's wrath.