Sophie became too agitated, and before she could finish speaking, she suddenly started coughing violently. The machine next to the bed gave off abnormal sounds, and Adrian immediately stepped forward to gently pat her back and help her breathe, "Sophie, you are weak; stop talking." "Leave me alone!" Sophie waved Adrian away with one hand, looked up, and glared at me with a light smile, "Lily, you and your mother are getting your comeuppance. Look at your mom... so young, but, cough, cough—" She only said a few words before coughing violently again, clearly out of breath and could not calm down for a while. Adrian’s face was exceptionally dark, and he stepped forward again to gently pat her back, advising once more, "Sophie, I told you not to talk again. Your health is important. You’ve got everything you wanted, isn’t that enough?" The last sentence was clearly tinged with anger, his tone rising. Sophie’s expression changed slightly. Her gaze moved from me to Adrian, her eyes filled with disbelief, "Brother Adrian... you, you shouted at me?" Adrian suppressed his temper and explained, "No, I’m doing it for your own good." "For my good? I think you’re... feeling sorry for Lily, not wanting me to expose her heartbreak, right? I know you still love her in your heart... you just can’t wait for me to die quickly so you can get back with her!" Sophie suddenly turned the attack towards Adrian. Adrian’s face stiffened as he looked at her for a while, his hand lightly resting on her shoulder, slowly pulling back, and he straightened up. "Sophie, when can you stop being so suspicious? I’m just worried about you and don’t want your emotions to exacerbate your condition, that’s why I advised kindly." "I’m suspicious? Can you say you don’t love her anymore, that she doesn’t have a place in your heart? Ever since she came in, your eyes have wandered to her how many times, do you think I didn’t see it?" Sophie screamed again, even stopping her coughing miraculously. I sneered internally, seems like she’s not only sick but also mad. Honestly, Adrian has done more than enough for her. Just to make her happy, he was willing to spend fifty million to rent a bracelet from me. Despite all his effort, he still got accused unjustly by her. I looked at Adrian’s face and this time, I truly saw deep regret there. The room fell into silence, the air freezing and suffocating. Shirley, seeing the situation was bad, hurried forward to comfort her daughter. Adrian’s expression shifted slightly, looking at Sophie exhaustedly, "Fine, say whatever you want." His tone grew increasingly dejected, "Today I finally see clearly, you don’t love me at all, never did. You insist on being with me just to use me as a tool for revenge against Lily, nothing more." He said these words in disheartenment, then turned to leave. "No—Brother Adrian!" Sophie suddenly used all her strength to lunge forward, grabbing his wrist, crying and howling in sobs, "I didn’t... I really like you... maybe initially, I had those thoughts, but later I really fell in love with you, really wanted to marry you... Brother Adrian, I just hate my bad luck, not being able to always accompany you... but I truly love you, I can’t bear for you to leave... please don’t leave me..." Sophie cried so hard she almost fainted, yet she still couldn’t move Adrian’s heart. Looks like, he really woke up. "Let go, I won’t believe your words again." Adrian turned around, wanting to pry her hand off. But Sophie, from somewhere, found the strength to grip him tightly. Shirley, seeing her daughter in such heart-breaking tears, also shed tears herself, begging, "Adrian, Sophie is already , only a few days left... must you make her sad at this time?" With these words, I clearly saw Adrian’s expression soften again. Eventually, he stood motionless but didn’t look at Sophie. Sophie cried in despair, seemed to have thought of something, suddenly released Adrian, and pulled off the bracelet— "Brother Adrian, I won’t compete with her anymore, I’m not competing for anything, I don’t even want this bracelet! I only want you, just want you to stay with me..." Before she finished, she raised the bracelet she had just taken off and threw it hard at my feet. Everyone was frightened by this scene! My expression stiffened, instinctively bending down to catch it, but it was too late. The bracelet hit the floor with a "crash," shattering into pieces and scattering! "Sophie!" Adrian witnessed this scene and yelled in anger. I squatted there halfway, staring at the shattered jade pieces on the floor, my whole action seemed frozen in ice. Sophie, either stunned by the broken bracelet or scared by Adrian’s angry shout, was also frozen there, silent. I slowly lifted my head. My eyes glared at her, containing enough suppressed fury to burn her to ashes. After being stunned, Adrian’s face paled severely as he hurried over to squat with me, hesitantly extending his hand, "Lily... this—sorry..." I ignored him, retracting my murderous gaze, and slowly picked up the shattered jade fragments from the floor. Suddenly, Adrian turned and faced Sophie, ordering, "Apologize to Lily! Immediately, now!" Sophie pursed her lips, crying again, "I... I didn’t do it on purpose, who told her not to catch it?" "You did it on purpose! Don’t lie anymore!" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveIꜰire.net "Brother Adrian... you, you are protecting her, being harsh to me..." Sophie tried her old tricks, but Adrian was unmoved. Jason Miller approached, looking at the broken bracelet on the floor, and casually said, "Broken is broken, it’s said shattered jade averts disaster, it’s a good thing." I couldn’t believe my ears. "Haven’t you heard that shattering jade is also an omen of misfortune? It indicates your precious little daughter indeed doesn’t have long to live; better prepare her funeral affairs quickly." I couldn’t contain my anger and stood up to retort sarcastically. Shirley pointed at my nose, shouting, "With such a poisonous mouth, you’ll get your comeuppance soon! It’s just a broken bracelet, should have been buried with your mom long ago!" I turned to look at them, my face cold, with a smile of contempt at the corner of my eyes, "Seems... all of you were hoping this bracelet would break, too bad—it disappoints you." Seeing their puzzled expressions, I leisurely pulled out the genuine Vintage Nephrite Wristlet from the sleeves of my shirt. Yes, the one I gave Sophie was a fake. I bought it last night as a "chemical technology product" for 250 bucks at the jade store below the apartment complex. I knew these fools from the Miller Family had never seen real top-grade Hetian jade, and couldn’t tell if what I gave Sophie was genuine. I also guessed Sophie’s twisted mind would either blatantly or guisedly—smash the bracelet after getting it. Their faces were extremely shocked, staring at the real thing on my wrist, stunned for a while before yelling, "Lily, you deceived us!" "Take back that agreement! You used a fake bracelet to trick us into signing a real agreement!" I tucked the wristlet back into my sleeve, protecting it well, speaking unhurriedly, "I took back what belongs to my mom and me, how is that deception?" "You—you—" Shirley was too furious to speak. I looked towards the bewildered Sophie on the bed and finally said, "Dear sister, the loser between us is you, and you’ve lost miserably." Finishing those words, I smiled triumphantly and prepared to leave. Suddenly, Sophie seemed to wake from a dream, pointing at me and hysterically shouting in rage, "Adrian, go and take her bracelet! Grab it for me!"