The Secret to Falling in Love Again

"It wasn't us, Miss Ritz ordered us to do this."

Hearing Malva's name, Hailey gritted her teeth. "I heard she's been causing trouble lately. I didn’t expect her to resort to such lowly tactics!"

Malva had intended to mock Livia, but when she overheard their conversation at the door, she was startled. Before she could leave, the sharp-eyed butler spotted her.

"Miss Ritz is over there!"

Upon hearing this, Hailey quickly ordered for her to be brought in.

"Kneel down!"

Malva kept her expression grim as they ordered her to kneel in front of everyone. She simply couldn’t bring herself to lower her face especially in front of the doctors she had once bossed around.

She didn’t know who kicked her, but her knee buckled and with a thud, she fell to her knees in front of the hospital bed, locking eyes with Livia’s calm gaze.

A surge of hatred rose within her. "Apologize to Livia now!"

Malva’s eyes flickered with coldness. Her hands, once supporting her on the ground, clenched tightly together until her freshly done nails dug into her skin, causing pain.

"Mom..."

Just as Malva was about to speak, a sharp, ear-piercing slap echoed through the room as Hailey slapped her across the face.

She sneered coldly. "I'm not your mother! You're just a poor student we've supported. Your mother is still working in the fields in the mountains! If it weren't for Livia's kindness, wanting to sponsor you when you couldn't afford school, you would have already been sold to some village as a bride. How could you be living comfortably like this now?"

A murmur spread through the room and the gazes directed at Malva were filled with contempt.

Malva gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride. “Mrs. West, I didn’t cause all her injuries…"

Before she could finish her sentence, another sharp slap landed on her face, leaving five distinct fingerprints.

"Isn't it clear to you? If it weren't for you meddling with Mitchel, how could he possibly let Livia wear that mermaid costume and soak in cold water for the entire night? If it weren’t for you, how would Livia have ended up covered in injuries? And if it weren’t for you bribing these ungrateful doctors, how could they dare treat Livia like this? You designed this scheme to frame Livia and you deliberately delayed her treatment! What exactly are you plotting?”

The butler raised his hand again, but after a few attempts, his hand couldn’t move.

He turned around and found himself blocked by Mitchel, who was holding a thermos in his hand.

“Have you lost your mind? How dare you hit Malva! "

At that moment, tears welled up in Malva's eyes as she threw herself at Mitchel's feet, sobbing.

"Mitchel, my biggest wish before I die was to see you again. Now you've finally come!"

Die?

Mitchel supported Malva with one hand and upon seeing her flushed cheeks, his expression froze.

"Don't be mad at your mom. It's Livia who hates me. She can't accept me. But even if I die, I don't want to leave you..."

Mitchel quickly walked to Livia's bedside and placed the thermos down.

After that, he slapped her hard across her face.

The crisp sound of a slap echoed, stunning everyone in the room and interrupting Malva, who hadn't finished speaking.

Livia’s head jerked to the side, her frail body collapsing onto the hospital bed.

Hailey never expected that her own son would actually slap Livia.

Fury surged through her as she clenched her teeth and swung her hand with all her might.

With a loud slap, Mitchel stumbled back. "Mitchel, you dare to slap Livia in front of me? I'll fight you to the end!"

Mitchel pointed at Livia and shouted, "You and your mother teamed up to bully Malva and now I'm asking for justice on her behalf. What's wrong with that?"

"You! Unworthy son! You don't deserve Livia!"

"Alright, since you say I don't deserve her, then we won’t get married!"