I Was A Blood Bank For My Parents' Adopted Daughter

I was once the apple of the Holt family's eye, a beloved child known throughout Palis.

A car accident left me in a coma for three long years.

When I finally awoke, I found a new adopted daughter in our home named Maddie Holt.

On my first day back, my mother held Maddie's hand and said to me, "Chloe, you should learn from Maddie. She's much more sensible than you."

My fiancé, Reece Hussain, also had his arm around Maddie's shoulder and announced, "We're getting married next month."

Late that night, I accidentally overheard a conversation between my father and our personal doctor.

"The blood transfusion was a success. Maddie's body has completely accepted Chloe's blood."

"Hmph, compared to the rebellious Chloe, Maddie is a fresh start and the kind of heir I want. Well-behaved, thankful, always agreeable... that's what a daughter of the Holt family should be."

...

The cold hallway lights cast my father's silhouette into something ghostly.

I held onto the wall, the chill of my fingertips piercing my heart.

Blood transfusion... Fresh start... Heir...

These words exploded in my mind repeatedly.

It turned out that I wasn't unconscious for three years. I was a living blood bank for three years.

I was an unfit, rebellious girl.

My stomach churned violently, but I forced myself to retreat to my room silently.

Looking in the mirror, I saw that my face was pale and thin beyond recognition, except for my eyes, which held a terrifying emotion.

My name was Chloe Holt.

I used to be Chloe Holt. Now, I was just Maddie's "donor."

The next morning, I slowly descended the spiral staircase in my nightgown.

Around the long dining table, the family was enjoying a lively breakfast.

My father perused the financial paper, my mother selected jewelry for Maddie, and Reece, my former fiancé, was tenderly preparing Maddie's food.

No one noticed my presence until I was so weak and unsteady that I knocked over a vase at the top of the stairs.

The crisp sound of shattering broke the warm atmosphere of the dining room.

Everyone turned to look at me in unison.

My mother immediately frowned. "Chloe, why are you so careless?"

Maddie quickly stood, trotting over to support me with a concerned expression. "Chloe, are you okay? Are you still feeling unwell?"

She wore a pink dress, her skin glowing with health, brimming with my life force.

I brushed off her hand, fixing my gaze directly on my mother. "I'm just hungry."

My mother's expression soured further. She put down the jewelry, her tone scolding. "If you're hungry, can't you call for a servant? You're an adult, yet you still need someone to take care of you."

She then turned to Maddie, her demeanor instantly softening to syrupy sweetness. "Maddie, come and eat, don't bother with that useless person."

Reece didn't spare me a glance, instead using a napkin to dab at the corner of Maddie's mouth. "Darling, try this. The sauce is special today."

They looked like a family. And I was the unwelcome intruder.

I pulled out a chair and sat next to my father.

He finally raised his head from the newspaper and gave me a look of mixed emotions. "Chloe, it's good you're awake. You need to take care of your health."

I picked up the knife and fork, but my wrists were too weak, causing the metal to clatter harshly against the plate.

My mother showed her disgust towards me. "So rude!"

Maddie spoke softly, "Mom, Chloe just woke up. She's not used to it yet."

As she spoke, she pushed her plate of neatly sliced food towards me. "Chloe, have mine."

I looked at the carefully divided food, then at her innocent face.

I mustered a smile, using all my strength to sweep the plate to the floor. "I don't enjoy secondhand meals."

The dining room was eerily silent.

Everyone was stunned by my actions.

Maddie's eyes instantly turned red, and she began to cry. "Chloe... I didn't mean it that way, I was just worried you were too weak..."

Reece stood up angrily, shielding Maddie behind him, glaring at me. "Chloe! What's gotten into you? Apologize to Maddie!"

I leaned back in my chair, looking at him coldly.

This was the man I had loved for ten years.

We grew up together and were childhood sweethearts.

Before my car accident, he had just proposed to me, saying he only loved me.

Three years later, he fell in love with someone else.

"Apologize? Reece, what authority do you have to order me?" I said softly.

Reece's expression was complicated. "I am Maddie's fiancé."

"Well, so you're my brother-in-law now." I drawled.

"You!" My mother slammed the table, her voice stern, "Chloe! You're being insolent. Maddie is your sister, Reece will be your brother-in-law, what kind of attitude is this?"

I slowly turned my head to look at my mother. "Sister? Did you ask for my opinion while I was in a coma? Did I agree to having another woman in the family to share my parents' love and take my fiancé?

Did I agree to live only to sacrifice my own well-being for Maddie? No, you don't want to have another daughter. You want to change your daughter! Just because I started questioning your decisions at the company?

Just because I was becoming more like my grandpa, instead of your puppet? So you found a substitute from the orphanage, a fragile one, to nurture with my blood, molding her into the compliant daughter you wanted, right?" I nearly shouted the last sentence.

My father's pupils suddenly contracted and my mother's face turned deathly pale.

Reece and Maddie were frozen.

The tension in the dining room was palpable.

I watched their reactions with satisfaction, a cold thrill spreading through me.

Yes, I heard it all and I knew everything.

From now on, I made the rules.

My father was the first to react. He slammed the newspaper shut with a loud noise.

"What nonsense! What donation nonsense!" His voice was stern but tinged with undeniable panic. "You just woke up and your mind isn't clear, stop imagining things."

I forced a strange smile. "Is that so? Maybe it was all just my dream. I dreamed that someone took advantage of me being unconscious and drew blood from my body again and again to save another person.

I even dreamed of my grandpa, who seemed to have many messages he wanted me to pass on to you. It's a terrifying nightmare, isn't it? Father?"

My father's lips pressed tightly, his glare was as sharp as daggers.

I met his gaze without fear.

This silent confrontation ended with my mother's scream. "Oh! My head hurts so much!"

She clutched her forehead, her body swaying. "Doctor! Call the personal doctor." My father immediately stood up to support her, shouting at the butler.

The dining room descended into chaos.

Reece held the still sobbing Maddie in his arms and looked at me with extremely disgusted and cold eyes, as if I was the vicious invader.

I sat in place, leisurely wiping the corner of my mouth with a napkin.

The personal doctor?

It just so happened that I needed to see him, and I also had a score to settle with him.

Martin Russell, the personal doctor, arrived promptly.

He was the one who had spoken with my father last night.

Now, he was respectfully examining my mother, his brow furrowed with a hint of anxiety.

I lounged on the sofa, watching the scene unfold as if it were a comedy.

"Dr. Russell, I don't feel well myself." I suddenly spoke up.

Martin paused, looking at me from a few steps away, his eyes uncertain behind his glasses. "Chloe, what symptoms do you have?"

"I always feel tired, anxious, dizzy, and..." I paused, raising my wrist to reveal some barely noticeable needle marks. "I keep finding strange marks on my body, like I've been pricked with needles without my knowledge."

Martin's face turned pale.

My father interrupted harshly, "Chloe! Don't distract the doctor from caring for your mother."

I ignored him and continued to stare at Martin. "Dr. Russell, how many years have you worked for the Holt family?"

"... Twenty years."

"Twenty years, then you can be said to be someone who has worked for a long time in our family." I nodded. "You must be absolutely loyal to my father, right?"

Sweat began to form on Martin's forehead.

He dared not look at me nor at my father. "Serving the Holt family is my honor."

"Is it?" I chuckled softly, "You've been responsible for my care during the three years I was in a coma, haven't you?"

"Y... Yes."

"So is there less blood in my body?" This question pierced him like a sharp sword.

Martin's body trembled violently, and he almost dropped the stethoscope in his hand. "I... I don't understand what you mean."

"Don't understand?" I stood up and walked towards him, the sound of my high heels clicking sharply on the polished floor.

I stopped in front of him, leaned slightly, and whispered in his ear. "Maddie's body completely accepted my blood. Can you say that again in front of me?"

Martin's body began to shake uncontrollably. He looked at my father in terror, as if seeking rescue.

My father's face turned dark.

"Chloe! Enough!" My father strode over, trying to pull me away.

But I straightened up first, took two steps back, and distanced myself from them. "Father, why are you so nervous? I just wanted to ask Dr. Russell about the medical definition of donation. After all. I want to know just how great I am to make a stranger so healthy." I glanced at Maddie, who looked especially fragile in Reece's arms.

The insult was unmistakable.

Maddie's face turned pale.

Reece couldn't hold back any longer and pointed at me angrily, "Chloe, you're being unreasonable. Maddie is your sister! Saving her is your duty!"

My duty?

How ridiculous!

I snorted with derision at his shamelessness. "Reece, you're marrying her next month, aren't you?"

He was stunned for a moment, then answered confidently, "That's right."

"Well then. You won't get a penny from the Holt family. Good luck surviving on your 'duty.'" I said.

Reece's face turned extremely dark.

Under my father's name, the Holt Group was founded by my grandfather.

Before he passed away, he locked away evidence of business crimes that could send my father to jail in a safe. And the key was in my hands. "Well, I forgot to tell you, Reece. Do you think by cozying up to my father, you'll inherit the Holt Group?"

Reece's face turned even darker.

I watched him with interest. "I warn you, stay away from me. Otherwise, when my father kills you, don't blame me for not warning you."

My mother had recovered at this moment and pointed at me, trembling with anger. "You ungrateful daughter! Are you willing to cut ties with your family for an outsider?"

I looked at her, feeling a bitter sense of irony. "Mother, who exactly is the outsider? Does Maddie have Holt blood? Is she worthy of the Holt name? Or is it that anyone can become the Holt family's daughter as long as they give you what you want?"

My questioning plunged the living room into silence.

They couldn't refute me because what I said was the truth.

Maddie was nothing more than a pawn or tool they found, a meek and obedient replacement.

And I was the former daughter who was sacrificed and drained of value.