Chapter 3

Iris Holloway POV

Liam Sterling's thumb was warm, slightly calloused from years of holding a pen, as it gently caressed my cheek.

If it were before, I would have leaned into his palm, enjoying that unique tenderness. But now, that warmth felt like a snake's tongue, sending shivers down my spine.

"I'm tired, I want to rest." I turned my head, evading his hand, my voice so calm even I found it incredible.

Liam Sterling didn't say much, simply tucked the blanket around me: "Alright, get some more sleep. I'll go to the study to handle some documents."

The moment the door closed, my tense body instantly sagged.

I knew I couldn't just sit there and wait for death.

Liam Sterling's study had always been off-limits, but he had never guarded it against me, and the password was my birthday.

While Liam Sterling was at the company for a meeting, I pushed open the study door.

I walked straight to the locked safe and entered my birthday.

A "beep" sounded, a red light flashed, password incorrect.

I froze. I tried Liam Sterling's birthday, our wedding anniversary—all wrong.

I entered Jace Holloway's birthday.

"Click." The safe opened.

In that instant, my heart felt as if it had been plunged into ice water, aching with cold.

There were no confidential documents in the safe, only a thick stack of medical reports and a worn-out sketchbook.

With trembling hands, I opened the medical reports. Jace Holloway's name was prominently displayed.

The diagnosis was a rare aplastic anemia, and the last page of the treatment plan highlighted sibling umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant.

The matching results showed that my gene loci were a perfect match with Jace Holloway's.

The date was exactly one month before Liam Sterling proposed to me.

I bit down hard on my lower lip, tasting a strong metallic tang of blood.

I then opened the sketchbook. It was filled with drawings of the same young man, laughing, playing, or quietly reading. The style was amateurish, yet it radiated the artist's overflowing love.

The young man in the drawings was an eighteen-year-old Jace Holloway.

On the last page, a sentence was written: "My Jace, may you always be happy."

The signature was Liam Sterling.

So, they had been in love for a long time.

It turned out that I was the ridiculous third party, a human blood bank existing solely to save their love.

I put everything back exactly as I found it, then stumbled back to the bedroom.

In the afternoon, the roar of a car engine sounded outside the villa.

Liam Sterling not only returned himself but brought Jace Holloway back with him.

"Jace needs to recuperate in a sterile environment. The hospital is too crowded, I don't feel at ease."

Liam Sterling explained to me while instructing the servants to set up the guest room as a sterile room, "You usually get bored alone at home. With Jace here to keep you company, I'll also feel more at ease."

I looked at Jace Holloway standing at the main entrance, dressed in Liam Sterling's oversized shirt, and my stomach churned again.

"Iris, I apologize for the intrusion." Jace Holloway smiled at me, his smile seemingly innocent and harmless, but his eyes held a hidden challenge.

The next few days, the villa became my purgatory.

Liam Sterling practically moved all his work to the house.

He personally supervised Jace Holloway taking his medication, accompanied him in the glass conservatory to sunbathe, and even wiped Jace Holloway's mouth without a hint of distaste when he vomited due to medication side effects.

And I became invisible.

Only when reminding me to take folic acid or go for prenatal check-ups would Liam Sterling deign to cast a glance my way.

"How are you feeling today? Has the baby kicked you?" Liam Sterling came up to me, holding a glass of warm milk, his gaze falling on my swollen abdomen, his eyes so tender they could drown someone.

Looking at his affectionate demeanor, I only felt absurdity.