A City.

In an old apartment building, just before six in the morning, loud banging and swearing erupted from the door of the west unit on the eighth floor. The noise alone was enough to make two-and-a-half-year-old Lily Chambers’s eyes well up in fright.

She reached her chubby little hand out to nudge her mom, who lay there completely still, her body burning up with fever.

"Mommy! Someone’s at the door!"

"The door’s noisy!"

Lily’s milky voice trembled, almost on the verge of tears.

She pushed her mom a few more times, but there was still no response. So she picked up her half-empty milk bottle and gently brought it to her mom's lips.

"Drink some, Mommy!"

"Baby will shoo the bad guy away!"

She mumbled as she climbed off the bed, moving slowly, every step cautious.

Grabbing a plastic toy gun for courage, Lily shuffled toward the door, scared but trying to be brave.

"You go away!"

"Mommy and baby… we’re not home!"

Clutching the little toy gun tightly, she tried her best to sound fierce, hoping whoever was outside would leave.

But then the sharp sound of someone picking the lock started.

Before Lily could even process what was happening, the front door suddenly burst open!A middle-aged man swaggered into the room like he owned the place, face full of menace.

"Hey, you little brat! Didn’t you hear your uncle knocking?!"

"You’re just as useless as that deadbeat mom of yours! Can’t even open a damn door!"

"Where is she?! Stop playing dead and come out here with the cash!"

"I’ve got an investment to make — I need five million, and she HAS to give it to me!"

That man was Jack Chandler, Lily’s uncle. His eyes drilled into Lily, who’d been kicked to the floor, filled with nothing but disgust.

She’d hit her head on the ground, and a big bump was already swelling up on her forehead.

Clutching her head, Lily whimpered, her tiny voice trembling with tears. "No money… really no money…"

"Mama’s sick… baby doesn’t have money…"

Her chubby little face was soaked with tears as she tried her best to explain why she couldn’t help.

Lily's mom, Bertha Chandler, used to be a C-list actress — barely scraping by in showbiz.

She was stunningly pretty, but never gave in to those shady deals in the industry. Combined with her messy family background, she ended up stuck at the bottom.

Three years ago, she was drugged by people she thought were her friends during a hotel meet-up. Panicking, she fled the scene and accidentally barged into a stranger’s room.The man was half out of it that night.

After spending the night with him, Bertha Chandler slipped away first thing the next morning.

Two months later, she found out she was pregnant with Lily Chambers.

She secretly looked into the guy she’d slept with.

Turned out, he wasn’t just anybody—he was powerful, single, ridiculously handsome, even more good-looking than most celebs, and, from what people said, not the type to mess around.

Word was, he didn’t like men or women—cold as a block of ice straight outta the Arctic.

Bertha grew up adopted, and her adoptive family? Treated her like an outsider.

What she craved most was a real, blood-related connection.

So she made up her mind to have the baby.

Not to cling to that guy or anything!

She just wanted to raise her own kid.

Aside from that jade pendant the guy clumsily left behind that night, Bertha never took a single thing from him.

She tried to return it, but never got the chance to even see him again.

Now lying in bed too sick to move, Bertha could only hear the commotion outside.

At the door, little Lily saw her uncle Jack Chandler heading toward the room, and she scrambled up, wrapping herself around his leg.

"Don’t hurt Mommy!"

"Go away, Uncle!"Lily raising her little arms to block him off completely pushed Jack Chandler over the edge.

He grabbed her roughly and stormed straight to the balcony.

"You’re such a damn burden! Ever since your mom had you, she’s been stingier than ever with me!"

"And now you two think moving can get rid of me? Let me tell you, I’ll track you down no matter where you go!"

He kept ranting as his grip tightened around Lily. With a sudden motion, he flung the window open and dangled her outside.

Eight floors up.

It was terrifying. For a little girl like Lily, it was a nightmare.

Her chubby body trembled hard from fear, and she let out a piercing wail.

“Mama!”

“Baby's gonna fall! Baby’s scared!”

“Shut up! You useless brat!”

Jack shouted at her, then turned and roared at Bertha Chandler, who was hiding inside:

"Bertha, quit pretending! Think faking sick is gonna fool me?"

"Hand over the money or I swear I’ll drop her right now!"

"You want her to live or not?!"

Jack had always been bad news.

He'd gotten hooked on gambling recently, and today’s visit wasn’t about any kind of investment — he just needed more cash to play.

"Uncle Jack! Please save me!” Lily cried, her tiny voice shaking.Lily’s tiny body dangled outside the window, swaying back and forth. Her cheeks were stained with tears and snot.

Jack Chandler was completely irritated by her crying. Right as he was about to curse again, his eyes caught a glimpse of the green jade pendant hanging from her neck—it had slipped out while she struggled.

That shiny piece made his eyes gleam.

“Ha! Knew your mom’s hiding money! That’s real jade, isn’t it? Hand it over!”

Jack reached out, trying to snatch the pendant.

But Lily instinctively clutched it tightly, her chubby little face full of resistance.

“No! Mine!”

“This belongs to me!”

Trying to guard her jade, she kicked and flailed harder than ever.

She was so focused on protecting it, she totally forgot—she was still hanging outside the eighth-floor window!

Nobody had pulled her back in yet!

A ticked-off kid going all out? Even adults can't always handle that!

Jack’s arm was already aching from holding her, and now with all that relentless squirming, his face turned a deep shade of red.

“Don’t freaking move!”

He roared as he tried to haul her back up.

But just then, his arm gave out from exhaustion.

“Oh crap—”

Jack could only stare, horrified, as Lily slipped from his grasp and plunged down.

His legs gave out and he dropped to the floor, completely paralyzed in shock.

“She’s done for!”Jack Chandler was too freaked out to even peek out the window. Falling from the eighth floor? Even an adult wouldn’t survive that—let alone a toddler still in diapers!

Realizing the mess he’d made, Jack collapsed on the floor, body stiff and breath caught in his throat.

Meanwhile, little Lily Chambers, flung out the window like a rag doll, was plummeting fast. The wind stung her chubby cheeks numb as she dropped through the air.

Half-awake, completely terrified, Lily’s tiny mind was frozen with fear. She didn’t even notice the jade pendant around her neck beginning to warm up.

With a loud "thump," she hit the ground. Her small limbs were splayed out helplessly, and crimson blood started to seep from her bruised little body.

The blood soaked into the jade.

In the blink of an eye, the pendant seemed to spark to life, glowing faintly as if it had been holding its breath, and managed to protect her heart.

Just seconds after she landed, a luxury car screeched to a halt, almost hitting her as she lay sprawled across the street.

"Boss! There’s a kid on the road!" The driver’s voice shook as he stared at Lily’s motionless body. "She looks seriously hurt!"

Edward Grant, sitting in the backseat, narrowed his eyes—and just like that, his face darkened.Henry Grant, the only son of Mr. Edward Grant, was lying unconscious in a private hospital, still hanging by a thread.

None of the doctors had a solution. The only person who dared say something was an old fortune-teller who had ties with the Grant family. He told Mr. Edward that Henry had a daughter, a lucky one at that. As long as she stayed close to him, there was still hope.

But the second he heard that, Edward nearly exploded with anger.

His son lived like a monk—no girlfriend, no interest in anyone, period. So where was this daughter supposed to come from?

Didn’t that just mean he had zero chance of surviving?

Edward’s face turned grim. He said coldly to the driver, “Get that kid to the hospital right now. Don’t let her die on the way.”

He didn’t even want to hear the word “dead” anymore.

“Got it!” the driver answered.

He jumped out of the car without hesitation and gently picked up Lily Chambers, who was covered in blood.

As a retired veteran, he knew basic first aid well. Every movement was careful, afraid he'd make things worse.

“Sir, can I place her next to you?” he asked, already halfway in the car.

“Yeah,” Edward replied without looking.

But the moment he said that, a quick glance at Lily’s face made his eyes freeze.The moment he got a good look, Mr. Grant froze on the spot, utterly thrown off!

"This kid… she looks just like Henry when he was little!"

Honestly, her features were even more delicate than Henry's back then.

But that quiet, sleeping face—she was basically a tiny replica of him.

Still reeling from the shock, Mr. Grant’s eyes fell on the jade pendant around Lily’s neck.

His hand trembled as he reached out to touch it.

And sure enough—

"This is Henry’s jade charm! The same one he’s worn since he was a baby!"

He stared at the pendant, then at Lily's pale, barely-breathing face—his mind going completely blank.

"Yen! Step on it!"

"Get us to the hospital! Now!"