Chapter 206 All is Blood...
The driver climbed out of his car and walked to the front bumper, his face twisted with frustration. "Those kids jaywalked right into traffic! I was driving normally when they suddenly darted out in front of me and there was no way I could brake in time..."
Scattered voices rose from the crowd, "Well, you've already hit them, so stop making excuses and—" "Someone call 911! Where's their mother?"
"Check if the kids are still breathing!"
"Dear God, look at all that bloodare they going to make it?"
"Don't touch her, I think her bones are broken..."
Grace couldn't see Liam and Lily anywhere, and panic began clawing at her chest.
She pressed a hand to her heart and hurried toward the street, quickly reaching the outer edge of the crowd surrounding a stopped vehicle.
Near the right front tire, a pool of blood was slowly spreading...
Beside the wheel lay a small, limp hand—the ring finger twitched once, then went completely still.
"Liam! Lily..."
She screamed, the ice cream cones crashing to the pavement as she shoved through the crowd.
In the spreading crimson pool lay two children.
Liam was unconscious on the ground, a gash split across his forehead.
Lily's injuries looked far worse , she lay motionless in the blood, the red slowly soaking through the new clothes Grace had just bought her.
"Liam! Lily!"
Grace knelt and carefully turned Liam over, staring at his deathly pale face. Her mouth opened but no sound came—terror had stolen her voice.
She looked at Lily, still lying in the blood, completely motionless. Half her face was soaked crimson, her delicate features barely visible beneath the blood, eyes half-open and unconscious.
Grace couldn't believe it. In the span of just one minute, two perfectly healthy children had been reduced to this—hovering between life and death.
"Liam? Liam..."
She called his name desperately, but he had no strength to respond.
Grace wanted to hold Lily too, but with Liam in her arms, she couldn't let go. She could only lean over and gently check for Lily's breathing with her free hand.
Still alive.
The crowd continued their commentary around her.
"She must be their mother..."
"How could she not watch them properly? Letting two kids run wild in the street—look what happened..."
"If those children die, how's she going to explain this to their father?"
"Those kids don't look anything like her. Probably a stepmother , only a stepmother would be careless enough to let kids out of her sight like that. A real mother would never let her children leave her side..."
Grace heard every cutting word but ignored them all, frantically calling out, "Where's the ambulance? Has anyone called 911?"
Despite the crowd, no one answered her. No one dared step forward to help.
"Don't get involved... what if she tries to scam us?"
"Yeah, don't be a Good Samaritan. She might try to pin this on us somehow..."
"Crocodile tears..."
"She's probably just acting. Pretty convincing performance."
Grace fumbled for her phone to call emergency services herself.
Suddenly, Liam stirred in her arms.
He opened his eyes weakly, blinking with great effort. His lips moved, producing barely audible sounds as blood seeped between his teeth.
Grace couldn't make out his words. She immediately bent down, pressing her ear to his mouth.
Liam whispered weakly, "Don't... be scared..."
After struggling to form those few words, he lost consciousness again.
Grace's heart shattered.
Even injured and barely conscious, he was still trying to comfort her.
"It hurts..."
Liam's small hand reached weakly for hers, grasping at empty air.
Grace immediately placed her hand in his.
Liam gripped her fingers, all five of his trembling from pain.
In that moment, she was overwhelmed with terror—terrified that the next time Liam closed his eyes, it would be forever.
"Liam, don't sleep. You're going to be okay. I'm here, I'm right here..."
The ambulance arrived within minutes.
The crowd immediately cleared a path.
Paramedics rushed through with stretchers.
Grace pleaded, "Please, help them..."
The medics quickly checked both children's vital signs and assessed their injuries before lifting them onto stretchers.
Grace climbed into the ambulance.
Fifteen minutes later—
The ambulance rushed to the nearest hospital.
The doors burst open.
Doctors and nurses transferred Liam and Lily to gurneys, racing toward the emergency room.
Grace started to follow but was stopped by a nurse. "You can't go in there. Please wait outside."
The nurse closed the doors behind them, and the surgery lights flickered on.
Grace sat anxiously on the hallway bench.
An hour later—
A sleek Bentley pulled up to the hospital entrance.
Alexander stepped out and strode through the hospital doors.
The lobby buzzed with hurried activity.
He headed toward the operating room, hearing raised voices from down the hallway.
"Is this how you take care of Liam? One night—just one night—and he ends up like this! Did you do this on purpose?"
Mary pointed accusingly at Grace. "Liam isn't your biological child, so this is how you treat him?"
Samantha and William stood nearby.
With Liam still in surgery, William was too worried to assign blame, but Samantha kept fanning the flames, "Mom, isn't it obvious? Blood family versus non-blood family—there's always going to be a difference! Look how well she takes care of Max? Max is her biological son, Liam isn't. So naturally, she treats them differently. In just one night, Liam gets seriously injured. I don't think she cares about him at all. When it comes down to it, Max is the one she gave birth to—not Liam!"
Mary was beside herself with worry.
According to the doctors, Liam had been in surgery for almost an hour with no updates.
Seeing the bloodstains on Grace's clothes only intensified her anxiety. She snapped, "Just because Liam isn't your biological child, you think you can abuse him? Samantha warned me before that your kindness toward Liam wasn't genuine—that it was just temporary. I didn't believe her then, but I have to now!"
Grace replied, "Mrs. Hayes, I haven't treated Liam any differently..."
Mary cut her off angrily, "Shut up! Stop making excuses!"
Samantha continued her relentless commentary, "If something happens to Liam, Max would become the Hayes family's only heir. Grace, you didn't plan this, did you? What are your real motives here? Are you afraid that when Liam grows up, he'll compete with your son for the inheritance, so you..."
Grace's temper flared, "I'm warning you—stop spreading lies!"
Samantha raised her eyebrows.
William, seeing Grace dare to speak to Samantha in such a tone, snapped, "What kind of attitude is that?"
In the midst of their heated argument, none of them noticed the figure approaching from behind.
Alexander's cold voice cut through the noise, "This is the emergency room hallway. What exactly are you all arguing about?"