Chapter 86 Don't Make Mommy Mad
Alexander stood up and walked toward the door. Suddenly remembering something, he turned slightly and said coolly, "I can let this slide—as long as you apologize. I'll pretend nothing happened."
Grace was stunned. "Apologize?"
She stared blankly for a moment, then immediately got out of bed and glared at his back, frowning as she asked, "Apologize to who? Emily?"
"You hit her," Alexander replied. "Don't you think you should apologize?"
Grace's anger flared. "I will never apologize to her! You want me to apologize to someone like that? Never!"
"Why?" Alexander turned around, his voice sharp. "What do you mean by 'someone like that'?"
She could see he was getting angry.
Grace knew Emily held a special place in his heart—one that couldn't tolerate any criticism.
But she wasn't someone who could be humiliated and trampled on at will either.
What gave him the right to demand she apologize to Emily?
"Alexander, if you want me to apologize to Emily, you'll have to break my legs and drag me to her doorstep. Otherwise, forget it!" Grace said. Without giving Alexander a chance to respond, she walked up to him and forcefully pushed him out the door. "Get out of my room!"
Alexander found himself shut out.
He turned around, staring at the cold, unforgiving door. When he tried to open it, he discovered it had been locked from the inside.
This woman! She actually locked him out?
Alexander was about to lose his temper when he heard another door opening behind him.
He turned to see Max and Liam standing in their doorway, their sleepy little faces filled with confusion and bewilderment.
Alexander suppressed his anger and asked, "Why are you awake?"
Liam blinked his heavy eyelids, looking between Alexander and the door behind him.
Max said, "Did you fight with my mommy?" He'd vaguely heard the sounds of an argument and thought Alexander and Grace were having a real fight. He'd grabbed Liam and rushed to the door, only to find Alexander standing alone in the hallway, locked out.
Liam also stared at him with wide eyes.
"We didn't fight," Alexander said. Even if he and Grace had been screaming at each other, he didn't want the two boys to know about it.
"Good, no fighting," Max said, visibly relieved. He looked around suspiciously. "I thought you made Mommy angry! Hmph, if you make my mommy mad, you're gonna get your butt spanked!"
His half-joking, half-serious tone made Liam take it completely seriously.
Liam's ears perked up in surprise, and he silently vowed to never make Grace angry. If he made Grace mad... his bottom would hurt!
"Go to bed early," Alexander said.
He walked over and ushered Liam and Max back into their room. "Get back to your own beds."
"Okay." Max and Liam went inside.
Alexander closed their door and turned to look at Grace's room, still furious.
His hand instinctively touched his lips.
Her warmth still lingered there.
Thinking about his loss of control earlier, Alexander felt a moment of confusion.
Had he lost his mind?
...
The next day.
Grace suddenly received messages in the office group chat: Amelia had woken up, but her condition wasn't good. She was still in a deep coma, and doctors said there was a high possibility she'd become a vegetative patient.
The entire company was in an uproar.
Some said Joshua wanted to divorce Amelia, but she refused, resulting in her being beaten until she was covered in injuries.
Others said Amelia had offended the Hayes family, and Joshua was cutting ties with her to avoid being implicated.
Still others claimed Amelia's son had bullied Liam at school, and the Hayes family had declared that the Thomas family would pay the price. Overnight, Joshua was expelled from Windsor Academy's board of directors. The Thomas family was in chaos, and Amelia's companies were facing bankruptcy as shareholders fled.
When Amelia's threat to jump from the building failed to intimidate the Hayes family, she'd slipped and fallen, suffering severe injuries and hovering between life and death.
Although the company immediately issued denials, claiming they wouldn't go bankrupt or flee, their explanations couldn't calm people's fears.
Various versions of rumors spread like wildfire.
Windsor Academy's leadership also underwent a major reshuffling.
Several major shareholders were cleared out, and some executives were either transferred or dismissed.
The teachers in the Lions class were all replaced, and even Lily had been transferred to a branch school in another city, disappearing without a trace.
In short, Liam's drowning incident had triggered a domino effect, stirring up a silent storm throughout Windsor Academy.
When Grace dropped off Liam and Max at school on Monday morning, there were actually special staff members waiting to greet them.
"Good morning, Mr. Hayes!"
Several uniformed executives stood in a line, warmly welcoming Liam.
Grace was startled by this reception.
"And this is...?" The executives looked at Grace, trying to figure out her identity.
"I'm Max's mother," Grace said.
"Oh, Max's mother." The executives' demeanor became noticeably cooler.
Grace smiled and said to Max, "Max, Mommy will just see you to the gate."
Liam looked at Grace, sensing something strange.
Grace seemed less enthusiastic toward him than before. While she couldn't be called cold, her attitude showed the usual care but with an added distance.
Max asked, "Mommy, why has your attitude toward Liam changed?" He was quite perceptive, so he carefully asked, "Don't you like Liam anymore?"
"No, that's not it," Grace said. She knelt down to adjust Max's tie. "Liam's daddy said I'm not Liam's real mother and that I need to know my place. He's going to marry Emily, so he wants Liam to bond with Aunt Emily. Since it's a remarriage, he definitely wants Liam to be closer to her rather than just close to me."
Max's face fell when he heard this. "He's going to marry Emily?"
"Yes," Grace confirmed.
"I see."
Max turned around with a gloomy expression.
For some reason, this news made him feel unusually depressed.
He'd always known Alexander was his biological father. Even though he had no intention of acknowledging their relationship, thinking about Alexander marrying that Emily woman made him feel disgusted.
And by extension, he felt more disgusted with Alexander too.
Grace watched Liam and Max walk hand-in-hand through the school gates, then suddenly received a call from Alexander.
"You don't need to pick up Liam after school today."
Grace frowned. "Are you having Emily pick up Liam instead?"