Chapter 194 Who Said You Are Not Biological?
Before Samantha could say more, William said, "You should say less."
She felt aggrieved, but when William told her to keep quiet, she could only obediently shut her mouth.
Samantha sat down on the sofa.
William said, "Mom, we just got back to the country and we're a bit tired. We'll go rest early. Alexander will bring Grace back tomorrow, right?"
Mary nodded.
William said, "Got it."
The next day.
Alexander brought Grace back for the family dinner.
Max and Liam came along as well.
On the way, Max seemed absent-minded. Liam said that Grandpa William had returned to the country.
He didn't have much feeling for William—after all, throughout his childhood, he had barely seen William a few times. But he had no good impression of Samantha. In private, when no one was around, Samantha had bullied him many times.
Therefore, he was somewhat sullen.
When they arrived at Hayes Manor.
Alexander helped Max and Liam out of the car, then walked inside holding hands with Grace, each of them holding one child's hand.
"Liam."
In the living room, as soon as Samantha saw Liam, she enthusiastically walked over.
She picked up Liam and gently kissed his chubby cheek, smiling at William, "Honey, has Liam grown taller? He feels heavier in my arms."
Liam was somewhat resistant to her, but Samantha held him so tightly that he couldn't break free.
Samantha didn't even glance at Max. She looked toward Alexander and smiled at him, "Alexander, you're back."
Alexander, holding Grace's hand, walked up to William and nodded in acknowledgment, "Dad."
Grace also followed suit, "Hello, Mr. Hayes."
William's eyes looked a bit dazed.
He had seen Grace once before, when she had obediently called him "Dad." Now, after their divorce, she had naturally changed how she addressed him. Since they weren't remarried yet, she could only call him "Mr. Hayes."
William said, "After all these years, you haven't changed much."
Grace smiled.
Alexander turned to look at Samantha, his expression growing a few degrees colder, "Samantha."
Samantha felt uncomfortable, especially with how Alexander addressed her, making her feel like she'd swallowed a fly.
But she knew Alexander would never call her "Mom." In his heart, he only acknowledged one mother.
Grace looked at Samantha. She wasn't familiar with Samantha and had only met her a few times. Samantha was young, only about three years older than Alexander, fair-skinned and beautiful. Grace wasn't sure how to address her for a moment.
Alexander said, "According to family hierarchy, you can call her Aunt Samantha."
"Oh."
Grace nodded and said to Samantha, "Hello, Aunt Samantha."
Samantha responded coolly, "Hello."
She looked at William, "Honey, since you rarely come back, why don't you catch up with Alexander? I'll take Liam upstairs to play with building blocks."
With that, she carried Liam upstairs.
Liam looked longingly at Max and pouted his lips pitifully.
Max was about to follow when William crouched down in front of him, "Alexander, is this the son Grace gave you?"
Alexander said "Mm," then told Max, "Say 'Grandpa.'"
But Max didn't want to.
He hadn't even fully accepted Alexander as his father yet, and now they wanted him to acknowledge this "grandpa" he'd never met before?
When William saw that Max wouldn't call him grandpa, he didn't force it, "The child is shy around strangers. He's not familiar with me yet, so he won't call me that."
Alexander said, "This is his first time meeting you, so he's not used to it yet. He'll naturally come around later."
"Mm."
William said to Grace, "Grace, you gave Alexander a son. That's quite an accomplishment."
Grace felt a bit uncomfortable and said, "No, this son isn't something I gave Alexander. This is Alexander's and my son."
She didn't have Max to continue the Hayes family bloodline, and she didn't want Max to think of it that way either.
William asked, "I heard that when you were pregnant, you were carrying twins. What about the other child?"
Grace said, "To this day... there's still no trace."
All leads had gone cold.
Alexander hadn't given up, but because there were no clues, there had been no news for a long time.
Alexander didn't want William to discuss this matter in front of Grace. He said to William, "Dad, let's go to my room to talk."
"Mm, alright."
Alexander said, "Grace, keep Grandma company."
Grace nodded and sat down next to Mary with Max in her arms.
Max didn't really like this kind of environment. He sat obediently in Grace's lap without saying anything.
Mary genuinely adored him, asking after his well-being, but his attitude remained cool. He had grown up with Grace and wasn't close to Mary.
In the room.
Samantha had just put Liam down when she grabbed his hand, "Where are you going?"
Liam stared at her, clearly not liking her, and didn't understand why Samantha had brought him alone to this room.
Samantha said, "Liam, according to family hierarchy, you should call me 'Grandma.'"
Liam was reluctant to speak.
Samantha said, "Let me ask you, is that woman good to you?"
Liam frowned, knowing that the "woman" she was referring to was Grace.
He answered without hesitation, "Yes."
Samantha said, "She's only good to you now. She's about to marry your father, and you saw it yourself—she and your father have a son together."
Liam said, "His name is Max, and he's my good friend."
But Samantha sneered and said ominously, "You think of him as a good friend, but he might not think much of you! Just wait and see. Once Grace marries your father, she won't care about you anymore. She's only good to you now temporarily, putting on a show for your father. She has her own son, and in the future, she'll only love her own child. She won't love you anymore! You've read fairy tales before—she'll be your stepmother. Do stepmothers ever treat stepchildren well?"
Liam got a bit angry after hearing this, "Grace will be good to me!"
Samantha said, "Didn't I just tell you? That's only temporary! Just wait and see. In the future, she'll only love the son she had with your father. She won't be that good to you! After all, you're just a poor little thing with no mother to want you or love you."
After hearing this, Liam's brow furrowed slightly, and he lowered his head.
He turned around and crouched down in the corner.
He didn't want to listen to Samantha speak badly about Grace.
He also didn't believe that after Grace married Daddy, she would only love Max and not him.
He could feel Grace's warm love for him in her eyes.
What Samantha was saying couldn't shake his conviction at all.
He was just a bit sad that Samantha had said he was a child without a mother. He envied that Max had both a father and mother, while he didn't have a mother.
But he had Grace. After Grace married Daddy, he would be able to call Grace "Mommy" too.
Samantha walked over and crouched down beside him, "Liam, don't you believe what I'm saying? Why would I lie to you? Everything I said is true. That woman might even abuse you in the future. After all, you're not her biological child."