Chapter 197 Grace Is Not the Best Choice
Alexander frowned slowly and stood up, walking over to William. "I'd like to know what inappropriate things Samantha said to Liam when she took him upstairs that made him hide away by himself. I don't care what she was trying to tell him, but I don't want this to happen again."
William defended Samantha, saying, "What do you think she could possibly say to Liam? She's Liam's grandmother too. Even if she can't treat him like her own, at least she means no harm."
Alexander said nothing more.
There was some distance between Alexander and William. After all, William had been absent for most of his childhood, and even as Alexander grew up, started his own family and career, William had shouldered very little of his paternal responsibilities.
Alexander didn't feel particularly close to him. The respect he held was purely out of duty as his father.
Alexander said, "Even though Liam isn't Grace's biological child, she treats him like her own. I believe she'll make an excellent mother. I don't want to hear anyone calling her a stepmother again."
From his words, William could roughly guess what Samantha had said to Liam.
He sighed, "She's not like you—she hasn't had much contact with Grace. Samantha has never had children herself, so just don't take her words to heart. As for Grace... I also believe she'll make a good mother."
"Then let's leave it at that."
Alexander said, "I'm going to rest now. You should get some sleep too, Father."
William nodded absentmindedly.
He watched Alexander walk out the door, his mood somewhat complicated.
Ever since William had split from the Hayes family to establish his own business overseas, his ventures hadn't been particularly successful over the years.
The global economic situation wasn't favorable, and many economists predicted that the global economy would contract in the coming years.
But the Hayes family was different.
Alexander had an exceptional talent for business. He was strategic and decisive—perhaps a style he'd developed during his military service. Under his leadership, the Hayes family business had expanded dozens of times over from its previous scale.
Alexander was now among the top three on the global wealth rankings, with an impressive net worth.
With his background, he indeed didn't need to worry about social matching. After all, with his wealth, there was no such thing as a perfect social match.
But William wasn't entirely satisfied with Grace's background.
He had approved of the marriage years ago because Mary believed Grace would bring Alexander good luck.
Back then, Alexander was still in a vegetative state, and Mary thought that if Alexander never woke up, the legacy wouldn't end with her.
So she had carefully considered all options and chosen Grace.
Foster family wasn't a small company, but it wasn't exactly prestigious either. With Alexander's slim chances of waking up, which wealthy heiress would want to marry him and become a widow-to-be?
If something happened to Alexander, a daughter-in-law from too powerful a family would be uncontrollable, especially when it came to custody matters. After considering everything, Mary had chosen Grace.
But with Alexander as he was now, William didn't think he'd want to remarry Grace.
In his view, Grace wasn't the best fit for a Hayes family daughter-in-law for his son.
Yet his son was determined to marry Grace, and as his father, he seemed to had no room to complain.
...
Dawn broke.
Grace stood by the window, watching the sky pale with the first hint of dawn. She was tired but her mind was too troubled to sleep.
She turned to look at the two children on the bed. They were still asleep, snuggled up together, their faces peaceful and adorable.
Grace suddenly thought of the child Jenny had taken, who was still missing.
She had no clue where to look for him.
He would be Max's age now, old enough to know better. Perhaps he had a new family, adoptive parents.
If she ever found him and he already had adoptive parents, how could she take him back?
Would the child even want to want anything to do with her?
Grace had never lost hope of finding her child.
The bedroom door suddenly opened from outside.
Grace was just getting into bed when she heard the sound and looked toward the door.
Alexander walked in quietly.
Seeing Grace awake, he looked somewhat surprised, "You're still up?"
"Yeah, I couldn't get to sleep. Maybe it's the unfamiliar bed."
Grace noticed Alexander was fully dressed and looked somewhat puzzled, "Were you up all night, too?"
Alexander said, "I've been awake for a bit. Just finished getting ready."
Grace looked surprised, "You're up so early. Are you going somewhere?"
Alexander said, "Yes, I have some things to handle."
Grace assumed it was business and nodded, "Alright, go for it."
She was used to Alexander's leaving early and coming home late.
Alexander said, "You haven't slept all night. You should catch some sleep."
He lifted his wrist to check his watch, "I should be back this afternoon."
"Okay..."
Grace got into bed and tucked herself in.
Alexander walked over to the bed, leaned down, and kissed her forehead.
Grace also kissed his cheek, "Drive careful."
"Mm."
Alexander didn't say another word and left the room.
In the garage, he pulled out of the garage.
Grace slept until the afternoon.
When she woke up, the curtains were drawn, and Max and Liam were sitting on the floor, playing with LEGOs.
Liam's room had many LEGO sets. Building with LEGO was his favorite activity. Max initially had no interest in such childish toys—he was just passing time. But unexpectedly, after playing with Liam for a while, he realized how fun LEGOs are. Over the morning and half the afternoon, they had built a castle and a sports car.
Since Grace was sleeping, they stayed quiet, communicating in whispers.
Seeing Grace awake, Max looked somewhat surprised, "Mommy, you're up?"
Grace was touched that the two had been so well-behaved, not disturbing her sleep, "Have you guys eaten yet?"
"We have."
Max said, "When I woke up, I saw Mommy was still sleeping, so I knew you hadn't slept all night."
Grace looked somewhat surprised, "How did you know?"
Max said, "I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Mommy standing by the bed, looking like you had something on your mind, so I knew you hadn't slept all night."
Liam chimed in sweetly, "When Grace sleeps, she looks like Sleeping Beauty."
Max flicked his little head, "You're such a charmer!"
Grace asked, "Is Daddy back yet?"
Liam shook his head, "Daddy isn't back yet. Do you miss Daddy?"
Grace blushed, "No. He left very early this morning, said he'd be back this afternoon."