Chapter 91
"What do you mean?" Juliana's voice was stretched taut.
"Relax." Logan chuckled on the other end. "He's just fine. Just misses his mommy a little. Half an hour, Peace Garden in the south district. I'll be waiting. Come alone."
Before Juliana could ask anything else, the call was abruptly disconnected.
Juliana felt the world spin around her.
She instinctively turned back, looking through the frosted glass at the blurred figure on the hospital bed in the inner room.
He was at his most vulnerable right now. He couldn't handle any shocks.
Without a moment's hesitation, Juliana grabbed her coat and car keys and rushed out.
……
Peace Garden was tucked away deep in a quiet grove in the south district.
When Juliana pushed open the heavy wooden door to the innermost private room, Logan wasn't there.
In the spacious room sat only one woman.
Ashley wore an expensive custom gown, using the lid of her teacup to skim the foam off the water's surface repeatedly.
Only when Juliana stood before her did she leisurely set down her cup.
"You actually dared to come."
Juliana's heart sank to the bottom.
Her worst fears had come true.
"Where is my child?" She got straight to the point.
"Your child?" Ashley acted as if she'd heard the joke of the century and laughed mockingly. "Juliana, seven years and you've gotten better at playing dumb. That's the Sharp family's child. What does he have to do with you?"
Juliana's body swayed.
She suppressed all the surging emotions in her heart—the grievances, the anger, the unwillingness. In this moment, none of it mattered as much as her son's safety.
"Mrs. Sharp, I know you don't like me. I'm begging you, give my child back to me."
Ashley raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting this attitude.
This submissive appearance finally eased some of the suffocating frustration she'd felt from being threatened.
"Give him back to you? What will you raise him with? That little clinic of yours? Or are you planning to use the child to get something from Lucas again?"
She took a deep breath. "What do you want? I have money. I can give it to you."
The mockery on Ashley's face deepened.
"Ha, finally showing your true colors." She leaned back against her chair. "Juliana, do you think the Sharp family needs your pocket change? Or do you believe money can solve everything?"
"That's not what I meant..."
"That's exactly what you meant!" Ashley cut her off, her voice suddenly shrill. "From the moment you approached Lucas, you were after the Sharp family's money! Now you're pulling the same trick, using a child as leverage. Have you no shame?"
The harsh accusations rained down, but within these words, Juliana keenly caught the information she needed.
This realization let Juliana's nerves, stretched to the breaking point, relax just slightly.
She stopped defending herself and just stood there silently, letting Ashley vent.
After Ashley finished her tirade and saw Juliana's consistently submissive appearance, she found it boring.
"Want to see him?"
Light rekindled in Juliana's eyes. She nodded vigorously.
"Fine." Ashley set down her teacup, her lips curving into a cold arc as she spoke word by word:
"But you must do exactly as I say."
"First, leave New Seashire immediately and never come back."
Juliana's lashes trembled.
Leave New Seashire?
What about Lucas? His treatment had just begun—he was in the most critical and vulnerable period.
If she left, who would take care of him?
Ashley seemed to read her thoughts and laughed coldly. "What, can't bear to leave my son? Juliana, don't think too highly of yourself. Without you, there are plenty of top doctors lining up to treat him. The Sharp family doesn't need you."
Juliana's lips pressed into a pale line.
She knew Ashley was telling the truth.
"My child..."
"Don't rush, that's only the first condition." Ashley interrupted, picking up her teacup and blowing gently on it. That look of complete control stabbed at Juliana's eyes.
"Second, hand over that other child you've been hiding."
"What did you say?" Juliana wondered if she'd misheard.
"I said," Ashley enunciated each word, her eyes vicious, "both children you gave birth to must stay with the Sharp family. You can't keep even one of them."
Something exploded in Juliana's mind.
She confirmed in her heart—something had indeed happened to Dami.
Ashley was threatening her with Dami... and wanted to take Matty too.
All her previous patience, pleading, and concessions shattered in this moment.
"Those are my children! What right do you have?!" Juliana's voice trembled with extreme fury. "How is this any different from robbery?!"
"Robbery? Juliana, have you not grasped the situation yet? I'm Lucas's mother, the matriarch of the Sharp family. What I want, I get."
"I can make sure you can't work in New Seashire, or even in the entire medical field. I can also hire the best legal team to prove you're unfit to raise children and forcibly have their custody awarded to the Sharp family. Believe me, I have that power."
Juliana's heart grew colder inch by inch.
Before absolute power, all her struggles seemed laughable and futile.
She looked at Ashley, the fire in her eyes gradually extinguishing, leaving only ash-gray pleading.
"Mrs. Sharp... I'm begging you, let me go, let the children go... they're so young..."
"Only now you know to beg me?" Ashley curled her lip contemptuously. "Too late."
"I'll give you one day to think about it. When you've decided, bring that other child yourself to my estate. Remember, if a third person finds out about this, especially Lucas," her voice lowered, full of warning, "you'll never, ever see Dami again."
With that, she didn't spare Juliana another glance and walked straight toward the door.
"Take her away."
Two bodyguards in black who'd been waiting at the door entered immediately, gripping the still-dazed Juliana on either side.
She didn't know where they took her, only felt herself being shoved into a car that bounced along for what seemed like forever.
Finally, with a "bang," the car door opened and she was shoved out roughly, landing hard on the cold ground.
Her elbows and knees burned with pain.
Juliana struggled to tear off her blindfold.
But she couldn't care about that now.
She scrambled up from the ground, not bothering to brush off the dirt, frantically digging through her bag for her phone.
Her fingers trembled so badly she kept hitting the wrong parts of the screen.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and finally managed to call Paul, the Lynd family's butler.
The phone was answered almost immediately.
"Ms. Wells?" Paul's steady voice came through.
"Paul!" Juliana's voice was like a drowning person grasping the last lifeline, carrying a sob. "Matty! Is Matty home?!"
"Yes, he is. What's wrong? He just finished dinner—he's probably playing in his room."
Juliana exhaled heavily in relief. Thank God, Matty was safe. "Paul, could you please go find Matty? I need to talk to him."
Paul acknowledged, but moments later, Juliana heard Paul's trembling voice: "Ms. Wells! Something's wrong!"
"Matty... he's gone!"