Chapter 251 The Belated Reconciliation
The hospital corridor was so tense it felt suffocating.
The surgical light above the operating room door had been on for a full three hours, with no sign of going out.
Stefan stood rigidly at the operating room entrance, completely motionless.
His tailored suit had long been stained a dark black by dried blood, a complete mess.
His handsome face showed no expression.
But in those deep eyes, a dangerous fury churned.
Garth stood a few steps behind him, deliberately softening even his breathing, afraid of disturbing this terrifying silence.
Having followed Stefan for so many years, he had never seen him lose control like this.
The despair and violence emanating from him left Garth with no doubt that if anything happened to the person in the operating room, Stefan would bring everything crashing down.
After a long while, Garth dared to step forward, his voice extremely low.
"Mr. Hensley."
Stefan did not turn around, his voice squeezing out from deep in his throat, frighteningly hoarse, "Speak."
"Anna has been taken into police custody. The charge of intentional assault is confirmed, with both witnesses and evidence at the scene."
Garth paused, then continued his report, "The Clark family is pulling strings, trying to... get her bail."
"Bail?"
Stefan slowly turned his head. Those bloodshot eyes had no focus, yet they made Garth feel a bone-chilling cold.
He pulled at the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile without warmth.
"Tell them, from now on, there is no Clark family in Harmony City."
"I want Anna to spend the rest of her life in prison."
"Anyone who dares to help her will regret it."
Garth's heart tightened, and he nodded firmly, "Yes."
At that moment, Robert and Mabel arrived at the hospital after giving their statements.
They sat close together on a bench in the corridor, silently shedding tears.
Dione sat alone not far away, her hair disheveled, makeup completely ruined, tear tracks crisscrossing her face.
Not a trace remained of her usual dignified lady-of-the-house demeanor.
In her mind, over and over again, she replayed that scene on the stairs.
If she had not pushed Anna to the edge with those words...
If she had not insisted on putting on airs by going to the second-floor private room...
If she had not harbored such deep prejudice against Amelia from the start, constantly humiliating and making things difficult for her... would all of this have been avoided?
Dione covered her face with her hands in agony, her shoulders shaking violently beyond her control. Suppressed and broken sobs spilled out from between her fingers.
She cried, cried her heart out, her sobs filled with regret and fear.
Mabel heard the crying.
She wiped away her own tears, hesitated for a moment, but still stood up and sat down beside Dione.
"Mrs. Hensley, please... don't be too upset." Mabel reached out with her hands, calloused from years of kneading dough, and gently patted Dione's trembling back.
"This is not your fault. It is all that crazy Clark woman's fault. Amelia... she is a good girl, she will definitely be okay."
Hearing "Mrs. Hensley," Dione suddenly looked up, her tear-blurred eyes focusing on this simple woman before her.
Even though Amelia was still inside fighting for her life, Mabel was actually comforting her, the "culprit."
An indescribable sense of shame instantly overwhelmed Dione completely.
"No! It is all my fault! It is my fault! All of it is my fault!" Dione could not hold back anymore. She grabbed Mabel's hand and burst into tears.
"I have wronged you, and I have wronged Amelia even more!"
"I am a terrible person!"
"From the beginning, I looked at her with prejudice, thought she was not good enough because of her background, that she was not worthy of the Hensley family, not worthy of Stefan."
"On the cruise, in front of so many people, I humiliated her, insulted her."
"Today at the restaurant, I was still thinking about how to intimidate her, how to warn her, to make her understand the Hensley family's rules..."
"I am just a fool blinded by class prejudice! An unreasonable, vicious mother-in-law!"
"What right do I have to be saved by her! The one who should have been pushed down and killed was me! It should have been me!"
Dione cried breathlessly, pouring out all the regret, self-blame, and fear in her heart without reservation.
In her entire life, when had she ever lost composure like this in front of others?
But at this moment, reputation and dignity became worthless in the face of a life hanging by a thread because of her.
"Mrs. Hensley, do not say that, please do not say that." Mabel's heart ached from Dione's crying, and she grasped her hand in return. "What is done is done. Blaming yourself will not help. What we can do now is trust the doctors and trust Amelia."
"You are right, Amelia is a good girl..." Dione beat her own chest, filled with regret.
"My son is lucky... I was truly blind. I had such a wonderful daughter-in-law right in front of me, but I did not appreciate her. Instead, I treated that Anna like a treasure... I was such a foolish old woman."
She looked at Stefan's rigid, unchanging figure, her heart twisting in pain.
"Stefan's judgment is so much better than mine. He knew all along that Amelia was a good girl. Only I insisted on going against him."
"If Amelia really... if something happens to her... he will never forgive me for the rest of his life."
Two mothers, one from a privileged background, one from a modest background, at this moment found themselves embracing each other because of the same person they cared about, setting aside all barriers and status differences, comforting each other and crying their hearts out.
Robert, his eyes red, silently watched this scene and handed over some tissues.
Stefan remained motionless, deaf to the sounds behind him.
At this moment, his world consisted only of that small space in front of him — the operating room.
Just then.
The surgical light went out.
All the crying and breathing in the corridor stopped abruptly. Everyone was held in suspense in this moment.
The operating room door was pushed open.
A doctor in green scrubs and a mask, looking exhausted, walked out.
"Doctor!"
Stefan was the first to rush forward, gripping the doctor's arm tightly.
"How is she? How is my fiancée?" His voice trembled violently from being too tense.
In the corridor, everyone's eyes were fixed on the doctor's face, waiting for the verdict.
The doctor scanned everyone, his gaze finally landing on Stefan's bloodshot eyes. He removed his mask and spoke with a serious expression.
"Who is the patient's family?"