Chapter 67 Blood Means Nothing
She panicked, grabbing a maid and asking urgently, “Where’s Lauren?”
A Finished
The maid shook her head. “Ma’am, when we woke up this morning, Miss Lauren was already gone.”
Alice went limp, like all the strength had been drained from her body. She collapsed against the wall, completely unhinged.
Elliot came out of the bedroom and froze when he saw her like that.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?” he asked, rushing over.
Alice looked up at him with red–rimmed eyes, her voice trembling. “Lauren’s gone.”
Even Elliot started to panic. “What do you mean, gone She was just here yesterday.”
Alice slid to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. “It’s my fault… I drove her away. If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself….
Elliot suddenly remembered the phone call Marilyn made last night. He quickly pulled out his phone to call her–but he was already blocked.
His face darkened. “Mom, you try calling Marilyn.”
Alice’s hands trembled as she dialed, but the result was the same–blocked.
“Let’s check the security cameras,” Elliot said, steadying himself.
They rushed to the monitoring room, and as the footage played, confusion on their faces turned to horror.
On the screen, Lauren’s blood–soaked figure could be seen dragging herself out of the villa. Then, Marilyn
already sixty years old–carried her through the storm, step by step, into the pouring rain.
Alice gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. “Lauren… my poor Lauren….
Elliot stared at the screen, his eyes dark with pain. That image cut into him like a blade.
“Marilyn must’ve taken her to the hospital. Let’s go–now!”
He drove like a man possessed, the wipers thrashing back and forth against a storm they could barely push through.
In the passenger seat, Alice stared blankly out the window, her hands clasped so tightly her nails dug into her palms. She kept whispering under her breath, begging for Lauren to be okay.
In the hospital, Lauren slowly came to. Her head was pounding, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her chest.
She stared blankly at the stark white ceiling as memories from the night before flooded her brain–Alice’s
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Chapter 67 Blood Means Nothing
51%
#Finished
The tears came before she could stop them–first one, then two, then an endless stream soaking her pillow.
She was Alice’s biological daughter, carried in her womb for ten months. And yet, in front of Willow–the adopted daughter–her life had meant nothing.
She should’ve been used to the Bennetts‘ cold cruelly by now.
But somehow it still hurt this much.
Lauren sucked in a deep breath and forced the pain and tears back down.
There’s no point in crying.
These people weren’t worth it.
She had just wiped her face dry when the door opened
She thought it was Marilyn–but when she turned her bead, she locked eyes with Alice, whose eyes were red from crying.
“Lauren, you scared me to death,” Alice sobbed. “Why would you leave in the middle of the night like that? It was raining so hard, it was freezing–do you have any idea how worried I was? If anything had happened to you, I’d–how could I live with myself?”
She rushed forward, trying to hug her, but Lauren shoved her away before she could even touch her.
Lauren’s eyes were cold, full of disgust and mockery.
Alice’s performance made her sick.
Just last night, she’d bashed her over the head with a glass ashuray without a shred of mercy. Now she was playing the loving mother? Like hell.
Letting her bleed out on the floor–and now she shows up with crocodile tears and open arms? Disgusting.
Alice’s heart cracked at the rejection. “Lauren, I know I messed up this time. Please, just forgive me–just once, okay?”
Lauren didn’t move.
Elliot jumped in quickly. “Lauren, Mom was out of line yesterday, but she’s been a wreck ever since. She was up all night, combing the whole city looking for you. She’s terrified of losing you.”
“We’re family. Blood is blood. You break a bone, and it still stays connected by tendons. Look at her right -now–she’s not faking this. She really thought she lost you.”
Lauren didn’t believe a word of it.
Searching the whole city, huh?
They didn’t even have dark circles under their eyes. They looked completely rested. If anything, they must’ve gotten a full night’s sleep and only just realized she was gone this morning.
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43 Thu, Mar 27
The Heiress Revived from the Ashes
