Chapter 306 Blood and Blame
Ilon’t know what our Azure did to make you hate him so much, the woman sobbed, clutching Sierra’s sleeve. “but I’m begging you for the sake of him being our only child, please let him go
“We gave everything to raise him. He’s our whole life. We can’t live without him.”
Azure’s mother wept bitterly, completely deaf to Sierra’s words. Someone had already come to them earlier and told them that Sierra was the one who got their son into trouble. That if she would just speak up. Azure would be released.
The crowd around them was growing Sierra had no way to leave, completely surrounded Autumn, Erwin, and the others were trying to help, trying to calm the situation, but Azure’s parents refused to listen to reason.
Sierra had started out feeling a little sorry for them, but now that pity was quickly souring into something else.
Some people are pitiful, sare. But more often than not, they’re also infuriating
Her voice went cold. “Whether you believe me or not. I’ll say this one last time–Azure’s situation has nothing to do with me. Coming after me won’t help you. Now move.”
But the world always sides with the weak. Azure’s parents looked simple and honest–the kind of quiet, sorrowful people who earned sympathy by just standing there. Their tears made them look like victims. Meanwhile, Sierra’s calm, emotionless demeanor was working against her. To outsiders, it looked like she was cold and unfeeling. Whispers were already starting to spread.
Sierra could hear them–murmurs of blame, suspicion, judgment.
She hated this.
Gritting her teeth, she reached down and forced Azure’s mother to let go of her and took a step forward.
Then, Claire spoke.
“One life for another. Would that be enough?”
Sierra froze.
“If I die, will you let my son go?”
A chill raced up Sierra’s spine. Her instincts screamed at her, and she turned back to stop her–but she was already too late.
Claire had come prepared. She pulled a fruit knife from her pocket and, without hesitation, stabbed herself in the chest.
Blood soaked through her shirt in seconds.
Screams tore through the crowd. No one had expected her to actually go through with it. People stumbled back, terrified.
Autumn and the others gasped, frozen in place.
Sierra was the first to move. She rushed forward, pressing her hands to Claire’s wound.
“Someone call a doctor, now!” she shouted.
Claire didn’t seem to feel the pain. Her bloodied hands gripped Sierra’s arm, eyes full of desperation.
“Please… save my son..
By the time Johnathan arrived, Sierra had already given her statement to the police.
The whole thing had exploded online. Videos were everywhere. Johnathan had rushed to suppress the trending tags the moment he got the call, but the footage had already spread far and wide.
Autumn, Erwin, and the others were also being questioned as witnesses.
Chapter 306 Blood and Blame
Johnathan waited nearby. When it was over, he stepped forward.
“You okay?”
He studied her expression, watching her closely.
Sierra shook her head. Tm fine”
But she wasn’t. Not really.
She wasn’t afraid–just stunned. Shaken.
She hadn’t expected a mother to far for her child.
د
48 Pearls
She looked down at her arm. The blood was gone now, wiped clean. Only faint bruises remained–finger marks from Claire’s last desperate grip. Even at death’s door, she had only cared about Azure.
Sierra couldn’t help the pang in her chest.
I’ve never felt that kind of love.
Professor Martin had been alerted as well. He’d just finished giving his own statement when they all gathered back in his hospital room.
He looked at them and shook his head.
“How did it come to this?”
Claire’s stabbing hadn’t been for show. She’d really meant to die. She was still in the OR, fighting for her life.
“There’s something off about this,” Johnathan said quietly.
Sierra nodded. “They were dead set on blaming me. Said I was the one who could save Azure.”
Someone had put that idea in their heads.
“But hardly anyone knew about it,” Autumn said.
The matter was confidential. They’d all signed NDAs. She hadn’t even told her parents.
“Still, they’re just so pitiful,” Autumn added under her breath.
“Go home, all of you,” Professor Martin said gently. “Stay out of the spotlight for a while.”
His years of experience told him this was far from over.
Autumn and the others shared a look, then nodded and left.
Once the room quieted, Professor Martin turned to Sierra and said, “Sierra, I’d like a word with Johnathan. Just the two of us.”
Sierra nodded and quietly stepped outside.
