?Chapter 1089:


    The household staff sprang into action, rushing after her retreating figure.


    She darted across the room like a terrified animal. Without warning, she changed direction and headed straight toward Hadley!


    “Mrs. Scott!”


    “Hadley, look out!”


    Hadley stood frozen in shock. She barely managed to brace herself as the woman crashed into her. Her heart pounding, she asked, “Are you hurt?”


    This distraught woman was truly Eric’s birth mother?


    The staff surrounded them quickly. The woman struggled briefly against their reaching hands but then grew still when she focused on Hadley’s face.


    A smile appeared on her lips. “It’s you. It’s really you!”


    Hadley blinked in surprise. As she studied the woman’s face, a memory stirred within her.


    “You… you are… I know you.”


    This was the same woman who had collided with Hadley at the hospital several days ago!


    Just like today, she had rushed straight into Hadley without warning or exnation.


    “You… I know you. You’re a good person…” The woman gripped Hadley’s hand tightly, as if she had just found her savior. “We’ve met before… You were so kind.”


    Hadley blinked, taken aback by what the woman said. She couldn’t understand why this woman trusted her so much despite meeting her only once. One look at her, though, and it was obvious that she wasn’t mentally stable.


    Hadley gave her a slow nod and didn’t pull away. She held the woman’s hand with reassuring firmness. “Yes, we’ve met again. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”


    The woman cast a wary nce around, and her voice dropped to a frightened whisper. “I don’t know those people… They’re trying to take me. I’m scared…”


    “Then…” Hadley nced at Eric and then gave her hand a soft, calming pat. “I’ll stay right here with you. Alright?”


    Without even a second’s thought, the woman nodded repeatedly. “Okay!”


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    She held on to Hadley tighter, inching closer until her body was pressed against her side.


    “Let’s go.” Hadley held her hand and slowly led her up the stairs.


    At the top, a maid stood ready, waiting to guide them to a bedroom.


    Once inside, Hadley eased the woman onto the sofa and stepped away briefly to get ab. When she returned, she began untangling the woman’s messy, knotted hair. She then packed the hair behind her head and wove it into a neat braid.


    As Hadley leaned in, she noticed streaks of dirt on the woman’s face. It wasn’t clear how she’d gotten so dirty.


    Without a word, the maid stepped forward and gave Hadley a damp towel. Hadley collected it and began gently wiping the woman’s face. Bit by bit, the grime came off, and her real skin came into view. Hadley froze for a moment. The woman’s beauty was breathtaking, and her face stirred a strange sense of familiarity in her.


    Precisely, Eric looked just like her. The soft, feminine touches in his appearance suddenly made perfect sense. He had inherited them from his mother.


    Judging by Eric’s age, his mother should be in her fifties, but this woman looked like she was in her forties.


    What had happened to her?


    Hadley’s thoughts raced. Eric had grown up without his parents. He seemed to hold some resentment toward his father, and now it was clear that his mother wasn’t mentally stable.


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