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 copsed against the wall,pletely 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 uncontrobly. "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 madest 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 yed, confusion on their faces turned to horror.


    On the screen, Lauren''s blood-soaked figure could be seen dragging herself out of the vi. Then, Marilyn


    already sixty years old-carried her through the storm, step by step, into the pouring rain.


    Alice gasped, pping 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 de.


    "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 nkly out the window, her hands sped 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 nothingpared to the pain in her chest.


    She stared nkly at the stark white ceiling as memories from the night before flooded her brain-Alice''s


    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 Bets'' 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.


    Justst night, she''d bashed her over the head with a ss ashuray without a


    shred of mercy. Now she was ying 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,bing 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 lookedpletely rested. If anything, they must''ve gotten a full night''s sleep and only just realized she was gone this morning.


    43 Thu, Mar 27


    The Heiress Revived from the Ashes