Chapter 3

Reading the note, Grace felt a sharp pain in her heart. A five-year-old should have been mischievous at that age, but Clara showed a heartbreaking kind of maturity. "Clara's gone? Let's hurry and find her!" She had just gotten to her feet when Ethan shoved her. "Grace, stop acting! You definitely said something to Clara that made her run away! It's no wonder you were acting weird yesterday. Turns out you never gave up on using Clara's bone marrow to save that jerk's daughter!" The little boy's eyes were red, filled with hatred as he glared at Grace. Adrian picked up his frantic son. His cold eyes no longer held any feeling. "Grace, my children are my bottom line. If anything happens to Clara, I'll tear Jesse to pieces myself." He had wanted to do this for a long time. But Grace always threatened him with her own life, telling him that if he so much as laid a finger on Jesse, she would die right in front of him. In fact, she really had done that. For Jesse's sake, she had harmed herself and attempted suicide countless times until Adrian no longer dared to touch Jesse at all. Grace didn't explain. She knew that even if she tried, they wouldn't believe her. Right now, finding Clara mattered most. Her silence made Adrian uneasy. In the past, the second he mentioned Jesse, she would fly into a rage, scream at him, smash things, and curse him. But today, she was weirdly calm. He feared she might hurt herself again. Before leaving, he reminded the housekeeper to keep an eye on her and call him right away if something happened. In the car, no one spoke. Adrian finally broke the silence. "You shouldn't have shoved her. She's still your mother." Ethan pressed his lips together, his eyes filled with a pain no five-year-old should have to bear. "A mother? She never treated me and Clara like we were her kids." She hated him and Clara. Grace had screamed at them more than once, cursed them, and even resented that they existed. He had once been just like Clara, begging Grace for love. But all he ever got in return were two cold words, "You're disgusting". Up front, the assistant took a call. He turned around to Adrian. "Mr. Donovan, we found Ms. Clara. She's at the hospital and about to undergo a bone marrow transplant..." He hesitated, which Adrian immediately noticed. Under Adrian's glare, the assistant added, "Mrs. Donovan is at the hospital too..." ... Thanks to Sabrina, Grace learned where Clara was. When Grace arrived at the hospital and rushed to the operating room door, she saw Clara. Next to the child stood a woman with long, wavy hair. "Nina, if I save Amelia, does that mean Mommy won't leave us?" "Of course. As long as you use your bone marrow to save my daughter, your mommy won't divorce your daddy. Donating bone marrow is just like drawing a little blood. You don't want to lose your mommy, right?" Nina Snyder was coaxing the five-year-old girl—Clara. A bone marrow transplant was no small thing for an adult, let alone a five-year-old. But that didn't matter to Nina. All she cared about was her own daughter staying alive. If Grace's daughter died, so be it. "Stop right there!" "Grace?" Nina turned around and paled at the sight of Grace walking toward her. It was as if she had just seen a ghost in broad daylight. Grace was still alive? "It's okay if they take my blood or bone marrow for Amelia. I'll do whatever they say. Mommy, please don't leave us..." Clara's voice was choked with sobs. Afraid of making Grace angry, she only dared to tug her sleeve. Grace felt as though her heart had been crushed. She knelt down, gently wiping Clara's tears. "Clara, I'm not leaving you. But I have something important to do right now. Can you close your eyes and count to 100... No, let's make it 500, okay?" Then, she muttered, "Will it be too hard for a five-year-old to count to 500?" Clara heard Grace's quiet murmur. She immediately shook her head. "That's not hard at all, Mommy. I'm not dumb. I'm really smart!" She was afraid Grace would think she was just a silly child. But what scared her more was that Grace might stop being this gentle with her. "I know you're the best. Let's start counting." Grace patted Clara's head, then balled her fists and stretched her muscles out. "Mommy, will you be gone when I finish counting to 500?" Clara asked softly, her tiny voice trembling with tears. "No, I promise. Pinky swear," Grace said, hooking her pinky with the young girl's. Clara shook her head. "I believe you, Mommy." Then, she hugged her doll, turned away, and started to count in her sweet voice. "One, two..." Grace put her headphones over Clara's ears and got up to tie her hair into a high ponytail. Then, she grabbed Nina by the hair and yanked her forward. She slapped Nina hard across the face, and her cheek swelled up right away. "Grace, how dare you hit me!" "What? I need to make an appointment to slap you?" The 18-year-old Grace was bold and fearless. She didn't hesitate to put this shameless woman in her place. She kept slapping her again and again, showing no mercy. Jesse Blake arrived in a hurry. He saw Nina beaten within an inch of her life and pinned under Grace, who was seated on a nearby chair with one foot on Nina's back. Grace's eyes held a regal allure, like a proud red rose. This was the old Grace he remembered. That untouchable, arrogant Grace he had once knocked off her pedestal.