Upon hearing Grace’s plea, Carl realized that the situation was not good.
He remembered pushing her unintentionally earlier. Could that action have caused trouble?
As he opened the door, Carl indeed saw Grace leaning against the wall, clutching her stomach.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked coldly.
Grace winced in pain, furrowing her brows. One hand covered her abdomen, while the other reached out to Carl.
“Please help me, take me to the bedroom. I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my stomach…”
Grace’s voice was weak, and her body seemed to slide down slowly, like a puddle of mud.
Carl thought something had really happened to her and quickly reached out to support her.
Although he disliked Grace, he couldn’t ignore her in this critical moment.
Feeling the warmth transmitted through Carl’s palm, Grace felt a sense of joy in her heart.
Since moving to the Waters family over ten days ago, this was the first time she had felt tenderness from Carl.
“Thank you.”
Grace weakly thanked him and leaned her head on Carl’s shoulder.
Soon, Carl helped Grace to the bedroom to rest. He looked at her feeble appearance and coolly suggested, “Since your stomach is uncomfortable, just lie down on the bed.”
He didn’t even consider taking her to the hospital.
In Carl’s mind, this woman was no longer within his sphere of concern, and even the child couldn’t bind him.
“I understand. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Grace forced a smile and pretended to whimper, “Carl, why don’t you go downstairs and have dinner? Your mother is waiting for you.”
Unmoved by Carl’s cold response, she said, “I’m not worried about you, and I have my own matters to attend to.”
After leaving Grace’s room, Carl planned to have a few bites to eat before continuing to sleep.
Since Nana’s disappearance, Carl had lost hope in life. The despair in his heart made him want to live like a walking corpse.
As he entered the dining room, Carl was about to sit down when he noticed his mother put down her fork.
“Grace? Why are you alone downstairs?” Mrs. Waters asked in confusion.
“She’s experiencing stomach pain and is resting in the bedroom,” Carl replied as if it were an unrelated matter.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Waters couldn’t sit still.
“Are you so heartless? Grace is feeling unwell, and you still have the mind to eat dinner?”
Mrs. Waters reproached him and hurriedly ran up the stairs.
However, when she reached the middle of the staircase, she suddenly turned around and looked at Carl sitting in the dining room.
“Aren’t you coming up with me? Even if you don’t like Grace, I still want to hold my grandchild soon!”
Mrs. Waters called Carl over, and the two of them entered Grace’s room.
Seeing Grace whimpering under the covers, Mrs. Waters grew increasingly worried. She held Grace’s hand and asked, “Grace, why did you suddenly have stomach pain?”
Facing Mrs. Waters’ concern, Grace smiled and shook her head. “It’s nothing, Mrs. Waters. I might have strained my back accidentally. I just need some rest.”
As she finished speaking, she shifted her gaze to Carl, who stood beside Mrs. Waters.
Now that Mrs. Waters was present, Grace understood that Carl wouldn’t dare to refuse any request she made.
She moved her lips and softly requested, “Carl, would you stay and keep me company?”
“You’re in pain, and I can’t help. What’s the use of staying with you?” Carl heartlessly rejected Grace, having seen through her petty schemes long ago.
However, Mrs. Waters frowned and scolded Carl, patting his hand, “What are you saying? Grace is feeling unwell, what’s wrong with keeping her company?”
“Then you stay with her. I’m not good at taking care of people,” Carl responded indifferently and went downstairs to have dinner without looking back.
Watching him disappear at the doorway, Grace felt both angry and annoyed.
If the person lying in bed was Nana, Carl would never be so cold-hearted.
But she couldn’t complain too much, so she could only sigh helplessly, “Mrs. Waters, what did I do wrong to make Carl hate me so much?”
Seeing Grace with teary eyes, Mrs. Waters felt that the Waters family was in the wrong.
“I’m sorry, Grace. It’s my fault for not raising him properly. I, as his mother, also bear responsibility.”
Mrs. Waters sat down by the bedside and sighed, “Actually, Carl is kind-hearted. He’s just bewitched by that vixen.”
Regardless of Carl’s stance and attitude, at least Mrs. Waters stood by Grace’s side from beginning to end.
Grace felt relieved, knowing that she had to make good use of this old woman in order to secure Mrs. Waters’ position.
“Mrs. Waters, don’t blame Carl. Nana is missing now, and he must be worried, which is why he’s in a bad mood.”
Every time Mrs. Waters scolded her son, Grace would defend Carl.
Mrs. Waters fell for it every time, thinking that a woman who was understanding and patient like Grace was the perfect choice for the Waters family’s daughter-in-law.
She looked at Grace nervously and spoke with a caring tone, “Let’s ignore him. I will take you to the hospital for a check-up. If you need to protect the baby, you can rest in the hospital for a few days.”
Initially, Grace was acting, but upon hearing Mrs. Waters’ plan, she suddenly felt uneasy.
Panic flashed in her eyes, but she pretended to be calm and said, “It’s not necessary, Mrs. Waters. I just strained my back earlier. I’ll rest at home, and I’ll be fine.”
“How can that be? We can’t take it lightly during the first three months of pregnancy!”
Mrs. Waters valued her future grandchild greatly and insisted on taking Grace to see a doctor.
“It’s okay, really. I want to observe at home for one night,” Grace hastily sat up, finding an excuse to stall, “I heard on the news that there’s a high incidence of flu recently. I’m afraid of going to the hospital and accidentally getting infected. That would be even more troublesome, right?”
“Well, if you feel unwell in the middle of the night, make sure to wake me up!” Mrs. Waters was convinced and worriedly instructed, completely unaware of Grace’s ulterior motives.
Although Grace had tampered with the doctor’s report in collusion with the physician, she was afraid of a new doctor taking over the night shift.
She feared exposing her pregnancy and didn’t want to lose Mrs. Waters’ support.
Later, Mrs. Waters brought dinner to Grace, watched her finish it, and then instructed the servant to stew nourishing soup.
After taking care of her future daughter-in-law for a while, Mrs. Waters saw Carl lock himself in his room after finishing dinner, and she became infuriated.
“Bang!”
She forcefully pushed open the door and angrily confronted Carl, giving him an ultimatum, “Carl, I don’t care if you’re willing or not, and I don’t want to hear any excuses. Since Grace’s pregnancy is not obvious yet, I command you to marry her as soon as possible!”
Upon hearing his mother’s decree, Carl, who was nestled in his blanket, lifted his head.
He saw Mrs. Waters raging, but he lazily replied, “The woman I love is Nana. Since you like Grace, why don’t you marry her? I have no objections!”
Brushing off his mother, Carl turned over and continued sleeping, completely ignoring her loud quarrels in his ear.