“Please calm down and listen to me slowly,” Grace said softly to continue her alliance with Mrs. Waters, resorting to gentle tactics and trying everything to deceive her.
“The child is indeed alive, but I sent her somewhere else,” Grace said, observing Mrs. Waters’ expression.
This news shocked Mrs. Waters, and her emotions regarding her granddaughter being alive were neither joyful nor disappointed.
Currently, Mrs. Waters was most worried about Carl. She feared that consecutive blows would break him, leaving him increasingly desolate.
“Where did you send the child? And why did you do this?” Mrs. Waters impatiently asked, wondering if there was a connection between the fire incident and the car accident with Grace.
If the facts were true, Mrs. Waters, who used to like Grace, would never allow such a treacherous woman to marry into the Waters family.
Grace could be ruthless and cruel to others, but one day, her poisonous fangs would also bite them.
However, Grace had already anticipated this mindset. She blinked her eyes pitifully, pretending to be weak as she explained, “Please don’t misunderstand me. I truly had nothing to do with Nana’s car accident, and I was completely unaware of the fire incident at her house a month ago.”
“But I cannot deny that I took Janelle away. I was afraid that Nana and Carl would reconcile, so I asked a friend to track her. Who knew she would have a car accident on the way?”
Grace spoke with an air of certainty, and her innocent and aggrieved expression was well acted.
Mrs. Waters furrowed her brow, half-believing and half-doubting as she continued to question, “Is what you’re saying true? So many things have happened in the Lawson family recently, and they have nothing to do with you?”
“Of course! Even if I had wicked intentions, I wouldn’t have the courage!” Grace nodded vigorously. “My friend saw Nana’s car accident and quickly got out of the car to check. They found the driver dead, Nana barely conscious, and the child crying loudly in the car.”
At this point, Mrs. Waters guessed the rest of the story.
She glanced at Grace, probing as she asked, “So you took the child away and secretly sent her somewhere else?”
Grace nodded again, admitting it with a remorseful expression. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want Carl and Nana to have any connection, including their child. That’s why I sent Janelle to the welfare home.”
After hearing this, Mrs. Waters suddenly understood and didn’t question Grace’s explanation too much.
“So that’s what happened…” Mrs. Waters responded thoughtfully and sighed, blaming Grace, “You acted on your own without discussing such a significant matter with me! After all, the child is my granddaughter. How could you send her to a welfare home as an orphan?”
Seeing that Mrs. Waters didn’t blame her excessively, Grace felt somewhat relieved.
As long as Mrs. Waters continued to support her as she did before, Grace would find a way to handle the child’s situation more appropriately.
“What do you think we should do? Carl’s mental state is so poor right now. If we bring the child back, will it help him recover?” Grace pretended to consider Carl’s well-being, but in her heart, she was contemplating whether she could use Janelle to her advantage.
Although she didn’t want to be a stepmother, in the short term, it seemed like a good solution to bring Janelle back from the welfare home with Mrs. Waters’ support.
Upon hearing Grace’s suggestion, Mrs. Waters pondered for a moment before speaking, “You have a point. Currently, Carl lacks a pillar of support. Although he deeply loved Nana, the child is the continuation of his bloodline.”
“Then let’s bring the child back home, but we need to come up with a plan to pretend that we coincidentally saw her at the welfare home. We must not let Carl know that I made such a foolish mistake.”
Grace obediently discussed with Mrs. Waters, realizing that she still had to rely on Mrs. Waters in critical moments.
“Alright, for the sake of giving Carl a glimpse of hope in life again, we can only use the child as a bargaining chip now.”
Mrs. Waters agreed, and they began to discuss how to stage a self-directed play.
That night, Mrs. Waters received a call from the driver, informing her that Carl was still unwilling to leave the cemetery and was waiting there. She immediately took Grace and went to find him.
The road to the suburban cemetery was long and dark, with the whistling wind outside the car windows piercing their ears.
Mrs. Waters trembled as she looked outside and shivered. She had lived for more than half a lifetime, but this was the first time she had come to a cemetery in the middle of the night.
Grace, on the other hand, didn’t react much. At this moment, she was preoccupied with her own thoughts, calculating the pros and cons of being a stepmother to Janelle and how much benefit she could gain from it.
“Madam, Miss Panchak, we have arrived at the cemetery.”
Just when both of them were lost in their thoughts, the driver stopped the car at the entrance of the cemetery.
“So fast…,” Mrs. Waters said with a trembling voice, looking at the pitch-black darkness outside the car window, feeling an inexplicable tightening of her pores.
“Let’s get off the car. Take your time,” Grace, as sensible as always, assisted Mrs. Waters out of the car, and under the driver’s guidance, they walked towards the depths of the cemetery once again.
Soon, illuminated by the flashlight, they saw Carl sitting in front of three tombstones, maintaining the same posture as during the day, motionless.
“Carl!”
Mrs. Waters called out to Carl’s back, but she found that he didn’t react at all.
Something didn’t seem right…
In an instant, Mrs. Waters was terrified and let go of Grace’s hand, running towards Carl.
Fortunately, Carl was breathing normally, albeit with an abnormally cold body.
The temperature was low at night, and Mrs. Waters was afraid he would catch a cold, so she quickly took off her coat.
However, just as she was about to drape it over Carl, a low, cold voice sounded.
“Take your clothes back. I’m not cold.”
Carl’s heart was as lifeless as ashes. He didn’t want any interaction with Mrs. Waters, let alone accept her care.
“Carl, stop being mad at me. I know you’re hurting, and I’m not feeling good either…”
Mrs. Waters sighed heavily, pretending to repent as she squatted beside Carl.
“You blame me, hate me, resent me-I know it all. But I lost my granddaughter too, and these days have been hard for me.”
“And Nana, although I didn’t support you being together in the past and wasn’t particularly fond of her, I never wished any harm upon her. After all, she is the mother of my granddaughter.”
“Now that things have come to this, can you let go of Nana? Torturing yourself like this every day would only make Nana sad if she saw you from heaven.”
…
Mrs. Waters kept persuading Carl, becoming increasingly emotional, pretending to shed tears.
However, Carl remained indifferent. He stared silently at the tombstones of Nana and Janelle, as if his body had been emptied of its soul.
After about half an hour, Mrs. Waters realized that she had spoken until her mouth was dry, but Carl showed no signs of being moved.
She felt anxious and frustrated, only thinking about how to convince her son to come back home.
After all, the cemetery was a gloomy and terrifying place. Mrs. Waters didn’t want to stay here for another minute.