Chapter 4

The call was suddenly cut off, and no one answered when I called back.

My heart skipped a beat.

I remembered that my phone was connected to the real-time GPS on Poppy's watch.

I immediately pulled out my IV needle and rushed out.

I found Poppy by the lake in the park near the hospital.

A woman was dangling her in the air, cursing.

"Your mom is a psycho! I just got a new perm for work, and she thought I was seducing your dad!"

"Firing me wasn't enough, she didn't even give me the severance pay I deserved, and my health insurance was cut off. Without my salary, I couldn't scrape together the money to renew my insurance, and I couldn't afford my mom's nursing fees. She just died right in front of my eyes!"

"She made me lose my family, so I'm going to throw her daughter in to drown, too!"

Poppy's little face was pale with fear, and she couldn't even cry.

I held up my phone and rushed over.

"Put the child down!"

"I've already recorded what you're doing. If I hand this over to the police, you'll lose more than just your job!"

Actually, my phone was already dead. I was just bluffing.

But thankfully, the woman believed me, startled by my sudden threat.

That seemed to bring her back to her senses.

She bitterly cursed me for being a busybody, put Poppy down, and ran away.

Poppy cried and hugged my leg.

"Ms. Weil, she pinched me. It hurts so much..."

I rolled up her sleeves, and sure enough, there were several bruises on her arm.

After all, she was a child I had raised for a few years, and my heart still softened.

"Poppy, how could you run off on your own? It's so dangerous!"

She wiped her tears.

"Didn't you say you were ignoring me? I thought you wouldn't come..."

"But you used to be my student, and right now you're still technically my stepdaughter. If you're in danger, I'll definitely come."

"I remember your mom is also in your emergency contacts. Did you call her?"

Poppy shook her head and whispered.

"She lied to me. I didn't want to call her."

"And I didn't run off. Daddy said you were sick in the hospital. I wanted to see you, but Mommy wouldn't let me. Still, I wanted to apologize to you."

"Mommy's best friend works at this hospital and has brought me here a few times. She was the one who told Mommy you were having a baby."

"But I didn't know which room you were in, and then I ran into that woman. She said she would take me to find you..."

I immediately caught the key point.

"So, your mom knew I was pregnant all along?"

"Poppy, what was the secret you wanted to tell me yesterday? Did you really want to send me that creepy doll yourself?"

Before she could answer, a figure rushed over.

Seeing the bruises on Poppy's arm, Veronica raised her hand and slapped me to the ground.

"You bitch! Wasn't framing my daughter enough? You brought her out here and hurt her on purpose?!"

"Were you going to sell her to make room for the kids you'll have later? I'll kill you!"

My body was incredibly weak, and I was no match for a furious Veronica.

She beat me like a maniac, and Poppy cried in terror.

"Mommy, stop it! Don't hit Ms. Weil..."

Seeing that my mouth was bleeding from the beating, Griffin frowned and pulled Veronica up.

"Enough. You've scared your daughter to tears. Hurry up and take her to the hospital for a checkup!"

Still unsatisfied, Veronica kicked me hard in the stomach.

"If you dare touch my daughter again, I'll kill you!"

She picked Poppy up and left.

Griffin wanted to help me up, but when he saw Veronica's resentful glare, he pulled his hand back.

And because of that kick, I felt the wound on my stomach tear open abruptly.

What followed was a heart-wrenching pain.

Blood gushed out in waves, dyeing my snow-white shirt red.

I called out to him helplessly.

"Griffin, my surgery wound tore open. Can you take me to the hospital too?"

Veronica immediately glared at him, her eyes practically shooting fire.

"I'm wearing high heels, not knives. She's just jealous and putting on a show with red ink! If she can do something like taking a child away, what's faking an injury?!"

"Griffin, don't forget what you promised me. There are still over ten days left of our fall trip. I've made up my mind, it starts right now."

"For these next few days, you have to stay only with us. If you dare choose her today, I'll jump into the lake with Poppy and drown us right now, so we won't be an eyesore to you!"

I defended myself weakly.

"I didn't..."

"Enough!"

Griffin looked at me in disappointment.

"Nora, when you touched Poppy, didn't you think about how terrible Veronica would feel? Using this kind of method out of jealousy is truly shameless."

"You'd better pray Poppy is okay. Stay away from my daughter from now on."

They got into the car. Poppy cried and banged on the window, as if she wanted to get out.

But Veronica yanked her back.

The car drove away right in front of me.

And I completely lost consciousness...

***

Half an hour later, after the checkup, the doctor said Poppy was fine.

Only then did Griffin breathe a sigh of relief.

He thought of how I was beaten by Veronica, and that shirt almost entirely soaked in blood.

He felt inexplicably uneasy.

Was that... really red ink?

The next second, Connie appeared with a pale face and frantically grabbed him.

"Mr. Prescott, thank goodness you're here."

"The wound from Nora's miscarriage surgery tore open severely, and she lost too much blood. She's in emergency surgery on the fourth floor right now..."