"Grandma... is surrounded by those people outside."

"What’s going on?" June Evans asked.

Ms. Archer pointed outside. "A little while ago, Grandma said she wanted to take the two kids out to play, so we went. But as soon as we got out there, several people showed up and surrounded her. They started saying a bunch of nonsense, and... and they said Mr. Shaw isn’t coming back."

"Grandma got so angry she started fighting with them. I had the two children with me, so I was too scared to get involved. I had no choice but to come back and get you."

The words had barely left Ms. Archer’s lips when Sophia Shaw dashed outside.

But outside, Grandma was nowhere to be seen.

"You Shermans! What did you do with my mother?"

June Evans, arriving a moment later, lunged forward, grabbed Ronan Sherman by the collar, and roared.

She shook him so hard he staggered, popping several buttons from his shirt.

"Are you crazy!" Selina Zelia yelled, running over to help him.

Sharon Sherman and the other Shermans also closed in.

"I dare anyone to come closer!" Sophia Shaw snatched a stick off the ground and swept it at the crowd.

Afraid of being hit, they all jumped back.

June Evans gritted her teeth. "If you don’t hand over my mother today, I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

When June Evans was furious, she was terrifying—vicious enough to tear someone apart.

Ronan Sherman had suffered at her hands before and was intimidated by her, cowering with fear.

From the edge of the crowd, Selina Zelia shouted, "What would we want with an old lady? If she died on us, you’d just try to blackmail us!"

"But you were all surrounding her just now!" Ms. Archer yelled. "You said Mr. Shaw was never coming back and that she had no son to see to her funeral!"

"And you said... you said her own granddaughter’s husband was the one who got him locked up."

Ms. Archer pointed at Sharon Sherman. "And you! You showed Grandma a video!"

She strode forward, snatched Sharon’s phone, and showed it to Sophia Shaw.

In the video, Vincent Grant was holding Joanna Sherman’s hand as they walked along a riverbank. In the distance, a person could be seen carrying fishing gear.

Considering the timing, this must have been when Vincent Grant was fishing with the director of the Bureau of Economic Security.

So, Joanna Sherman had been there too.

To go fishing with the director, Vincent had cast his promise to Grandma aside, all while flaunting his relationship with Joanna Sherman!

Sharon Sherman tried to snatch her phone back but failed.

She gave up and tossed her head defiantly. "It’s not like I faked the video. My sister and Vincent were together in the first place! If Sophia Shaw can’t keep her own husband in line, who’s to blame?"

Ms. Archer was so furious she wanted to slap Sharon Sherman across the face.

"Your whole family is morally bankrupt!"

"He’s not even divorced, and you two are already acting like a couple. How desperate can you be to become a homewrecker!"

Sophia Shaw had no time for this. "Grandma? Where on earth did Grandma go!"

"She yelled at us like a lunatic and then ran off. Who knows where she went," Selina Zelia said nonchalantly.

"You bastards! You’re the ones who upset her and made her run away!"

June Evans loved the old woman as if she were her own mother. The thought of someone bullying her made her eyes redden with rage.

She raised her fist, ready to strike again.

Sophia Shaw stopped her. "Aunt June, we need to find Grandma now!"

"Grandma’s legs aren’t strong. If she falls, it’ll be a disaster!"

Only then did June Evans lower her fist, forcefully shoving Ronan Sherman away.

Sophia Shaw told Ms. Archer to take the two children home, then ran off with June Evans.

The two of them ran for a long time but found no trace of the old woman.

"How can this be?" June Evans panted, her hands on her hips. "Grandma usually has a hard time just going for a walk. There’s no way she could’ve run so far that we can’t catch up."

Sophia Shaw closed her eyes. In a flash, she remembered seeing a crowd gathered at an intersection they had passed.

’Could it be...?’

Sophia Shaw spun around and sprinted toward the crowd.

When she reached the intersection, the crowd was just beginning to disperse.

Sophia immediately saw her grandmother lying lifelessly on the ground. She was on her side, one arm outstretched, as crimson blood slowly pooled from beneath her head...

"Grandma!"

The moment she saw her grandmother, Sophia felt as if her body was being ripped apart.

Shattered into a million pieces!

She threw herself forward, heedless of everything...

「Three hours later.」

「The hospital emergency room.」

"The patient isn’t out of the woods yet. She needs to be monitored in the ICU for a while."

The doctor walked out, removed his mask, and spoke with a grim expression.

After running out, Grandma had been hit by a car.

The impact was to her head.

Her life hung in the balance.

The old woman was slowly wheeled out of the operating room and toward the ICU.

The woman who had been so full of life and laughter just a few hours ago now lay on the gurney, completely still.

Her eyes were shut tight, and her aged face was drained of all color.

There wasn’t... a single sign of life.

Sophia’s heart shattered with a pain so intense she clenched her fists tightly.

Her gaze clung to the gurney until it disappeared into the ICU, taking her grandmother completely from sight.

June Evans crouched on the floor, beside herself with grief and sobbing uncontrollably.

"It’s all my fault. I didn’t take good care of Mom."

"I should be the one to die."

June Evans’s parents rushed in from out of town, pulling her to her feet and asking what had happened.

After a long silence, Sophia Shaw quietly asked a passing nurse, "What time is it?"

The nurse glanced at the wall clock. "Six o’clock."

"Six o’clock." Sophia Shaw closed her eyes in anguish.

’The competition ended in such a brutal way.’

’Those people... they’re so ruthless!’

After a while, Sophia dragged herself over to June Evans. "Aunt June, you should go home. I’ll stay and watch over her."

"But you..." June Evans looked at Sophia, her eyes bloodshot with worry.

"I’ll be fine," Sophia said weakly. "Please take care of the two children at home."

"Then... all right."

She didn’t want to leave, but she couldn’t neglect the children.

"Tomorrow..."

"Uncle will be back tomorrow," Sophia reassured her.

’They got what they wanted. They won’t give Uncle any more trouble.’

After June Evans left, Sophia Shaw sat quietly on a chair outside the ICU.

She sat as still as a statue, unmoving.

Her eyes remained closed.

An unknown amount of time passed before the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.

"Faye."

"Faye."

Several familiar faces appeared.

Miles Grant and Eleanor Crawford had arrived, along with Old Mrs. Grant and Julian Grant.

A pair of warm hands immediately enveloped her ice-cold one, holding it tight.

"Faye, how’s Grandma?"

Eleanor Crawford had called her a little while earlier, so Sophia had already told her about the car accident.

Sophia’s vacant gaze slowly focused on the face before her. Old Mrs. Grant’s concerned eyes finally managed to pull a sliver of her consciousness back to the present.

She called out in a low voice, "Grandma."

Her voice was hoarse and raspy.

Faint and weak.

Seeing her in this state, Old Mrs. Grant’s heart ached for her.

She gently stroked Sophia’s hair. "It’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay. Your grandmother will wake up safe and sound."

Eleanor Crawford sighed softly.

Julian Grant asked, "Have they found the driver? What did he say?"

"Grandma ran out too suddenly. He couldn’t brake in time."

The driver didn’t flee the scene, and the police had already given her the preliminary report.

She had seen the surveillance footage herself; it was just as the driver had described.

"Why was she in such a sudden hurry?" Miles Grant asked.

Sophia didn’t have the strength to speak, nor could she bring herself to explain.

It was too painful.

Eleanor Crawford nudged Miles Grant, signaling him not to ask questions that might upset Sophia further.

Old Mrs. Grant sat down to Sophia’s left, and Eleanor Crawford sat close on her right.

They both put their arms around her, one on each side.

Sophia’s body was terribly cold, and she remained utterly silent.

Old Mrs. Grant’s heart leaped in alarm. She exchanged a worried glance with Eleanor Crawford.

"Where’s Vincent?" Julian Grant quickly realized that the one person who should have been there was missing.

He turned to Miles Grant. "Contact him immediately!"

Just as Miles Grant took out his phone, two figures appeared down the hallway.

Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman came running over, one after the other.