Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 155

"Feeling okay?"

Two bodyguards asked Janice first.

Janice didn't answer them; she was busy coddling the doll in her arms.

Lucinda wasn't sure if this woman was her birth mother, but she had seen her twice in her dreams. Seeing her treat the doll like a child really tore at her heart, so she stepped forward and helped her up again. Janice, being held by Lucinda, looked up at her.

Lucinda looked back.

"Can you check if she's hurt?"

The two bodyguards didn't dare touch Janice, and she wouldn't let them either.

They felt like they recognized the young woman in front of them but couldn't put a finger on where they'd seen her before.

Only when they saw her fancy car did they realize that Janice was out of it. They had been following her and had seen her narrowly escape being hit by a car several times.

That softened their attitudes toward her.

"Baby."

Janice suddenly grabbed Lucinda's hand, holding it tightly, as if letting go meant Lucinda would fly away.

Stefan stayed silent.

Was this woman the one Lucy saw in her dreams?

Was she Lucy's birth mother?

Looking closer, they didn't look alike at all.

"Your hand is bleeding."

Janice was gripping Lucinda's hand so tightly that Lucinda finally noticed her skin was abraded and bleeding.

Lucinda immediately crouched down to check her legs.

Luckily, her legs were fine.

She had just scraped her hands when she fell.

"Ouch."

Janice saw the blood and screamed, then fainted.

Thankfully, Lucinda was there to prevent her from hitting the ground.

"Janice."

The two bodyguards were scared out of their wits. One of them said, "Janice is terrified of blood." "Take her to the hospital."

Lucinda made the decision decisively, and Stefan helped her carry the unconscious Janice into the car.

The two bodyguards didn't have a car, so they hailed a taxi and rushed to the hospital, calling Ethan on the way.

Ethan was still stuck outside the Martinez family's house, waiting for a servant to inform Trenton.

He received a call from the bodyguards, informing him that his mother had left the hotel and almost got hit by a car. Although there was no serious damage, her hand was injured and bleeding, and she had a fear of blood, so she was being taken to the hospital.

Ethan immediately left without meeting Owen and rushed to the hospital in Pinehurst.

By the time Ethan arrived at the hospital, Janice's hand had already been treated. It had been cleaned, disinfected, the bleeding stopped, and bandaged.

She had also woken up from her fainting spell.

As soon as she woke up, she cried for her baby.

Lucinda quickly handed her the doll.

"Baby, baby."

Ignoring the pain in her hands, Janice clung to the doll, pressing her face against the doll's face, calling for her baby over and over again.

Seeing her like this, Lucinda was extremely distressed and wanted to cry.

Before Janice fainted, she had been calling her baby while holding her hand. Lucinda thought Janice had remembered her, but when she woke up, she was calling the doll baby again.

Regardless of whether this woman was her birth mother, just seeing her like this made Lucinda's heart ache as if it were being cut with a knife.

Stefan pulled her into his arms, whispering comfortingly, "Let's wait for her son to come, then we can talk properly. Whether she's your mother or not, you should do a DNA test since you've seen her twice in your dreams."

Lucinda nodded silently.

If this woman really was her mother, Lucinda's eyes got red.

When she saw that woman in her dreams, Lucinda felt her pain.

Seeing her in real life only made that pain more intense.

A respectful voice came from outside the door.

Then the door to the hospital room was gently pushed open.

Ethan was in a hurry but very cautious, afraid to scare his mother.

This was the first time he had taken his mother on a trip, and she had an accident.

Luckily, the driver was able to brake in time; otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Stefan gave up his spot to let Ethan get to the bed.

"Mom."

Ethan bent down, gently picking up his mother's bandaged hand. He couldn't tell how serious the injury was.

The bodyguards said her injury was quite severe.

"My dear, it hurts."

When Janice saw Ethan, she looked very pitiful and held out her other hand, saying, "It hurts."

Ethan gently blew on her hand, whispering, "Mom, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Baby."

Ethan quickly put the doll back into her arms, then coaxed her to sleep.

Janice was probably exhausted.

She fell asleep quickly, holding the doll and her son by her side. Even though she was asleep, she occasionally called for her baby, tears slipping from her eyes. Ethan carefully wiped away the tears from her eyes.

After watching his mother for a while, he turned to look at Stefan and Lucinda.

Even though he knew they weren't to blame, his eyes were still cold when he looked at them.

When he saw Lucinda, he was surprised because she felt very familiar.

At the same time, he felt a strange sense of closeness and wanted to get to know this stranger.

"Hello, I'm Stefan; this is my wife Lucinda. Your mother almost got hit by our car; it's our fault, and we'll take responsibility."

Stefan?

"The CEO of Ascend Global, the heir of the Anderson family?"

Ethan came to Pinehurst and naturally needed to know about the big families in Pinehurst.

Stefan, as the current leader of the Anderson family, was one of his main focuses.

"Yes."

Ethan's expression softened a lot; he said, "My mother is not in a good mental state. It's our fault for not watching her closely and letting her run out and almost get hit by your car. You don't have to blame yourselves. Fortunately, my mother wasn't seriously injured."

She just scraped her hands.

"Mrs. Coleman, you look kinda familiar; have we met before?"

Stefan carefully sized up Ethan for a moment, then muttered, "You kind of resemble my wife; that might be why she seems familiar to you."

Lucinda was the spitting image of her grandma.

Ethan and she were twins, so naturally, they shared some similarities.

Ethan was all man, though, ruggedly handsome, so he didn't look as much like Grace as his sister did.

Ethan's face suddenly turned serious.

He and his mom were in Pinehurst on the fly because they got word that his sister might be there.

"Mr. Coleman, can I have a word with you in private?"

Stefan gave a nod.

Lucinda stayed in the room with Janice, while Stefan and Ethan stepped out.

They stopped at the end of the hall.

Ethan turned to Stefan and blurted out, "Mr. Coleman, I gotta ask, is your wife the blood daughter of the Moore family?"

"I'm not trying to hide anything from you; I've got a twin sister; she's been missing for twenty-three years; we've been looking for her all this time. I got a tip today that my sister might be here in Pinehurst, so I brought my mom here, and I ran into you guys. About your wife."