Dante rushed to his mother, quickly setting little Mark down.
"Mum, what's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?" he asked desperately.
"We... we need to go to the hospital. Now!"
"Why? What happened?" Dante's voice trembled with anxiety.
"Because..." she stuttered, her hands shaking. "Because it was Ann who took the car!"
Dante froze, stunned.
"But Mum I saw Zara start the car with my own eyes."
"I don't know what happened," she whispered helplessly. "But it's Ann... my child... who got into the accident instead of that woman and her child. It's my daughter who is barely alive instead of her..."
Zara had already sensed something, but hearing the full truth made her legs weaken. She didn't speak. She just stared at them in horror. Who were these people? How cruel could they be... to plan an accident for their own blood?
Dante turned to Bella, who looked sad not because of guilt, but because only Ann had been hurt, not Zara like they had planned.
"Bella, go home. I'll call you," he said coldly.
He then helped his mother up and rushed to the hospital completely ignoring Zara, who stood frozen, gripping Lilly's tiny hands tightly.
Zara tried to stay strong, fighting back tears, but it was too much to bear. When she finally looked at Lilly, she thought the child hadn't understood. But to her shock, Lilly's eyes were filled with tears.
"Lilly..." Zara whispered, kneeling beside her.
"Mum..." Lilly's little voice trembled. "Grandma wanted us to get into an accident... like in those movies."
Zara's heart shattered.
"No... sweetheart, that's not what you heard," she tried to deny it, desperate to protect her.
But Lilly burst into tears.
"I heard her! She said she wanted us to die! Is Granny... a bad person? They don't like us... do they, Mum?"
Zara finally broke down. Every day she had endured humiliation, pain, and torment just so her daughter would never know the darkness of this family. But now Lilly knew everything.
Pulling her daughter into a tight embrace, Zara cried with her.
"We're leaving," she whispered fiercely, hugging Lilly as they both sobbed. "We're leaving... and we're never coming back."
They stood frozen in horror when they finally saw Ann unconscious, her legs and arms badly injured. Tubes ran across her fragile body, machines beeping steadily beside her.
"Dante..." Margaret whispered, her voice trembling. "How did this happen?"
"Mum... I I don't know," Dante choked out, pain filling his chest. "I just pray she survives this... that's all I want."
Margaret let out a long, shaky sigh.
"And Dante... listen carefully. No matter what happens, you must never tell her the truth. If she ever finds out what we did... she will never forgive us."
Dante swallowed hard and nodded silently.
Moments later, the doctor entered the room.
"We've completed the examination," he said. "According to the police report, the car had no brakes. It was a total mechanical failure."
The guilty duo shared a silent, heavy breath of relief.
"But thank God," the doctor continued, "she didn't lose much blood, and her vital signs are stable. She will live. However... her legs have taken severe damage. She may take a very long time to walk again... or she may never walk again."
Margaret felt something tear inside her chest. Dante dragged a shaky hand down his face, guilt burning deeper into his soul.
After the doctor left, Margaret broke down, hugging Dante tightly.
"I'm so sorry, my child..." she whispered to Ann from a distance, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You weren't meant to suffer this. This wasn't for you. It was meant for that useless Zara and her brat!"
She cursed Zara bitterly, as if Zara were the cause of everything and not their own cruelty.
"Mum," Dante said suddenly. "Zara heard everything earlier. What if she reports us?"
Margaret's eyes widened, then hardened coldly.
"She won't," she snapped. "She knows what I'm capable of. Let her try we will deal with her later. Just hearing her name irritates me."
Dante nodded silently, defeated.
That night, the two of them remained in the hospital, sitting in silence beside Ann's bed haunted by guilt, fear, and the consequences of their own wickedness.
In the morning, after returning from the hospital to freshen up, Dante and Margaret stepped into the living room only to freeze.
Zara stood there, a suitcase by her side, her face pale but determined. She wasn't crying anymore. Her silence spoke louder than any scream. Lilly stood beside her, clutching Zara's hand tightly, fear still lingering in her eyes.
