Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1366

Lucas discreetly scouted the hospital's inpatient wings, only to discover he couldn't even bypass the security for the VIP elevators.

Despite the bad blood, Debbie was still Sebastian's biological mother. The Blake family would never throw her in a standard ward.

Lucas kept his ears open but heard absolutely zero gossip regarding Debbie's arrival. Whether she was dead or alive remained a heavily guarded secret.

After wandering the corridors for a bit, Lucas realized asking too many questions might attract the attention of Sebastian's security detail. That was a death wish.

He quickly exited the hospital. Retracing the night's absolute chaos in his mind sent shivers down his spine.

Everything had exploded so fast he barely had time to process it. Even his escape had been a blur of Bella dragging him into her car.

Meanwhile, over at Halfridge Villas, Lillian was enjoying a quiet breakfast in the dining room, casually watching Sabrina kneel on the floor in her ongoing, theatrical apology.

Lillian had heard that Martin and Sabrina had half-assed their groveling yesterday when she wasn't around, resulting in a few slaps from the staff. Factoring in her lack of sleep from the crash drama, Lillian was perfectly content to just sit back and enjoy the show this morning.

Whether they meant it or not didn't matter; they had to keep up the charade in her house.

Brandon Mercer noticed a shift in Lillian's mood today.

He leaned in close and whispered, "What's on your mind, Lillian? Why do you keep staring at Sabrina?"

Lillian took a sip of her coffee. "What has Bella been up to these past two days?"

Brandon blinked in surprise. Bella? He had no clue.

Between managing the Mercer Group's impending doom, wrangling the household, and sucking up to Lillian here, he had zero bandwidth to keep tabs on Bella.

As long as Noah Blake was staying at the Mercer estate, it was best if Bella stayed away anyway.

If she came home, Sebastian would unleash hell, as he firmly prohibited Bella from getting anywhere near Noah.

She was a mother, but she was also human; there was no reason to endlessly subject herself to emotional torture.

To suffer for a son who worshipped a manipulative shrew over his own flesh and blood wasn't worth an ounce of her energy.

So, Lillian cut Brandon off mid-sentence. "Oh. I thought Bella was just lounging around lately.

"Turns out, she's incredibly busy."

Hearing her daughter's name drop from Lillian's lips, Sabrina snapped her head up. Her eyes locked with Lillian's.

Lillian gave her a cold, mocking smile, and Sabrina instantly looked away.

It was as if Lillian's gaze was a physical strike, ready to tear her apart.

"Why avoid my eyes? What are you hiding from? Feeling a little guilty? No need for that unless you pulled another stunt behind my back."