Chapter 563 - 555: Countdown to the Finale (7)

Seeing this, the fans of Nora Ainsworth and Ethan Ellsworth stopped their infighting and united against a common enemy.

They tore the person who posted the long comment to shreds.

They demanded an apology, but not only did the commenter refuse, they posted another comment: "Why should I apologize? You’re all a bunch of rabid fans. Is Nora Ainsworth your mom or is Ethan Ellsworth your dad?"

This comment was like pouring gasoline on a fire. The fans started a topic on social media to doxx the commenter.

It only took a few days before the person was found. She was a middle school student. Her name, age, home address, school, parents’ names, number of family members, home phone number, and cell phone number were all dug up and posted publicly.

The girl’s life became a nightmare. A large crowd surrounded her at school, refusing to let her go until she apologized.

Only then did the whole affair come to an end.

Of course, Nora Ainsworth, one of the people at the center of it all, had no time to worry about these online squabbles.

Ethan Ellsworth’s condition was getting worse by the day. He was still in a coma, which was not a good sign.

Chloe Marshall grew increasingly silent, sometimes going a whole day without saying a single word.

Then, on the ninth day of Ethan’s crisis, news finally arrived that they had found a suitable kidney donor.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Chloe Marshall’s spirits lifted considerably.

Now, they just had to wait for Ethan to wake up in the coming days so he could have the surgery.

Zoe Ellsworth took Dorothy out for a bite to eat. The weather was still scorching, even after three in the afternoon.

After they finished eating, Zoe drove while Dorothy sat in the passenger seat. When they passed a supermarket, Dorothy said she wanted a popsicle, so Zoe pulled the car over to the side of the road.

Just then, Zoe happened to see Bianca Rhodes coming out of the supermarket entrance. Naturally, Bianca saw her too.

Bianca’s expression changed in an instant, and she scurried away.

"Auntie, why did that lady run off the moment she saw you, like she’d seen a monster?"

Zoe watched Bianca’s retreating figure, then looked down at Dorothy with a smile. "Because she has a guilty conscience. Let’s go, Dorothy. We’re going inside."

"Okay!"

The aunt and niece went inside, bought popsicles, and came back out. When they emerged, they found a crowd had gathered by their car.

"Auntie, are they fighting?"

Just as Zoe was leading Dorothy closer, the crowd by the car suddenly scattered. Someone shouted, "He’s stabbing someone! Call the police!"

Only then did Zoe see a man wildly swinging a knife. His target was none other than a young woman who had already been stabbed.

Dorothy froze, terrified by the scene in front of her, and clutched Zoe’s hand without letting go.

The bystanders, afraid of getting involved, had all backed away. Of the crowd that had gathered moments before, only two people remained: the woman, clutching her bleeding chest and begging for mercy, and the man, who had been completely consumed by rage.

Zoe pulled Dorothy behind a car and instructed her, "Dorothy, you wait here. Don’t move an inch. Auntie will be right back."

Dorothy nodded. "Okay. Be careful, Auntie."

As the man raised the knife for a second strike, Zoe walked up behind him. To the utter astonishment of the onlookers watching from a distance, Zoe viciously kicked the man from behind, sending him sprawling to the ground.

She then pinned the man down, wrenched the knife from his grasp, and held it to his throat.

"Damn it! What kind of fucking man attacks a woman with a knife?! You motherfucker! Are you even a man? Huh?! Thinking of running? I won’t let you. If you dare move, I’ll slit your throat right here!"

When she got vicious, she was nothing like a typical woman. As the old saying goes: the soft are afraid of the tough, the tough are afraid of the fierce, and the fierce are afraid of the fearless!

"You fucking stay out of this!"

"Well, I’m making it my business! I’m not about to stand here and watch you murder someone with a knife!"

Just then, the woman who had been stabbed staggered to her feet. She stumbled over to Zoe and grabbed her clothes. "Let him go. This is none of your business."

Zoe was completely baffled.

’Is this woman a fucking idiot?’ The woman was the victim, yet she was defending the man who’d just stabbed her.

"Who is he to you?"

"He’s my husband."

"He was trying to kill you, and you’re asking me to let him go? If I do that, he might actually kill you..."

The woman suddenly fell silent.

Zoe looked at the man. His face was pressed against the concrete pavement, and he cut a pathetic figure.

"Why did you attack her?"

The man spat viciously, "She’s a woman who cheated on me! Stabbing her is getting off easy, the bitch!"

Zoe’s grip gradually loosened. She looked at him. "So she cheated on you. If you were a real man, you’d divorce her and find a good woman to build a life with, right? Let her be the one to regret it. But you have to realize that if you kill her, you’ll get the death penalty. You’ll destroy her, and you’ll destroy yourself too."

The man suddenly fell silent. Zoe looked at him. "Look, this is actually a small thing that you’ve blown way out of proportion. You don’t have to stay with a woman who was unfaithful. If you’re completely innocent in all this, then just get a clean divorce. If you played a part in it too, then you need to think about why she went to another man. Think about yourself, think about your parents. The police are involved now. You’re going to face criminal charges and probably get a few years in prison. And while you’re locked up, she’ll just find another man anyway. So, if you’re really a man, you’ll talk this out with her properly, pick up what’s left of your dignity, divorce her, and get on with your own life."

Zoe’s words seemed to get through to the man. He calmed down, his earlier impulsive rage vanishing completely.

He looked at Zoe and said gratefully, "Thank you, miss, for stopping me."

Zoe stood up. "She’s hurt. You should hurry and get her to the hospital."

"Okay."

The police arrived at that moment. After getting a handle on the situation, they started to lead the young man away. Before he left, he turned to the injured woman and said, "Draw up the divorce papers. Let’s get divorced. If you’re not happy with me, then go find your own happiness."

Zoe gave him a thumbs-up. "Now that’s how a man should act. Turn your life around. Be a better person."

He nodded and was led into the police car.

The injured woman waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Zoe looked at her. "As a woman, no matter how bad your husband is, you shouldn’t have cheated on him while you were married. A man’s most important source of pride is his dignity—his ’face.’ You trampled all over it. How could he not want to kill you? If you felt your life with him was so bad, you could have divorced him. You could have yelled at him, even hit him at home. But what you did was wrong. Now that it’s come to this, once your wound heals, you should divorce him. Set him free, and set yourself free."

The woman’s face was pale as ash. She nodded.

Zoe turned, walked over to Dorothy, and carried her to the car before driving away.

She hadn’t driven far when a sharp pain suddenly shot through her abdomen.

Zoe gasped and floored it, speeding until she could pull up to the hospital entrance.

Then, clutching her stomach, she led Dorothy upstairs.

When she reached the doctor’s office, she looked down and saw a bloodstain on her pants.

The color drained from Zoe’s face.

The doctor quickly gave her an injection to prevent a miscarriage and checked on the baby.

In the end, the doctor admitted her to a room. Herman Hawthorne rushed over, his heart in his throat the whole way.

Seeing Zoe lying in the hospital bed, Herman’s heart ached for her.

"You can’t even sit still when you’re pregnant."

Zoe pouted. "I couldn’t just stand by and watch that man kill her. Two lives would have been destroyed, and it would have been too late for regrets."

"I know what you’re like, but Zoe, you’re not on your own anymore. There are two of you now. You have to think about our baby."

Zoe shot him a look. "What do you know? I was just training our baby’s fighting skills."

Knowing she was just being difficult, Herman didn’t bother arguing. "Just promise me you won’t do it again."

Zoe pursed her lips. "Kiss me, and I’ll promise you."

Herman leaned in and kissed her. "My sweet wife, you’re not allowed to do that anymore."

Zoe nodded. "Okay."

When Chloe Marshall and Mrs. Ellsworth arrived and saw the scene, they breathed a sigh of relief.

As the two of them entered, Mrs. Ellsworth said, "You gave your sister-in-law and me a real scare, Zoe Ellsworth! I ought to slap you silly."

Zoe quipped back, "If you did that, you wouldn’t have a daughter anymore."

"I’d be fine with just my daughter-in-law. A daughter-in-law is the same as a daughter."

Zoe grumbled, "Mom, that’s so mean."

Chloe Marshall sat down. "Zoe, you’re already on the news. Everyone’s calling you a brave ’tough girl’ with a heart of gold."

Zoe looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I can’t disagree with the ’brave tough girl with a heart of gold’ part, but hearing you say it out loud feels a little weird, Sis."

Mrs. Ellsworth pursed her lips into a smile. "You’ll get used to it. That’s how everything starts. Honestly, you scared me to death. You’re more than six months pregnant. I need you to behave yourself. When you get out of the hospital, you’re staying home until my little grandson or granddaughter is born."

"Mom, I’ll die of boredom!"

"No, you won’t. Trust me on this."

"..."

Zoe finally replied, defeated, "Fine."

"And for the next few days, we’ll send Dorothy to Nora’s home to stay with the two Grant children for a while. You won’t be looking after her."

And so, Zoe began her bed rest at the hospital to protect the pregnancy, while Dorothy went to stay with the Grant family.

She began a life of eating and living together with Dylan and Elmer Grant.

After a total of eleven days, Ethan Ellsworth finally woke up.

In that moment, Chloe Marshall felt as if the whole world was filled with birdsong and the scent of flowers.

"Boss Ellsworth? Do you recognize me?"

"You silly girl, I don’t have amnesia. Of course I recognize you. You’re my wife."

Chloe gripped his hand tightly. "That’s good. Boss Ellsworth, your kidney was injured, but it’s okay. We’ve already found a donor kidney, and we were just waiting for you to wake up for the surgery. Thank heavens, you’re finally awake."

Standing to the side, Zeke Marshall spoke up. "Sis, since my brother-in-law’s awake, I’ll go get the doctor."

"Okay."

Zeke Marshall turned and left the hospital room. Moments later, the doctor rushed in.