Chapter 406 How many times has it been this year?
The moment Chicago and Darwin appeared, the woman's mutterings ceased.
She fixed her gaze on Chicago.
"My Chicago was murdered; someone must pay—the Solomons must pay!" She jerked her neck as Darwin and Chicago walked past her.
Suddenly, she lashed out.
Her hand whipped out a knife from her pocket.
"Die! Die!" she screamed, lunging at Chicago.
In that instant, the lobby was filled with a cacophony of screams.
Darwin's reflexes were lightning fast; he yanked Chicago to the side, then reached out to wrest the knife from the woman's grasp.
The bodyguards were close.
Within seconds, they swarmed in, subdued the woman, pinned her to the ground, and the knife skittered away into a corner.
"Chicago!"
Darwin rushed to Chicago, who had fallen to the ground, without a second thought.
"Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" he asked anxiously, scanning her for any sign of injury.
Chicago looked up at him, her gaze slowly shifting to his right arm, her expression changing instantly.
"Blood!!"
Someone gasped in alarm.
"Mr. Solomon!" Xavier rushed over to Darwin.
Following Chicago's gaze, Darwin saw his arm.
His jacket was torn, and blood was gushing from the wound.
Since the coat was black, he hadn't noticed the blood or the pain in his concern for Chicago—only when the blood dripped onto the floor did it catch someone's eye.
In that next second, Darwin wasn't thinking about his wound. He pressed his arm and said, "Xavier, take the lady upstairs."
Chicago snapped out of her daze, her pale little face streaming with tears as she looked at Darwin.
"Daddy."
She cried out, her voice trembling.
Darwin froze in shock.
"Don't be scared, Chicago—Daddy's fine. Uncle Xavier will take you to Mommy. Once I'm bandaged up, I'll return, don't worry..."
But how could she not be afraid?
So much blood had stained the white marble floor red.
Chicago shook her head frantically. She thought of fire, dark boxes, and cold graves.
"I won't go! I want to stay with Daddy!"
She dodged Xavier's outstretched hand, crying as she ran to grasp the corner of Darwin's shirt.
Darwin's heart shattered at her sobs. He squatted down, carefully avoiding his wounded arm, and embraced Chicago with his other arm.
"It's okay, sweetheart. Daddy's not hurt. It doesn't hurt at all..."
"Where's the doctor? Why haven't they come?" Chicago's anxiety mounted as she looked around and cried out.
"Grandma Solomon!! You killed my whole family, my newborn Chicago; I want you dead! Dead!!" The woman on the floor glared this way, still screaming furiously.
Xavier's men quickly silenced her.
At that moment, a medical kit was brought from the hotel.
Xavier swiftly tended to Darwin's wounds, managing to stop the bleeding. "Boss, the cut is too deep; you must get to a hospital for stitches!"
"Daddy, let's go; we must get to the hospital!" Chicago urged between sobs.
Just then, Fiona, having heard the news upstairs, hurried down. The sight of blood everywhere and Darwin's ghastly pale face terrified her.
"What are you waiting for? Get him to a hospital!"
She scooped up Chicago without hesitation.
Moments later, Darwin was at the nearest hospital.
As doctors stitched up the wound, Fiona reviewed the hotel's security footage and learned how Darwin was injured. He had been cut while trying to grab the knife after pushing Chicago away.
She glanced over at Darwin. "What kind of luck has he had this year? He's been injured many times in the past two months alone."
Thalassa handed Charles over to Kenny and joined them.
Watching the doctor stitch Darwin's wound made her cringe. "Is your husband cursed or something? How many times has it been this year?"
Fiona remained silent.
Chicago was terrified, not leaving her father's side since they arrived at the hospital.
"Ma'am, we've identified the woman," Xavier approached solemnly.
He was starting to find his job increasingly difficult.
Too many lunatics; it was impossible to guard against them all!
Ember, a local to the area, saw her life turn upside down twenty years ago due to a horrific chemical plant contamination on the outskirts of town. Her family fell victim to cancer one after another, including her newborn baby, Chicago, who was only two months old.
Despite all the money thrown at his treatment, Chicago couldn't survive his congenital disabilities caused by the pollution.
In the wake of the disaster, Ember received a hefty settlement from the chemical company but was mentally unbalanced by the loss. Over the years, so-called friends and relatives tricked her out of compensation.
She became known in the village as the crazy woman.
When lucid, Ember would keep herself immaculately clean.
During her episodes, she would often snatch other people's children, landing her in mental health facilities on several occasions.
Her last child-snatching incident was three months ago.
She'd been committed for over two months and had only been released half a month prior.
"Was the plant a subsidiary of Solomons?" Thalassa asked gravely.
Fiona nodded, "The pollution incident was hushed up. Grandma Solomon spent a fortune to appease the victims."
Fiona had learned about this dark Chapter while organizing crisis PR files for Darwin, a member of the Solomons. Grandma Solomon had mentioned it herself, framing the factory's opening as an economic boon for her hometown, providing jobs for locals. Unbeknownst to her, the plant managers, skimming money from the wastewater treatment budget, had been illegally dumping a third of the sewage for three straight years, leading to the tragedy.
"Before coming to the hotel, she went to the old lady's grave and splashed it with black paint in a mock ceremony of blood," Xavier spoke with a heavy tone.
Thalassa's brow furrowed. "Do people know about Grandma Solomon being reinterred here?"
"Only relatives managing the graveyard here were informed," Fiona replied.
She exchanged a knowing look with Thalassa.
A person with a mental health condition, frequently hospitalized, somehow knew about Grandma Solomon's burial today despite the secrecy.
"Xavier, you checked the area before the burial today, right?"
"We've been on lockdown," Xavier immediately responded.
"Did you guys see Ember?" Fiona continued.
Xavier shook his head with certainty. "No, she's noticeably disturbed. If any guards had seen her, they would've reported it."
"Right," Fiona mused as she glanced toward Darwin, who was isolated from Chicago while getting his wounds stitched.
At that moment, Darwin was tenderly talking to Chicago.
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