Chapter 356 The Secret of Lucians Childhood
Not long after Zara left, she was forced to come back and perform again.
Apparently, Lucian had a distant relative in his family, an elderly woman who had lived overseas for who knew how many years. She had not even been able to come when Lucian had his accident, but today, she had come to visit him.
When she heard that Lucian had a fiancée, she was pleased.
So the entire Martin family showed up, and Zara was urgently summoned back to act.
This elderly woman was someone Zara had to call Great-Grandma.
She was already one hundred and one years old. Her health still looked decent, but if the family had not made every possible arrangement and promise, they would never have let her fly back. A flight of over ten hours was simply too exhausting for someone her age.
But the old lady had insisted on seeing Lucian while she still felt well enough, and no one could stop her.
Last time, the situation had been unexpected, and the old lady herself had been hospitalized, so naturally, she had not been able to visit Lucian. Lucian had gone overseas to see her before, but he had not expected her to come back this time on her own.
When Zara arrived at the hospital, she saw that the Martin family had filled the room.
Mike and the others were all there, including that headache named Mason.
The moment Mason saw her, he launched the first attack with a dramatic eye roll.
Zara clicked her tongue inwardly.
Inside the room, Lucian had already sat up. For once, his back was unusually straight. Beside him sat an elderly woman with snow-white hair. Her face looked kind, though it clearly showed her great age.
She was holding Lucian's wrist and sighing. "You've had such a hard life."
When Zara entered, Mike hurriedly smiled at the old lady and said, "Grandma, look. Lucian's fiancée is here."
The Great-Grandma's hearing was still quite good. The moment she heard that, she immediately turned her gaze toward Zara.
Her eyes were slightly clouded with age, but she could still see well enough. Once she looked Zara over, her eyes brightened, and she waved.
"Come here, come here."
Zara walked over and smiled in the most harmless, obedient way possible.
Mike reminded her, "Call her Great-Grandma."
Zara's voice turned sweet at once. "Hello, Great-Grandma. I'm Zara."
"Oh, good, good." The old lady immediately smiled with delight and took Zara's hand with one of hers. Her other hand still held Lucian's.
She looked Zara over several times and seemed extremely satisfied. "Good, good. What a sweet-looking girl. Lucian really does have good taste."
Everyone in the room fell silent.
The expressions around the room turned complicated. People exchanged glances, all silently understanding the situation.
Even if the engagement was fake, in front of Great-Grandma, it had to be real.
After smiling with relief, the old lady asked, "How long have you two been engaged?"
Mike was afraid they would expose themselves and was just about to interrupt when Lucian suddenly spoke. "Not long. Only a few months."
Zara quickly nodded along. "Yes, yes. Just a few months."
"A few months is enough," Great-Grandma said, sounding deeply pleased. "Lucian isn't young anymore. When are you two getting married?"
Everyone froze.
The room almost became suffocating.
When facing elders, this question was almost unavoidable.
But how were they supposed to answer it?
Lucian remained calm. "Great-Grandma, it's still early. Zara is still young, and I'm young too."
"You're not young anymore." Great-Grandma sighed. "At my age, every extra day I live is a blessing. The one I worry about most is you. When will I get to see you married? These days, I don't even dare hope I'll live long enough to see your child born."
Lucian only pressed his lips together and gave a faint smile.
The old lady's words carried a certain sadness. But if he agreed, then he and Zara would truly be forced onto the stage with no way down.
So he said nothing.
Fortunately, Great-Grandma did not keep pressing the marriage question.
Instead, she began asking Zara all sorts of things, and Zara answered each one obediently. Seeing that the old lady was chatting happily with her, the unrelated family members quietly left the hospital room.
After Mason stepped outside, he gave a mocking laugh. "What, is everyone addicted to pretending now? Great-Grandma is here, so are we really supposed to let her marry into our family?"
"Watch your mouth." Mason's mother smacked him lightly. "Are you afraid your cousin won't hear you? Have you already forgotten what he said last time? If you refuse to behave, you can stay overseas and never come back."
Mason gave a cold snort and rolled his eyes.
Then he muttered under his breath, "That sickly bastard doesn't even know how long he has left. When he's gone, won't the Martin family still belong to us?"
His mother was so frightened that she immediately covered his mouth. Then she pinched him hard, furious that he never learned. "Are you insane? Do you want to die?"
What they did not know was that beside them, a group of spirits was silently watching.
Robert was so angry at Mason's words that he nearly exploded.
"To think my older brother's family treated them so well back then.
Look at what these ungrateful wolves are saying!
Especially Mason. He never accomplishes anything and only causes trouble.
Do you know how much nonsense he caused overseas under the Martin family name?
Lucian cleaned up every mess for him. Does he really think that useless father of his could help him with anything? Is this thing even human?"
Nicola, Monica, and the others looked complicated.
"Uncle Robert," Nicola said carefully, "they're all from the same family, right? So why is the gap in looks so huge? This nephew of yours... is really ugly."
In truth, Mason was decent-looking at best. But next to Lucian, the comparison was brutal.
Robert snapped, "His face is ugly, and his heart is uglier! We'll tell Zara later and let her deal with him!"
Everyone fell silent.
It was obvious Robert was furious. He had already started talking nonsense.
Inside the hospital room, only Mike and Samuel stayed behind to help smooth things over. Mostly, they were afraid Zara might accidentally expose the act.
As the conversation continued, Great-Grandma suddenly looked at Lucian and began wiping her tears. "You were so frail when you were little. Back then, your mother told me you'd already been cured. Why is it coming back now?"
Lucian's smile stiffened. "Frail? What are you talking about? Why don't I know anything about that?"
Mike and the others also looked puzzled. They had never heard that Lucian had been weak and sickly as a child.
Great-Grandma said, "You were only three or four years old then. Of course you wouldn't remember. From the moment you were born, your health wasn't good. Your mother took you to the hospital every few days. She was so worried about your condition that she kept you overseas for a long time."
She continued, "Later, she told me that she had met some master back in the country who treated you. After that, she said you would never fall ill like that again. From then on, I never heard about you being sick. So why has your health worsened again now?"
Zara fell silent.
That kind of street-fortune-teller method actually worked?
But Lucian looked genuinely confused. "Are you sure? What kind of master could be that effective?"
Even if he did not understand medicine, he knew that a weak body could not be cured so casually.
Great-Grandma shook her head. "I'm not sure either. Your mother simply brought you back to the country once and went somewhere with you. After that, your health became better. I just never expected that later... ah..."
She began wiping her tears again, and Mike and Samuel quickly comforted her.
Lucian fell into deep thought. Almost instinctively, his gaze moved toward Zara.
Zara was also thinking.
[Could it have been some kind of folk ritual? Wait, do folk rituals actually work? Could I expand my business into that?]
Lucian fell silent.