Chapter 40
The hotel room was quiet, the evening light spilling faintly across the marble floor. Adrian sat by the window, his fingers turning the pages of an old medical text Ancient Meridian Theory and Applied Acupuncture. The faint scent of herbs drifted from a nearby porcelain pot, one he had prepared earlier for concentration.
He was halfway through a paragraph when his phone buzzed on the table.
He glanced at the screen Catherine.
He answered. “Catherine?”
Her voice came through gently, but there was a tremor beneath the calm. “Adrian, I hope I’m not disturbing you.” “You’re not,” he replied, closing the book. “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated for a few seconds before speaking. “There’s… an event tomorrow evening. It’s a medical charity gala hosted by the Health Alliance and a few corporate sponsors. It’s very high–profile. The Whartons, the Andersons, maybe the Cole’s everyone will be there. Even foreign dignitaries. My grandfather received a personal invitation.” Adrian leaned back in his chair, his tone light. “That sounds like the kind of place powerful people go to show off their power.”
“Yes,” she sighed. “And that’s exactly why I’m calling. I don’t want him to go.”
That made Adrian pause. Catherine wasn’t someone who usually acted out of fear – she had seen her share of boardroom battles and political pressure. Her tone now was different — hesitant, almost fragile.
–
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because,” she said after a moment, “the last time he attended an event like this… it was right after that night his illness started. You told me yourself – his condition wasn’t natural. He had been poisoned.”
—
Adrian’s eyes darkened. He remembered clearly — the faint, toxic energy he had felt when diagnosing the old man, the kind that no modern medicine could detect. He had traced it back to a rare spiritual poison could only be administered by someone who understood both medicine and dark qi.
He said quietly, “And you think whoever did it might be there again.”
–
–
one that
“I know it,” she whispered. “They always invite him to these gatherings, pretending to respect him. But I think someone there wants him gone maybe because he refused to join their alliances. But what choice do we have? If he refuses to attend, it’ll look like an insult. It’ll damage the family’s reputation. You know how these people are
status matters more than sincerity.”
–
He could hear her frustration through the line. Catherine was usually steady, but when it came to her grandfather, her composure cracked.
“Maybe if you come,” she continued softly, “you can watch over him. Maybe you can find out who’s behind it this time… and destroy the root of it, just like you said before.”
There was silence. Adrian walked toward the window, looking down at the glowing veins of the city far below. The streets shimmered like rivers of light; cars moved like restless stars.
Her voice trembled a little. “My grandfather has never harmed anyone, Adrian. He’s always been kind, even to those who slander him. I just can’t understand why anyone would want to hurt him.”
1/2
**/ 425 Bonut
Adrian’s tone was low, calm yet there was an edge beneath it. “Kindness doesn’t protect you from envy, Catherine. In their world, the gentler a man is, the easier he is to betray,”
She was quiet for a moment. “So… you’ll come?”
sharp eyes, calm face, but a storm
He didn’t answer immediately. His reflection on the glass looked distant lurking deep inside. “Of course,” he said finally, “Tell your grandfather not to worry. I’ll make sure nothing happens to him.”
Her sigh of relief was audible even through the phone. “Thank you, Adrian. I’ll send you the details later.”
After the call ended, silence settled again in the room heavier this time.
–
Adrian placed the phone down and stood still for a long while. The faint tick of the clock echoed in the distance. He could feel something a pull. That same event Catherine mentioned might not just reveal her grandfather’s enemies. It might lead him closer to the truth he’d been chasing since the day he woke up without his memories.
The poison, the faint spiritual traces, the mysterious figures from that night – it all connected somehow. Someone powerful, someone skilled enough to seal his mind and cripple his spiritual core.
He reached for the acupuncture book again, but didn’t open it. His thoughts had already drifted somewhere else. In the reflection of the glass, his eyes glowed faintly with resolve. “If they’re there tomorrow,” he murmured, I’ll find them.”
”
He walked over to the table, picked up a small black case – sleek and compact. Inside were a few silver needles, each one engraved with ancient markings. The tools of his craft, and his weapon when needed. He ran his fingers over them slowly, then locked the case.
The air in the room felt heavier, charged with quiet intent.
Outside, thunder rolled faintly beyond the horizon, a sign of an approaching storm. Adrian looked toward the skyline, where distant lightning flickered behind the clouds.
Somewhere among those towers and grand halls, the people who had poisoned Catherine’s grandfather – and stolen his past — were preparing to show their faces again.
–
His lips curved slightly, not in amusement but in anticipation.
“Let’s see,” he whispered, “how long they can keep pretending.”
He turned off the light, letting the city’s glow bathe the room in silver. The faint hum of traffic below was the only sound as he sat by the window again, eyes half–closed, mind focused.
Tomorrow would not just be another social gathering. It might just be another battlefield.
P
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
