I hurried to Rizo's desk and began searching frantically. I needed to find the folder he had handed to me last time. I was acutely aware of the irony of my actions; I had already sent him into the lion's den, and only now was I seeking out the information that I had previously dismissed. No matter how thoroughly I searched, I couldn't find it. By the time Rizo returned, having seen someone off, I was still empty-handed.Desperately, I showed Rizo the photo and asked him to confirm if the person in it was the one I had sent to the Black family. His nod was like a dagger to my heart, nearly suffocating me with regret. It turned out that he had been around me for the past three months, and yet I had completely overlooked him.When Rizo realized I was searching for that folder, he took it out from his briefcase. He said that, despite everything, he couldn't let it go, so he had been investigating in secret. However, he could only find out what was happening outside the Black family reside
Neil finally sat down, and it seemed my conditions had given him enough reassurance to momentarily let his guard down and engage in conversation with me—or so I thought. As he settled next to me, barely a meter away, I couldn't help but notice how much thinner he looked, even more so than the previous two Neils. I couldn't help but wonder if he had endured considerable hardship to become this thin. Should I start feeding him every meal like I did with Neil Caster? But before that, I needed to address the matter at hand. Just as I was about to reveal the secret, an unexpected twist unfolded."I want to tell you my secret...""Mr. Lucas Junior, you don't have to tell me your secret. Let's just talk.""Don't you want to know my secret? If you knew, you could hold it over me, even threaten me if necessary.""No need. I can do without knowing the secret.""Can I ask why?""I don't want Mr. Lucas Junior to lose your Lucas Group, and even if Mr. Lucas Junior yourself wouldn't harm me, others
"Neil, who gave you this list?""It was Jerry.""Jerry Lee?""Yes."The investigation resulted from Rizo had also been released, confirming Neil's condition. Indeed, he had suffered a head injury, which left him in a coma for six months. Moreover, apart from fractures in his left hand and right leg, he had multiple superficial wounds that took over three months to heal. When he woke up, he couldn't remember anything from before. The doctors diagnosed him with possible temporary amnesia but couldn't determine how long this "temporary" would last. Other than this, his injuries were not severe, although the fractures still impacted his daily activities to some extent. Richard Lee arranged for numerous tests to ensure Neil was fine before finally allowing him to be discharged from the hospital.The medical condition remained consistent, but the medical expenses told a different story. Rizo found that the amount on the actual medical bill was significantly less than the one Neil had—almost
"I want to know, is it possible?""When I was at the Black's house..." He hesitated for a moment, then began, but stopped again."Were you beaten?" I couldn't bear to let him struggle to say it himself, so I started prompting him."Yeah, I was beaten.""Did many people beat you?""No, just one person.""Who? The Black CEO? Peter Black?""Yeah..."When the name was mentioned, Neil’s expression reverted to how it was when we first met, distant and guarded. It seemed that the CEO was someone he preferred not to be associated with, just as he had appeared before we had spoken. But Neil had indeed been to the Black's house, reportedly more than once. There must have been substantial interaction between them. Could there have been issues between them? Was Neil subjected to severe mistreatment?"Did he physically assault you?""No, not really.""No? Then what did he do to you? Was it something more severe?""Yeah, it was something more severe."As I spoke, I noticed his eyes welling up with
"Never mind, let's tend to your wound first." I was still very worried about his injury."No, no need," Neil insisted, clutching his clothes tightly."Mr. Lucas Junior, perhaps you should take Neil to his room and help him with the medication. He might be feeling shy," whispered Rizo softly in my ear, just loud enough for me to hear but not Neil.I thought he had a point, so I gently led Neil to his room. As soon as I closed the door and turned around, I was taken aback by his reaction. He assumed I was going to force him and had backed into the corner of the bed, unable to retreat any further because of the wall behind him. Despite having no more room to move, he continued to press his feet against the mattress, gripping the sheets tightly with both hands.I wasn't angry at his misunderstanding. Instead, his behavior made me realize the deep trauma inflicted by the previous assault. Even a simple act of pulling him into a room and closing the door was enough to cause him great anxiet
I held Neil's hand, gently stroking the back of it."Neil, honestly, I'm very worried about leaving you alone here.""Mr. Lucas Junior, are you worried about my eyes? It's okay, I usually just sit until I feel sleepy and then go to bed. I wake up and see things again.""But your home isn't in a livable condition right now.""I'll be more careful. I heard a noise in the kitchen just now, so I ran over and ended up falling.""I can't let you take risks, and you can't guarantee those bad guys won't come back, can you?""I'll lock the door.""But what if they decide to break it down?""They haven't tried... yet.""They might next time, and that next time might be very soon.""Will they... do you think?" He hesitated, seeming to think my points made sense."They might. Come back with me to my place. Stay there while I check things out and make sure it's safe here. Then I'll bring you back, okay?""Uh... okay.""If you are worrying that I might do anything to you, I promise...""Mr. Lucas J
As we came downstairs in the morning, we were greeted by a table full of dishes prepared by Ethan. In that moment, I realized I had only told him about Neil's eye problem, completely forgetting to mention that Neil's appetite was quite small, nowhere near that of Neal Caster. Looking at all that food, I felt a wave of anxiety. I was torn between the possibility of upsetting Ethan or asking Neil to go through the trouble of eating more than he could handle.Ever since our last adventurous journey, Ethan had become accustomed to sitting beside Neil, slipping naturally back into his fatherly mode as soon as we took our seats. He had prepared numerous fish dishes that were beneficial for the eyes, along with meals based on traditional herbal recipes. I wanted to catch his eye and subtly hint that his efforts might be in vain, but the more he explained, the more excited he became.However, it turned out that I was the one worrying needlessly. Not only was Neil genuinely interested in Ethan
"I remember it very well. Visiting that old Chinese doctor isn't something I do often, so I had to make an appointment well in advance. I recall it was... Ryan, check your phone. I sent you the appointment details with the old doctor." I checked the date and time, confirming my dreadful suspicion. I needed to inform Ethan about this immediately."Alright, that's all for now. Neil and I have plans," I said, ready to end the call."Hey, hey, hey, you haven't told me about Neil's TCM plans.""Just make sure your wife and children don't harass Neil anymore. Don't worry about TCM; I'm hanging up," I insisted."Wait, I want to say one last thing to Neil.""Hurry up!""Uncle Lee, what's up?" Neil asked."Neil, stay close to Ryan. Ryan is a good kid; he'll protect you. If anything happens, you can call Uncle Lee, okay?""Okay, understand, Uncle Lee.""Goodbye."I hung up, finding Richard Lee quite verbose. But considering his final praise in front of Neil, I forgave him. I instructed Neil to