weddingnovel Chapter 288: Darian’s Gift
Chapter 288: Darian’s Gift
As the first morning light stretched across the sky and pushed the dark clouds away, sounds of car horns filled the streets of Bastion City.
Leaves drifted at the front of the iron gates, followed by soft footsteps. A lady wearing a black robe that covered her from her head to her toes stopped by the front of the Storm Mansion.
The metal creaked and opened the moment she placed her palms on the handle.
Her glassy eyes kept on turning sideways as she walked on the driveway of the mansion.
Fallen leaves swirled upward as the tip of her robe flapped on the ground.
A growling sound resonated from her as she stopped by the fountain and blinked at her reflection in the clear water, now a graveyard for leaves. ’I am sorry.’
...
Chilled air flew into Li Mei’s room and raised her white curtains. Rays of the morning sun splashed on Leon’s face and caused his eyes to flutter.
His vision blurred, but it cleared as he brushed his palms on his face. "Mom, are you awake?"
A faint smile tore across Leon’s face as he felt something touching his forehead, carrying the warmth of a human finger.
The smile vanished the moment he pushed himself off the bed and saw a black threaded cloth folded on the mattress with two needles crossed inside.
’Where is Mom?’ He brushed his palms on his cheeks then shifted his gaze, watching the crows flying in the distance through the window.
Just as he shifted his gaze back to the folded cloth, a glass-shattering sound echoed from the floor below. "Mom, is that you!"
His scream flashed out of the room before his body could follow. Leon descended the staircase without even watching the distance between him and the ground.
Inside the sitting room, the lady in black robes straightened herself as she heard the harsh footsteps echoing from the top floor. ’Is someone here? I thought they had all been hospitalized.’
Torn pages of books remained scattered around her as she moved toward the small drawer at the side of the wall TV set. ’Where did I even place that thing?’
The moment she saw the box of jade coins and the bio-inhibitor box, the sitting room’s door opened.
Chills ran down her spine while the curtains at the side of the shattered glass walls frayed upward as she tilted her head slowly.
Leon’s dual heart pounded heavily in his chest as he saw the black-robed lady. "HEY!"
He dashed forward to grab the lady but ended up stumbling, his balance lost in the sudden surge of adrenaline.
A cunning laugh surged out of the lady while the cape of her robe flapped in the air as she ran out through the shattered glass wall.
Leon slammed his palms on the glass shards in front of him and pushed himself upward. He shifted glances between the opened drawer, the jade coins left on the ground, and the green toxic box before finally chasing after the thief.
The iron gates of the mansion closed in on the lady and tore the pocket of her robes as she forced herself through the gap.
Sharp gasps escaped Leon as he stopped by the fallen piece of the black robe and planted his palms on his waist. "Who was that? And what was she looking for?"
The iron gate opened for Leon as he neared it, but he saw only rushing vehicles moving on the road at the front of the mansion.
The moment he turned back inside, a fast-speeding black BMW reeled past him with taunts. "Go to Bastion Hospital and receive my gift with pleasure, LEON STORM!"
A rectangular object lit up as Leon picked up the piece of the black robe and straightened himself.
His eyebrows narrowed the moment he pulled it out of the cloth. ’Isn’t this Min-ji’s phone?’
On the screen, a captured photo of Bastion Hospital with a side window view appeared as Leon’s finger mistakenly tapped on the icon.
"Is that Zoe?" He zoomed in on the image and focused on the devastated face of the person standing by the window.
Zoe’s face and silver-grey hair appeared in Leon’s head and reeled side-by-side with the person on the phone screen.
"What was she doing at the hospital at this hour?"
Leon paused as he remembered the voice that screamed at him from the speeding BMW. "Darian!"
A spiderweb of cracks stretched across the device while smoke puffed out of it as Leon’s fingers crushed it effortlessly.
One side of the red-gold cloth tapped on Leon’s chest while the other flared behind him as he dashed out of the iron gate.
Faces turned pale as they saw the only son of Li Mei running on the pedestrian part of the highway like a madman.
Two young girls rolled down their windows and stared at Leon with saddened faces.
They exchanged worried glances and shook their heads in unison. "I pray he doesn’t find them like that... in that broken state. God, imagine finding them after all this time."
Chilled air flew on their skins as they rolled their windows up and turned on the air-conditioner of the Lamborghini.
...
Nurses standing at the entrance of the hospital moved aside the moment they saw Li Mei’s only son entering through the hospital gate.
Heat flashed on their faces as Leon passed them and stopped inside the guest waiting room of Bastion Hospital.
Sweat trailed down Leon’s forehead as he shifted glances between the nurses and visitors trembling at his sight. "WHERE IS MY MOTHER AND SISTER?!"
Children who had isolated themselves from their parents, holding balls and toys, threw them away and dashed toward their parents.
Two nurses dashed out of the emergency ward and threw sharp glances at Leon. "Stop it! You are going to get yourself killed! This is a hospital, not a battlefield!"
Just as one moved forward to push Leon and force him to sit, black flames blazed out of Leon’s eyes.
"I said, where is –"
"Hey, hey, hey. Leon Storm. I know where your mother and sister are," Doctor Mike said as he rushed out of the emergency ward and stopped before Leon.
His legs trembled with every step he took, but he did not hesitate in taking Leon to the VIP ward.