Fortune-Favored Healer

Author: Maura

Chapter 1: Della Is Too Beautiful

Words : 1739 Updated : Jan 15th, 2026

"Joseph, be gentle." "Della, just bear with it. Almost done." "Ah-it hurts..." "..." Della cried out and grabbed Joseph Lyson in a hug, her cheeks flushing red. "Joseph, don't talk." "Okay, Della!" Then the room gradually fell silent. At the back window of Della's house, a few nosy old women who had been listening finally, reluctantly, left. A few minutes later. Della pushed at Joseph, who was still holding her, and spoke. "Joseph, let go of me." "Thank you. You helped me a lot." "The sand came out. My eye doesn't hurt anymore." After she finished, her face burned even redder. It was the first time she had held a man that tightly. And the man was the foolish younger brother of her husband by arrangement. That simple-minded kid was also the Lyson family's adopted son. "Della, I wanna hold you. I'm not letting go." Instead of letting go, the fool dug in, leaving Della helpless. She tapped Joseph on the head. "Brat, if you don't let go, Della is going to get angry." Joseph feared Della's anger most. He reluctantly loosened his arms. Seeing his aggrieved face, Della spoke earnestly, "Joseph, I did this for your own good." "Your brother Quentin died at the mine under murky circumstances. It's been a year. You were a good young man, fresh out of college, and you came back like this-simple-minded." "If something happens to you too, the Lyson family would be finished." Joseph noticed Della's unhappy look and gave a goofy smile to comfort her. "Della, don't worry. I won't have any trouble." "I still have to carry on the Lyson family line and marry a wife who looks just like Della." "Heh-heh. Then I'll get to hold Della." He really was a silly one, leaving Della at a loss for words. Still, she looked at Joseph and continued, "Joseph, there was a reason I did what I just did. Don't blame me." "Do you know how many women in Alton Village have their eyes on you?" "Nevaeh Warth, Tucker Zimmerman's wife-her husband works out of town all year, she's lonely out of her mind." "Every time you walk past her house, the way she looks at you is like she wants to eat you alive. How could I be at ease?" "And Jessica Looske, Xavier Zimmerman's wife-they've been married ten years and never conceived." "I heard the couple were scheming about you behind closed doors." "If you really got ruined by them, how would Della face the Lyson ancestors?" Della spoke, sighing again and again. She knew Joseph couldn't grasp what she meant, but she needed to say it anyway, even if it was only to herself. Letting it out kept her chest from feeling so tight. "Della, I got it. I won't talk to them anymore." Joseph listened half-understanding, then blurted out those few lines. "Good. Let's go see Uncle Ben at the village committee." "Have Uncle Ben assign you two plots of land. Once you have land, you can take a wife." "Okay, okay! I'm gonna marry a wife who looks just like Della!" Faced with Joseph's silly grin, Della truly had no way to deal with him. They straightened their clothes a bit and headed to the village committee. As they passed Nevaeh Warth's door, Nevaeh happened to be chatting with Jessica Looske. The two hussies saw Della and Joseph walking by and locked their eyes on Joseph, staring as if they meant to devour him with their gaze. Della saw it and hurriedly tugged Joseph along at a quick pace. Nevaeh and Jessica were two of the nosy women who had just been listening at the back window of Della's house. "Della, that hussy-she looks proper on the surface, but who knew she was such a slut." "Yeah, we heard it. She was really bullying Joseph just now!" "Joseph's a fool with cords of muscle all over, his waist sturdier than a stud dog's. Shame that hussy wasted him." "Right. Della's worse than a fox. Even a fool isn't spared." "…" They trashed Della behind her back, but jealousy chewed at them. Classic sour grapes. "Nevaeh, it's getting late. I'm heading back." "Okay, Jessica. Come by to hang out whenever." "No problem." After a few lines of small talk, Jessica went home. Jessica Looske was thirty-two. Her husband, Xavier Zimmerman, ran an appliance repair shop. They had been married ten years and still had no child. Behind their backs, people called her a hen that couldn't lay eggs. She felt stifled. It was obviously her useless husband who couldn't perform-how did the blame end up on her? Meanwhile, Della led Joseph into the village secretary's office. Ben Lyson sat behind his desk, sneaking looks at his phone. He leered while he scrolled, smiling to himself. God knew what he was watching. "Uncle Ben, what are you looking at?" Della tapped the desktop as she spoke. "Nothing. Just… learning a few things!" "What brings you and your Joseph to Uncle Ben?" Ben looked up, his small eyes roaming over Della before flicking to Joseph. "Uncle Ben, Joseph's an adult now. Shouldn't the village assign him some land?" In Alton Village, land was allotted by headcount to each household. When Joseph left for college in the provincial city, the village didn't assign him any. Now that he had come back, he deserved to get two plots. But when Ben heard it, his brows pinched together in a show of difficulty. Della was breathtaking. He had tried to make a move on her several times and failed. If he made things difficult now, it would make it easier to go after her later. "Della, Joseph may be an adult, but in his condition-can he even farm?" "Uncle Ben, farming could be learned. I'd teach him." "Uncle Ben worries he won't learn. How about this-I'll need to hold a meeting at the committee to discuss it. Once there's a decision, I'll let you know." "Della, head home and wait for news." "All right. Sorry to trouble you, Uncle Ben." With Ben saying that, Della had no choice but to take Joseph home. Back at the house, Della looked around and frowned. "Joseph, today was your foster brother's death anniversary." "Della didn't have money for good food and drink to honor your brother, so I bought a bottle of liquor." "Tonight, we'll drink together." At the mention of drinking, Joseph cheered, "Okay, okay! I like drinking best!" "Silly boy. I don't even know what to say to you." That evening, after they offered incense for Quentin Lyson, the two sat at the table and drank and ate. For the past year, Della had swallowed too much grief. She downed glass after glass of liquor, and soon got herself drunk. Her head grew heavy. Everything she looked at split into several shadows. "Della, are… are you drunk?" "Mm. Quick, help me to the bedroom for a while." "Okay, Della!" Joseph supported Della into the room. At the bed, his foot slipped, and the two of them tumbled together. Della's heart raced, her cheeks flaring even hotter. As the saying went, liquor made cowards bold. That was exactly her state. So she moved to act…

Fortune-Favored Healer

Chapter 1: Della Is Too Beautiful

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