Chapter 4: The Letherdale Brothers

Early the next morning, just as dawn began to gray the sky, Holden Duffus hauled himself out of bed. It was not that he always got up this early. Hunger had dragged him awake. To be more precise, it had tormented him all night, leaving him barely any sleep at all. It was strange. Starting from dinner the day before, he had sensed something off about his body. Whenever he ate, an absurd thought kept flashing through his mind, as if no matter how much food sat in front of him, he could polish it all off in one go. It felt ridiculous, unreal. And yet a suspicion crept in all the same. Was it the Supreme Mystery Scripture, and those four Rune, causing trouble? Did they need massive amounts of food as energy? He wanted to test it, badly. But he was a live-in son-in-law. Last night, he had only eaten a little faster than usual and still got chewed out. If he ate even more, his mother-in-law might actually explode. He finally endured until daybreak. When he truly could not take it anymore, he slipped out of bed and quietly cooked himself a huge bowl of noodles. He swallowed everything in one breath, soup and all, and only then did the gnawing in his stomach ease. After eating, Holden did not go back to sleep. He started preparing breakfast for his mother-in-law and the others. His eagerness went completely unappreciated. From the moment Aya Showyer got up to the moment she finished eating and walked out the door, her face stayed icy. She clearly had not cooled off. Holden could only force a bitter smile. After seeing Darren Letherdale, Aya Showyer, and Jayla Letherdale off, Holden did not rush out to Showyer Group. He still had to finish cleaning the house. He had just tidied the kitchen and was about to start mopping when Juliana Letherdale suddenly let out a startled cry. Holden tossed the mop aside and hurried to her door, rapping on it. "Juliana? What happened?" "Ah! It hurts! My foot's swollen... I can't walk... w-w-w...!" Hearing her sobs, Holden hesitated, then said, "Don't move. Lie still. I'll find a doctor." "Wait!" she cried. "Y-you come in first. Help me onto the bed!" She fell? Holden pushed the door open. Juliana wore a sky-blue silk nightgown and sat sideways on the floor. Her bare right ankle had swollen into a nasty lump. He stepped in front of her and bent down, sliding his hands under her arms to lift. Juliana braced and rose with him. The loose neckline of her nightgown gaped open with the movement. Holden's vision swam for a split second. He jerked his gaze upward, suddenly at a loss for where to put his eyes. Juliana noticed him freeze and frowned. "What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get me to the bed. It hurts like hell!" "O-oh." He snapped back to himself and helped her onto the bed. Only after he let go, after that faint, sweet scent finally left his hands, did he quietly exhale. He glanced at her ankle, swollen like a pig trotter. "How were you this careless?" Juliana exploded on the spot. She grabbed a pillow and slammed it at his head. "Careless? How is it my fault? It's all because of you, okay? If you hadn't shoved me yesterday, would my foot be swollen today? Of course it's you! Ah! It hurts!" Holden blinked, then remembered. That shove yesterday afternoon really could have twisted her ankle. Sometimes injuries like that did not show much the first day, then hit hard the next. Juliana was clearly one of those cases. Still, he had been trying to save her. He had nearly died doing it. How could she be this ungrateful? He muttered under his breath, "I did it to save you..." "You..." Juliana opened her mouth, but she had no real comeback. She simply doubled down, petulant and furious. "I don't care. It's your fault. You jerk! Useless! I hate you! Hmph!" As she cursed, she kept smacking him with the pillow. Holden sighed. "I remember there's some ointment at home. Want me to rub it on?" "Then what are you waiting for? Go!" He dug the ointment out of the medicine kit and returned to Juliana's room. Looking at her ankle again, he hesitated. After a moment, he said, "Or... you should do it yourself?" Juliana did not want him touching her foot either, but she bit her lower lip, wavered for a long time, then shook her head. "No. I'm scared it'll hurt. You do it." She stretched her foot out toward him. Since she insisted, Holden stopped stalling. More than that, he desperately needed to know whether what happened yesterday had been real. Was the Supreme Mystery Scripture truly at work? He dragged over a stool, sat at the edge of her bed, and lifted her foot onto his thigh. The instant his fingers touched her, Juliana's cheeks flushed. Her body trembled, and she almost yanked her foot back. But when she glanced at his profile and saw no strange expression on his face, she forced herself to endure it. Even though he treated it like an experiment, the whole thing was too unbelievable. If it was real, it was an opportunity and a massive danger. He needed to keep it hidden from everyone. So he played the part, spraying the ointment on her ankle first. Then he rubbed his palms together and slowly laid his hand over the swollen spot. The moment his palm settled, yesterday's sensation returned. Warmth seeped from his skin in thin streams, flowing out of his palm and sinking into Juliana's ankle. Holden frowned and focused, trying to feel it clearly. Where was this energy coming from? How did it form? But as Holden stared at his own hand, concentrating, Juliana's legs suddenly clamped together. A faint shiver ran through her. She felt an inexplicable heat pouring from his palm into her body, wave after wave. There was a prickling sting, a numbing tingle, and more than anything, an unbearable itch. Like a hundred claws scratching at her heart, making her almost cry out. She bit her lower lip hard, hands braced on the bed, face burning red as she stared at the hand pressed to her swollen ankle. Finally, she could not take it anymore. "Ah..." The soft cry jolted Holden back. He immediately pulled his right hand away and looked up. "Juliana? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Juliana's eyes were unfocused, her breathing ragged. Her cheeks were so red they looked scalded. She turned her face away, flustered and unsettled. "I-I'm fine..." "Good." Holden's gaze dropped back to her ankle, and his pupils tightened. It was healed. "Hey!" Juliana snapped. "Are you done or not?" Her voice snapped Holden out of it. The whole thing was too miraculous, and until he understood it, he did not want anyone to know. He quickly put on a look of surprise. "Huh? Your foot's better!" Juliana yanked her foot back and looked down. The swelling really had gone down. Her face lit up. "It's... it's really better?" She scrambled off the bed and took a cautious step. No pain. Excitement burst across her face, and she hopped in place a few times, giggling. "It's really better! That's great! I don't have to stay in bed anymore!" Her nightgown was short to begin with. With all that bouncing, it rode up and revealed far too much. Holden turned his head away at once, awkward. "Um... since you're fine, I'll go." He tucked the ointment away and hurried out of her bedroom. Only after he left did Juliana realize how exposed she had been. Her face went scarlet again. It took a full half hour before Holden's pounding heart finally calmed down. After that, he had no mind to keep cleaning. As for the Supreme Mystery Scripture, it could wait. The cooperation with the Showyer family mattered most. He left the house and headed straight for Showyer Group's headquarters. Showyer Group's headquarters building stood in the northern district of Midcoast City. It had been built twenty years earlier, an H-shaped structure rising 720 feet with thirty-six floors. It covered nearly a hundred thousand square meters, one of the tallest buildings in all of Midcoast. By the time Holden reached the Showyer Group tower by subway, it was already 9:30 a.m. He stopped at the entrance and took in the four uniformed security guards standing there, broad-shouldered and motionless like soldiers. Then he looked down at what he was wearing, a full outfit that had probably cost him less than forty bucks. For the first time, he truly understood why Juliana had said what she did. To anyone, Kyla Showyer and he belonged to two different worlds. Would she really be willing to lower herself and be friends with him? Holden shook his head hard, throwing the thoughts aside. He was here. No matter what, he had to try. Without another word, he stepped into the building. Fortunately, the guards seemed to be there to prevent incidents, not to stop anyone who looked obviously harmless. Holden entered without trouble. But the moment he walked in, trouble found him. "Huh? Holden Duffus? What are you doing here?" Holden turned toward the voice, and his brow furrowed. He never would have expected to run into Jayla Letherdale's eldest brother, Amari Letherdale, and her second brother, Randy Letherdale. When Holden did not answer, Randy's face darkened. "I'm talking to you. You deaf?" Holden gave him a cool glance. "What I'm doing here is none of your business." "Oh?" Amari looked him up and down, his tone dripping with mockery. "Is that how you talk to your first and second brother? Is that what Jayla Letherdale taught you?" "Boss is talking for your own good," Randy added, raising his voice. "Do you even know where you are? Showyer Group headquarters. You're a live-in son-in-law of the Letherdale family. What are you doing here? If you get tossed out later, you'll be embarrassing the Letherdale family, got it?" As he spoke, Randy deliberately glanced around, practically shouting to make sure everyone heard. "Don't mistake kindness for weakness. Hurry up and go home to cook. What are you standing there for?" Holden's frown deepened. Disgust flashed across his eyes as he turned away and scanned the lobby, searching for someone. Seeing him remain stubbornly unmoved, Amari's patience snapped. "Enough, Holden Duffus. Get lost. You hear me? If the Showyer Group higher-ups see the Letherdale family has trash like you, and it affects our cooperation with the Showyer family, the consequences won't be something you can afford. Even our second uncle's family couldn't shoulder it. Got it?" Holden lifted a brow. "Oh? So you two came to talk about a liquor partnership?" Amari glared. "Obviously. What, you think we came to sightsee like you? Take a look in the mirror. Is this a place you're qualified to enter?" Holden's mouth curled. He let out a soft laugh. "Funny. I'm here to talk about a liquor partnership too." The brothers looked at each other, then clutched their stomachs and burst into laughter. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Randy, did you hear that? This useless piece of trash wants to talk business?" "Ha! You? Talk business? With who? Chairman Showyer?" Holden nodded, dead serious. "That's right. With Chairman Showyer." "Pfft, ha ha ha! You must still be asleep." "Who do you think you are? You're just a useless live-in son-in-law in the Letherdale family, and you want to talk business with Chairman Showyer? You've lost your mind." At that moment, a woman who looked around twenty-seven or twenty-eight strode over in a fitted black business suit, frowning. From a distance, she barked, "Who's making all that noise? Do you even know where you are?" The Letherdale brothers instantly shrank their necks, faces turning ingratiating. "Um... sorry, sorry. It's just a good-for-nothing relative of ours who doesn't know any better. We'll chase him out right away. Right away!" Randy whipped his head around and snarled at Holden, "You useless piece of-what are you still standing here for? Get out!" But when the woman got a clear look at Holden's face, her eyes brightened. She hurried forward and bowed slightly. "Mr. Duffus, you're here? Chairman Showyer has been waiting for you. Please, come upstairs with me." "What?!" The Letherdale brothers stared as if they had seen a ghost, eyes bulging. They could not believe what they were seeing. This useless piece of trash... really knew Chairman Showyer?