Chapter 313 Family Scandal
"Mr. Collins!" Ashley saw a flash of silver zip past her, and her heart nearly stopped. She lunged forward, trying to stop the sharp needle from piercing his skin.
But she was too slow. By the time she moved, the needle had already drawn a bright red line of blood.
Ashley's eyes went wide, the sight of the crimson making her brain ache. She thought Martin had ended his life. But then, she saw a tall figure slowly stand up, straightening the steel needle that had tilted to one side. The needle was in his hand.
Damian used his broken arm.
The room fell silent, everyone staring at Damian in disbelief.
Even Bodhi's usually blank face turned pale.
Damian frowned, tossing the needle to the ground with a sharp clang that shattered the suffocating silence. "Mr. Collins has lived over eighty years, and you still think you need to die to make up for things? What a waste of all those years."
Martin, still in shock, held his hand in a self-harming position, blood seeping from the wound. He was frozen in place. "You... how did you..."
He couldn't find the right words, too stunned to speak.
Damian said coldly, "Dying is the easiest thing. Death is the coward's way out. Do you think stabbing your heart with a needle will end everything, that all grudges will disappear? If you feel guilty towards your brother, you should live well and use the little time you have left to make amends. Not only that, but you should outlive him, give him a proper burial, and then die at his grave."
Martin was enlightened by his words, looking dazedly at Bodhi in his monk's robe. "If you are willing to let me live, I'll live and serve you like a slave."
Bodhi closed his eyes. "Everyone has their burdens. I have forgiven you, but you can't escape your own demons."
Ashley still didn't get why things had escalated to the point of death. How could a brotherly relationship involve a life?
Martin remained kneeling, his weak limbs barely supporting him. "After she died, you went up the mountain to become a monk and haven't come down in forty years. I've had nightmares for forty years, regretting every single day."
She?
Ashley finally realized there was another person in the story.
Bodhi said, "That was her choice."
"It was my fault," Martin cried again, his back bending, forehead almost touching the ground.
It was much later that Ashley learned the full story from Bodhi's biological son.
Over sixty years ago, Bodhi married Celestia Sanchez. Back then, young people didn't have a say in their marriages. They had no feelings for each other, let alone love. But soon after, they had a son named Albert Collins, who later changed his surname to his mother's, becoming Albert Sanchez, the doctor treating her parents.
When their son was under five, Bodhi accidentally joined the military, becoming a battlefield doctor and traveling to various countries.
He was gone for seven or eight years.
During that time, Martin took care of Celestia and Albert, and they developed feelings they shouldn't have.
Martin thought Bodhi had died on the front lines and lived as an unofficial couple with Celestia.
Unlike her reluctant marriage to Bodhi, Celestia fell deeply in love with Martin. They lived happily, raising the child together as a family of three, though the child still called him uncle, too young to understand.
Then Bodhi returned from the battlefield.
Martin and Celestia were thrown into panic. They kept their affair a secret, with Celestia stuck between the two men for years.
Later, Celestia got pregnant again and had a daughter, but no one knew who the father was.
Maybe as some cruel twist of fate, the daughter died in a landslide during a mountain trip when she was just four, and they never found her body.
Celestia was shattered by the loss and slowly lost her grip on reality, often calling people by the wrong names.
At first, Bodhi thought she was just mad with grief, mistaking him for his brother. But one day, Celestia, holding a knife, spilled the truth she had hidden for over a decade.
In that moment, shame and rage overwhelmed Bodhi, shattering his world.
Martin, upon learning the truth, rushed to intervene, begging for Bodhi's forgiveness.
Bodhi, crying and laughing, couldn't accept the humiliation.
Martin grabbed the knife, intending to atone with his life.
But Celestia suddenly lunged forward, ending the tragic affair with her own life.
By then, Bodhi was nearly fifty, his life more than half over. The wounds of war hadn't healed, and now his family had deeply hurt him. Exhausted, he locked himself in his home for days. Eventually, he left, climbing Foggy Mountain, never to come down again.
Martin fell gravely ill. After recovering, he was a changed man, his face devoid of smiles.
Albert, away at school, didn't know what had happened. When he returned and learned his mother had died, and his father had become a monk, he couldn't accept it. He climbed the mountain and cried outside the door, but Bodhi didn't see him.
Bodhi even doubted if Albert was his son. But Albert later confirmed his identity through a paternity test. He climbed the mountain again but still didn't see his father.
Albert stopped calling Martin uncle, referring to him as Mr. Collins. He studied medicine diligently for years, then moved to Sylvania, never setting foot in his homeland again.
Damian's arm injury worsened from overexertion. Martin treated him, and his renowned medical skills proved this. By the end of the day, Damian's arm no longer hurt.
Martin sealed the ointment, advising, "The pain may be gone, but the bone needs proper rest. These medicines will help you recover faster. Stay here for a couple of days, and I'll stabilize it before you leave."
After all this, Martin seemed even older, his back hunched, clearly showing his decline.
Damian said calmly, "Thank you."
Martin sat in a chair, thinking before speaking. "You saved my life. I should grant any request you have. What do you need?"
Ashley, fearing Damian's arrogance might provoke anger, answered for him, "He wants Mr. Collins to treat his chronic insomnia. Can you help?"
"Insomnia?" Martin looked at his face and mental state, skeptical. "How long has it been?"
"Over three years," Damian replied honestly this time.
Martin pondered, "Worries often cause insomnia. The heart governs the mind, and the liver governs emotions. To treat insomnia, you need to nourish the heart, protect the liver, and relieve worries. Since it started over three years ago, something must have deeply affected you. When the mind is disturbed, emotions become blocked, leading to insomnia."
Ashley's emotions were stirred, lips pressed tightly.
Three years ago?
Could it be because of Faye?
Faye's untimely death had caused him irreversible harm, leading to severe insomnia and mental illness, even relying on medication for relief.
Thinking of this possibility, Ashley lowered her head, then heard Damian's cold voice say, "Because a close relative died."
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