Chapter 131

Upon hearing this, the doctor forced a smile and said, "Mr. Bailey, our job as doctors is to help patients get better. No matter what, I'll do my best to treat you. Even under a lot of pressure, we can't just give up. Plus, Mr. Gavin Tudor will make sure nothing like that happens."

Hearing this, Lucas sighed inwardly, realizing that Gavin had infiltrated the entire hospital.

After returning to the villa, as soon as he walked into the living room, David immediately hugged Alice tightly and gently asked, "Are you mad at me because I previously hid information about Lucas's condition?"

"Yes," Alice answered honestly, her voice muffled from within his embrace. "I hope you will tell me the truth about matters concerning our elders in the future."

Though her words were calm, they carried a sense of helplessness.

David apologized proactively, "I promise I won't hide anything about Lucas from you again. This time, it really came out of nowhere."

David gently cupped Alice's small face. She looked listless, with half-closed eyes and a drooping mouth. "You're feeling pretty bad, aren't you?"

Alice nodded. Today, Lucas had indeed given her a scare. She didn't like Lucas always joking about his health.

Compared to the last time they met, Alice noticed Lucas had a lot more gray hair and deeper wrinkles around his eyes. This made her realize how much he had aged; he was no longer the man who held her hand on shaded paths or carried her home at sunset when she fell asleep.

The thought of Lucas leaving and their beautiful memories fading away was unbearable to her. Just thinking about it made her incredibly sad, and she had no other way to express this pain.

"It seems you won't be able to rest well tonight," David's fingers gently caressed Alice's cheek as he led her upstairs to her room, not his own.

Taking off his shoes, David, dressed in a black suit and trousers, sat in the pink room, looking somewhat out of place.

"Come here," David patted the seat next to him. "I'll reluctantly tell you a bedtime story."

This story was actually about Lucas.

"I heard it from Gavin," David recalled his childhood days. Back then, the three brothers were forced to listen to Gavin's stories about his younger days every day, even if they were so tired they were about to fall asleep. He insisted on finishing those glorious moments.

"You weren't born yet," David gently patted Alice's shoulder. "I was probably four or five years old, and James was just a newborn baby." He and Felix were a bit older and had started to remember things, but the most pitiful was James, who was already very sleepy but was still forcibly woken up to listen to the stories. But now, he probably didn't remember it. 

Gavin never made concessions when training new soldiers, let alone his own grandsons.

"Gavin and Lucas were comrades on the battlefield and also each other's competitors. It's said they had a mutual friend who had long passed away, leaving only the two of them," David said in a lower voice, "Gavin was competitive. Even off the battlefield, he made sure we strived for the best results." He continued, "Gavin trained the three of us brothers like soldiers. James was lucky to escape most of it, but I wasn't so fortunate."

We kids, who should have been spending their summer vacations swimming and playing at the beach with their parents, were instead required to stand in a standard military posture under the scorching sun. Even if sweat dripped into their eyes, they couldn't wipe it away. Moving would get them scolded, and crying would result in extra punishment time.

But fortunately, those days didn't last long. When Seraphina discovered the children's condition, she was furious. Despite her own discomfort, she directly yelled at Gavin, who was calmly drinking coffee.

Seraphina's outburst was terrifying; her eyes were wide open, and her face was so red it looked like it was about to explode.

After that, any similar attempts were met with strong opposition from the family.

"Although it was short, the sun still left its mark on us," David couldn't help but laugh as he talked about his childhood. "At least new recruits had hats, but Felix and I had nothing. Our necks and faces were sunburned."

He turned his head to point to the side of his neck. "It looked awful! A big red patch, like someone had slapped me hard, but this 'scar' was quite unique."

"I think I had it much better than you," Alice said proudly, lifting her chin. "Back then, Lucas was in good health and often took me fishing by the lake. He wore a hat, and I would bring a little round hat and a folding chair."

She demonstrated in the air. "Lucas was very good at fishing, but he wouldn't bring the fish home to eat because Juniper thought the lake fish weren't clean enough and might affect our health, especially for kids. So, he sold them to people at the market."

It wasn't directly sold to vendors. They would put two big buckets filled with water in the shade at the market and keep the fish there. She would help watch over them. After selling all the fish, Lucas would buy her a cold drink.

It was so hot that even the wind felt warm, and the cicadas wouldn't stop chirping. After finishing her ice cream, she wanted Lucas to try some too.

Lucas smiled and replied, "Alice, you eat first. I can't eat cold things. After we sell the fish, we'll go have something good together!" Back then, the elderly were used to doing things themselves and didn't like spending money to hire others.

"You were indeed much luckier than us," David looked at the girl in front of him, his eyes shining, and couldn't help but smile. "When Lucas gets better, we'll pick a nice day and go fishing by the lake with the two elders."

"When will that be?" Alice immediately asked.

"When Lucas gets better," David comforted her with a smile, "Don't worry, we'll fulfill our wishes step by step."

Imagining the future scene, Alice felt a sense of happiness.

Afterward, they reminisced about the funny things James did as a child. David didn't feel like he was talking behind James's back, especially since James probably didn't remember any of it.

Right then, James suddenly sneezed, paused for a second, then frowned and leaned back in his chair, complaining, "Who's talking about me behind my back again?"