Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 161: You Are All Invited to Zoe’s Marriage

As the late afternoon sun’s golden rays fell on the roof of the hospital, Leon exited as the last person.

He stood at the walkway, the envelope clutched hard in his palms.

"Brother," Lily closed in with him and dragged his shirt. "I’m hungry."

Leon brushed his palms through her hair, then held her arm. He walked with her, then slid into Zoe’s car.

Zoe glanced at them as soon as she stepped on the accelerator, driving off the hospital premises.

Traffic was on the highway, yet they managed to maneuver their way to the Storm Mansion quickly.

Min-seo and Min-ji served them the evening meal. Lily finished hers in a few minutes, then asked for another.

Min-seo smiled faintly as she watched her finish the second rice ball and groundnut soup.

Lily relaxed on the chair, her arms at her side, her stomach slightly bloated.

Leon, on the other hand, kept shifting his gaze from his meal to Zoe’s face. ’Is something bothering her also that she isn’t able to tell me?’ he whispered in his head.

He held her gaze for a moment, then tilted back to his food.

After twenty minutes, when the clock struck 7:00:00, the dining table was free of the bowls.

Leon sat on the couch closer to his mother’s wheelchair.

Mr. Lee and Feng stood five feet away from him, their hands crossed at their backs.

Lily stood by Zoe’s side, her head resting on her waist.

Zoe’s fingers remained in the loop of rubbing through the girl’s hair, while her eyes remained fixed on the envelope in Leon’s grip.

Min-ji stood at the kitchen gaze, her eyes locked on Zoe. Sharp air gashed out of her nose whenever she tilted her attention from Zoe to Leon.

Min-seo, on the other hand, stood in the kitchen, cleaning the utensils. "What are you standing there for? Come and let’s work."

Min-ji stood there, neglecting her sister’s words. ’I wish her father would choose her husband for her,’ she said softly in her head, then grinned.

Min-seo’s voice echoed again. Min-ji turned when Zoe looked toward the kitchen.

Mr. Lee and Feng moved slowly toward the transparent glass wall. Their reflections stretched faintly on the glass as the fading light from the evening sky and the streetlight seeped through it.

Outside the mansion, headlights of passing vehicles swept across the polished floor at the other side of the giant iron gate, then vanished.

A breeze seeped out of Feng’s mouth and created a smoky vapor on the glass.

"Do you think the kid’s mother would be released soon?" he asked without turning his neck, his hands resting at his back.

Mr. Lee’s chest rose and fell. "I doubt it." He gave a short exhale, then looked toward Leon.

A faint smile tore on his lips as his attention drifted from Leon and landed on Lily.

"I think the actual cause or measures were not included in that report." He blinked, staring back at the cloud moving in the sky.

Feng’s brow moved closer, narrowing. "How sure are you?"

"I’m one hundred percent sure." Mr. Lee turned fully to Feng, then slowly removed his own hands from his back. "Didn’t you see the look on the nurse’s face when the doctor handed the envelope?"

Feng’s expression tensed slightly as his eyes widened. In an instant, his mind went back to the doctor’s mixed reaction.

"I saw it, but..." he paused, then turned toward Leon. "I thought maybe she was only nervous."

Mr. Lee shook his head slowly. "No. No. That wasn’t nervousness I saw. That was the face of someone who nearly made a mistake she wasn’t supposed to make."

Feng loosened his sharp expression, then brushed the fingers of his right hand on his jaw. He slowly looked toward the envelope in Leon’s grip. "So, you think the real report is still with them?"

Mr. Lee moved a step forward, one eye locked on Leon, then the other on Feng. "The full one instead."

He lowered his tone. "Either they removed something from this, or they gave him the cleaner version."

Feng’s face remained stiff for a moment, then exhaled faintly, a breeze escaping from him and landing onto the glass wall.

The curtains at his right hand moved softly as he stretched his hands.

Feng tilted his head and watched the dark sky. "Then Bastion Hospital is something we need to be careful of."

Mr. Lee’s jaw tightened as he gave a subtle laugh. "What hospital doesn’t have a dark side?"

Feng joined in the laugh, shaking his head. "True. True."

Their attention kept shifting from the sky to Leon and Zoe, then back to the sky.

On the couch, Leon’s thumb slowly traced the edge of the envelope. The more his grip increased, the more his mother’s pale sleeping face reeled into his head.

His breathing began to slow when he remembered how slow the pulse that moved on the monitor.

At Zoe’s side, Lily adjusted her head by her waist. She looked toward Leon, the two elders, and then lifted her face upward.

"Aunty Zoe."

Zoe lowered her gaze, a faint smile shimmering in her silver eyes. "What is it, little one?"

"Why is everyone quiet?" Lily’s small voice echoed so innocently that Min-seo failed to stop the subtle laugh that escaped her in the kitchen.

Even by the wall, Feng’s lips curled into a smile for a second.

Seeing the reaction that was created, Zoe bent down to Lily’s level. She brushed her hair back. "Maybe because you are the only brave person in this room to break that."

A faint smile brightened on Lily’s face. She straightened herself, then placed both hands on her waist. "That is true."

She turned sharply to Leon, her jaw tightening. "Brother, are you not going to open it?"

Every face in the room dulled, including Zoe’s.

Leon lifted his gaze slowly, Li Mei’s pale face fading. He stared at Lily’s amber eyes for a second, then shifted back to the envelope. "I will."

"When?" Lily moved a step forward, then frowned.

Leon’s lips parted, but no words came.

Mr. Lee and Feng exchanged shocked glances, then moved from the wall. Feng placed his left hand at his back, then stretched his right hand forward. "Open it now."

Leon lifted his gaze to him.

Feng locked eyes with the boy, then gave Mr. Lee a swift glance. "If there is anything strange in it, we will know."

Leon’s grip tightened.

In the kitchen, the sound of plates clinking softly echoed as Min-seo dropped another washed bowl into the clean water.

Min-ji stood there like a carved figure, refusing to lift her eyes from Zoe’s face through the open space in the wall.

Zoe slowly moved from Lily’s side and sat close to Leon, sitting on the single couch opposite him.

She placed her fingers on her lap, then shifted herself to face Leon.

"Whatever is written in there won’t be carried by you alone." She raised her eyes from the envelope and locked them with Leon’s.

Leon looked at her face, which was now glittering with the golden light from the chandelier above.

He lowered his gaze from her, then stared at the envelope again.

Just as the sealed edge of the envelope began to come apart, headlights flashed through the transparent wall and spilled over the floor like pale ghosts.

Feng turned first, his left arm moving from his back. Mr. Lee followed, his brows tightening.

Inside the kitchen, Min-seo’s eyelid rose. "Go and check who that is."

Min-ji stood up even before Min-seo could end her statement, then rushed toward the mansion’s entrance.

At the driveway, tires slowly rolled to a stop, faint smoke exiting from the exhaust of the car.

Min-ji’s face glistened with a faint smile the moment she saw the look on the face of the man exiting from the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.

Inside, Zoe’s fingers twitched the moment she saw the vehicle through the glass wall as the headlights turned off.

Leon tilted his gaze from the envelope and stared at her. "Zoe?"

Zoe didn’t respond with words, but the swift jump of her shoulders made Leon’s mind bloat.

Her silver-grey eyes remained fixed on the hallway, her chest rising and falling faster.

Lily turned and rushed toward the hallway leading to the mansion’s entrance. "Who is coming?"

As the door swung open, the night breeze entered, followed by Min-ji. She walked straight into the kitchen, leaving the door open.

Lily turned back and slowly walked to Zoe, her attention drifting to the door.

Firm and unhurried footsteps echoed as more of the smoky breeze entered the hallway.

Zoe swallowed hard, her face getting completely drained of its warmth. A crackling sound echoed at her side as her fingers turned into a clenched fist.

Leon stood, holding the half-opened envelope. "Is something wrong, Zoe?"

Zoe looked at him. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came; only a tiny drop of tears from her eyes.

A shadow stretched long on the polished floorboards before Darian stepped in, sharp breaths gushing out of his nose.

He wore a dark suit that looked more expensive than all the clothing he had ever brought to Leon’s premises.

Lily’s eyes widened with joy. "Uncle Darian?"

Darian lowered his gaze to her, gave her a faint smile, then swept his eyes across the room.

He looked at Feng first, Mr. Lee second, paused on Leon, then finally stopped on Zoe.

"Brother..." Lily grabbed Zoe’s dress, then smiled at Leon.

Min-seo exited from the kitchen, brushing her wet hands on her apron.

Mr. Lee moved a step forward. "Darian," he paused and squinted at the white envelope with a gold emblem in his hand. "What brings you here at this hour?"

Darian bowed slightly to Mr. Lee, then to Feng. "I came to visit my friends and also to deliver a message."

Leon lowered his eyes and narrowed them on the envelope in Darian’s grip.

Darian turned his attention from Mr. Lee and locked it directly on Leon. A faint smile appeared on his face, but didn’t touch his lips.

He lifted his eyes to Zoe, then frowned inwardly. He cleared his throat, then extended the envelope to Lily.

"You are all invited to Zoe’s marriage."

The room froze for a second. Even the hum of the chandelier became louder. The ticking bars of the wall clock also grew sharper with every passing second.

Not only did the inside of the mansion freeze, the faint splashing of the fountain also seemed to pause.

Beside Leon, Zoe’s lips opened, but no word or breath came out.

The envelope in Leon’s grip crumpled inward as his grip increased.

Lily blinked once, twice. Then on the third, she turned her small face toward Zoe. Though she had no understanding of the word, she felt as if something wasn’t right.

Feng’s jaw dropped slowly, his attention drifting from Darian to Zoe.

In the kitchen, a scream burst as Min-ji’s mouth opened wide. "Yes!"