Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 162: So This Is Your Mother, Leon Storm

Days flew by in a flash. Morning turned into evening. And evening back into morning. During those moments, Lily, who used to be close to Zoe, began to distance herself from her.

Even when Leon asked her to welcome Zoe when she visited, the little girl refused and dashed into her room, angry.

With time, the love she had for Zoe and the future she wanted Leon and Zoe to have began to dissipate.

But one morning, when Leon, Min-seo, and she went to visit Li Mei, everything changed.

In the VIP room, Zoe sat close to Li Mei, her head lowered to the bed as she cried.

The antiseptic air slammed into Lily’s face when she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Her overflowing joy at going to meet her mother, who had awakened from her sleep, all vanished when she heard the sobbing sound.

"Aunty," the heels of her boots kissed the ground as she closed the distance.

Li Mei turned her head, her blind eyes shifting toward the direction the footsteps came from. "Lily," she whispered, then stretched her arm out, awaiting an embrace.

Lily turned from Zoe’s direction and climbed onto the bed, clutching herself into her mother’s arms.

Although Zoe had cleared the tear tracks left on her face, Lily could still see them in her eyes when she turned her gaze toward her.

"Aunty Li Mei," Zoe said, while rising to her feet. "I will take my leave while they are here."

She moved a step from the left side of the bed. But the moment she grabbed her bag and turned toward the door, she froze.

The curtain by the window lifted the moment a leg stepped into the room.

Zoe swallowed hard, then forced a smile onto her face. Yet, her cheeks didn’t smile.

Mr Lee stepped fully inside, followed by Feng. They walked toward Li Mei’s bed, then turned toward the door, smiles filling their eyes.

Birds soared high in the sky outside the hospital the moment Leon’s right foot stepped into the room.

Leaves, blown loose from their branches, began to drift toward the third floor’s open window.

Meanwhile, while Leon reunited with his family, joy exploded outside.

Cars choked the streets, blocking the path of the ambulances that were carrying nearly dead patients.

"What’s going on?" A guard wearing black shades stood up from his seat and walked toward the entrance.

"Who is that blocking the path of the ambulance?" Another guard from the left doubled his steps the moment he noticed the beeping light from a distance.

"Give way!" he paddled through the crowd, shoving them aside. But the moment he reached the vehicles, he stood frozen.

His eyelids blinked multiple times as he stared at the faces of the passengers in the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.

Just as his gaze shifted to the eighth son of the Baek family, he turned quickly, then went and opened the driveway door wide.

With a heaving chest, he screamed, "Make way for the members of the Baek family."

As if the name was a curse, all the nurses standing by the entrance of the hospital itself—those holding onto stretchers—and the civilians passing by turned toward the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.

Inside the vehicle, Darian’s head swelled with pride as he looked at Jade through the driver’s mirror. ’With him, I’m done with life,’ he whispered in his head as he drove past the guard.

The guard’s head lowered, his body trembling when he caught the son of Baek staring at him through the lowered backseat glass.

’Oh my God. Who is that special person who has made the prince himself come to visit our city?’ he thought, then slowly pushed the door forward.

With the joy floating in him, he mistakenly slammed the metal door on his own leg.

When the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail rolled to a stop, more of the nurses became mindless.

It got to the point that even those who had been instructed to bring the dying patient in the ambulance all dashed toward the halted vehicle.

From the driver’s side, Darian got down, then shoved his hands around his neck, receiving the praises.

But the moment he dashed toward the back door and opened it, even the world itself bowed and joined in the praise.

Colourful birds moved from their nests and hovered in the sky. Their hums followed each step the three Baeks took.

And even as they entered through the hospital door, the nurses followed, leaving the injured patients who had iron pipes pierced through their chests.

The receptionist became extremely delighted, seeing the face of Jade Baek for the first time.

’Oh God, thank you. I nearly missed work today,’ she screamed in her head, brushing her hands across her face when the four men walked past her.

Jade didn’t speak, but Darian continuously led the way, opening doors and standing by the side until Jade and his bodyguard reached each one.

After climbing to the third floor, the death beeping sound echoed from the operation room as all the doctors, including the junior doctors, dashed out just to see the face of the son of Baek Dojin.

Standing by the VIP door, which happened to be the room at the centre of the third floor, Jade gestured to Darian. "Are you sure my wife is here?"

Without hesitation, Darian nodded multiple times, almost as if the bone in his neck had been replaced with a spring.

"Yes," he fixed his gaze on Jade’s boots even as he spoke. "...she has only two places to go, either here or the Storm Mansion."

At the mention of the words "Storm Mansion," Jade’s expression changed. He shook his head slightly, then smiled.

The guards standing by Jade laughed heavily, then stood by the sides of the door. "You can go on, sir." They spoke in one voice and crossed their hands at their fronts, their faces stilled.

Jade tapped each of them on the shoulders, then turned toward Darian. "After you."

Inside the VIP room, Mr Lee and Feng turned toward the door, then exchanged confused glances.

Leon stood up from his seat, then slowly loosened his mother’s grip.

"Son, what is going on? Where is that noise coming from?" Li Mei asked, as she turned her ears toward the creaking sound of the door.

Just as Leon tried to speak, he froze.

From the door, Jade stepped into the room, wearing a red robe that stretched to his toes.

Mr Lee stood there, shocked. In his head, the memory of Jade’s body turning into motes as the golden beam erased him flashed.

Feng stood there, trying to merge the news he heard about the boy dying with the reality of seeing him alive.

But Leon stood there, eyes locked onto Jade as if he knew more than everyone else.

Darian stepped aside, then smiled. "Leon, this—" he paused when he saw Jade’s arm raised.

"You don’t need to introduce me to him," Jade whispered, tapping Darian’s shoulder, then tilting his gaze toward Leon.

"Son," Li Mei’s voice rammed through the still air, drawing both Leon and Jade’s attention.

Leon quickly moved toward his mother, then held her hands. "Mom, don’t worry."

"Why shouldn’t I worry? Son, your voice has changed."

Before Leon could speak, Jade stepped closer to the bed. "So this is your mother, Leon Storm."