Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 171: False Hope

When Leon got down from the BMW, something clicked in his mind, making him turn. Just as he did, he caught a glimpse of Darian’s Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.

"Why is he driving faster than usual?" he asked, trying to find a reason he had no idea of.

As soon as Lily got down, she pulled the tip of Leon’s T-shirt. "Brother."

Leon’s attention instantly shifted from the hospital’s slightly dusty entrance to Lily. "Little Athena." He smiled, then held her arm.

Without hesitation, they walked through the hospital’s main entrance, greeted the passing nurses, and finally stopped at the front of the VIP room where Li Mei was.

Inside, Thess stood by the bed Li Mei was on, holding a folder in her left palm.

"Hello," Lily loosened her grip from Leon’s arm, then dashed toward the bed. "What are you doing around my mother?" she frowned, then folded her small arms on her chest.

A silent laugh and shock escaped from Thess as she shifted glances from the girl’s angry face to Leon’s smiling face.

"Don’t mind her," Leon closed in and held Lily by the shoulder. "She’s just a kid and doesn’t know anything."

Thess, Leon, and Mr. Lee laughed their hearts out as they glanced at Lily’s face. Then, just as the laughter ceased, Mr. Lee’s mobile rang.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

He tried putting pressure on the device, muting the sound, but he wasn’t fast enough.

Li Mei yawned as she shifted on the bed. "Andrew, is that you?" she asked, waving in the direction the sound erupted from.

Leon tried to grab his mother’s arms, but hesitated. His eyes welled up when he also remembered his father and the news, but he comported himself.

Lily, on the other hand, hopped in joy, then grabbed Li Mei’s arm. "Mom, we are here." She climbed onto the bed, then placed her mother’s palms on her cheeks, giggling.

Li Mei’s mind lanced back to the room as she imagined how fat Lily had grown from the touch of her skin, and how thin Leon had become, standing in the distance.

As Lily enjoyed the warmth of Li Mei, Thess neared Leon, then smiled at him. She leaned in by Leon’s ear, then whispered softly.

"Your mother’s mind keeps going back, causing her to mention things that have happened in the past. So don’t break down. Instead, help her mind to cure itself."

Leon spent an hour in Li Mei’s room, telling her about what had happened in the mansion after she left, and letting her know about all the times Lily had called her name while sleeping.

"Ahh, brother," Lily frowned, then began to beat Leon. Leon laughed while she hit him with her small fist, then shifted his gaze to Li Mei’s smiling face.

When Thess returned to inject Li Mei with her afternoon medication, Leon slowly walked out of the room and then stretched in the hallway.

He smiled as Lily’s reaction after being teased flashed in his head, then brushed his hands over his face.

"She likes teasing but doesn’t want to be teased," he stated, then shifted his gaze toward the room Zoe was admitted in.

The door was already open when Leon stopped at its front.

"Did the nurses leave it open, or did she order it to be opened?" he questioned himself, then knocked on it three times.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

He waited for a minute, then pushed it open. A soft gust of wind slammed on his face the moment he stepped inside; his eyes opened wide.

"When did she—" he paused when footsteps echoed from behind him.

Thess’s voice echoed softly from behind his ear. "She got discharged just an hour and a half ago."

He turned swiftly, glanced at the nurse’s face, then back at the empty bed. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

’So that was really them when I saw Darian’s vehicle,’ he thought, then forged a smile to cover his saddened change in expression. "Thank you. I had no idea about that."

Thess gave Leon a shocked look, pulling her head back slightly. "I thought you even met them. You came in just ten minutes after they exited."

Thess tried to add more detail but stopped when she saw the sadness filling Leon’s eyes, although there was a smile on his cheeks.

She watched Leon leave Zoe’s door, then enter Li Mei’s.

"Is there something going on between them that Zoe hasn’t told me yet?" Thess wondered, exhaling sharply.

When the visit was over, Mr. Lee’s BMW came back from the hospital’s entrance, then picked up the waiting Leon and Lily.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," he apologized, then drove off with them sitting in the backseat.

He dropped them at the side of the fountain in Storm Mansion, then drove off again, without waiting to enjoy the meal Min-seo and Min-ji had prepared for everyone, including Mr. Lee.

That night, as Leon lay on his bed, bare-chested, thoughts of Zoe and Jade marrying spiked in his head. The sequence was so frustrating that it left him with a sleepless night.

When morning came, Leon still lay on the bed, breathing slowly. Lily’s sweet voice loomed over the halls of the mansion while she took her morning bath.

Inside the kitchen, Min-ji covered her ears with earbuds, then frowned. "Her voice is not even nice, and she’s disturbing my peace."

Beside her, Min-seo threw a shocked look at her, then slowly placed her right arm on Min-ji’s shoulder.

Min-ji’s whole body spiked as if struck by electricity. "Sis," she pulled off the earbuds, then turned and cast a shocked glance at Min-seo. "You scared me."

Min-seo didn’t respond. She simply inhaled deeply, then stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

Min-ji’s eyes opened wide when she realized she had loosened her sister’s truth with her voice. "Oh shit." She slammed her right palm on the cooking table, closing her eyes.

Minutes bled into hours, and as two hours flew by, Leon stood at the front of his open door, wearing an official outfit Mr. Lee had gifted him.

He glanced at the sleeves, the brown belt, and the shoes, then smiled. "This is presentable." He closed the door behind him, then descended the stairs, the heels of his boots clicking on the ground softly.

Just at the center of the ground floor, Lily called out to him. "Brother." She doubled her steps on the stairs, nearly falling but catching herself, then stopped in front of Leon.

She looked at him with an investigative stare, then laughed. "Where are you going? Take me with you."

Leon placed a hand on her shoulder, then crouched down to her level. "I’m going to visit Zoe at her place."

Joy lanced in Lily’s eyes as the statement she wanted Leon to say flashed in her mind.

She stood back and watched Leon exit through Storm Mansion in the BMW that hadn’t been used for days.

A few minutes after Lily turned and walked to the couch, Min-ji exited the kitchen and joined her. "Little Athena," she called out, smiling. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Lily shifted her gaze from the screen of the device she had been gifted for games, then smiled at Min-ji.

"Where is your brother going that he didn’t take you along?" Min-ji asked, crouching down on Lily’s lap.

Lily’s cheeks reddened, her eyes full of joy as she leaned against Min-ji’s left ear. "He’s going to propose to Aunty Zoe."

Min-ji’s heart stopped the moment the words sank in deeper. She blinked, swallowed hard, then pulled her head back slightly, curling her mouth inward.

She looked at Lily for a moment, then faked a smile. "That’s good."