Chapter 7 by Marina Vittori

“Is he awake?” Everyone was stunned when they saw Andrew return to consciousness. The doctors were dumbstruck when they noticed the monitors showing Andrew’s vital signs were all normal. Who would have expected a young man like Dustin to cure an unknown disease that had stumped the entire specialist team? This was unheard of!

“That’s amazing! Grandfather is awake!” Ruth burst into tears of happiness when she saw her grandfather’s recovery. Natasha also breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mr. Rhys, I don’t know how to thank you for this. From now on, you are the Harmon family’s honored guest!” She bowed deeply to Dustin.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Harmon. It was no trouble at all.” Dustin gave her a small smile. However, Dustin’s humble words irked Dr. Jansen. He and his team had done all they could to cure Andrew, but this punk called it “no trouble at all?” Clearly, Dustin was insulting them indirectly!

“Hey, you! What’s up with the centipede? Why would there be a centipede in my grandfather’s body?” Ruth spoke up.

“This is not a normal centipede. It’s actually a venomous curse.” Dustin turned to Andrew. “Mr. Harmon, where were you recently? Have you eaten anything out of the ordinary?”

“You’re spot on. A few days ago, I was at Millsburg for a party and drank some wine.” Andrew nodded.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must have been cursed,” Dustin concluded.

“Cursed?” Andrew was taken aback. The rest of them stared at each other in surprise. After all, it wasn’t every day that someone got cursed.

“Don’t spout nonsense! It’s illogical that this could be a curse! If you ask me, Mr. Harmon must have ingested centipede eggs by mistake!” Dr. Jansen interrupted.

“Dr. Jansen, any normal centipede eggs would have been digested by the stomach’s acid! It’s fine if you are not familiar with this, but do not spread false information!” Dustin retorted calmly.

“You…” Dr. Jansen shut up when he caught sight of Natasha’s deadly glare. “Mr. Rhys, thank you for your diagnosis. I will investigate this further,” Natasha said seriously.

She had heard of venomous curses before, however, she had no personal experience. Who would have thought that her grandfather was suffering from this? Natasha was determined to make the perpetrators pay for this!

“Now that the curse is lifted, you should feed him this prescription for five days to remove the toxins from his body.” Dustin scribbled on some paper.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Rhys.” Natasha took the prescription gratefully.

“Alright, I will excuse myself since there’s nothing more to be done.” Dustin got up to leave. “Let me see you off.” Natasha got up as well.

“Sis, what should I do with these insects?” Ruth interjected. “Dr. Jansen mentioned that he was going to eat those insects. Since he was the one who requested it, we shall fulfill his wish! All of you, make sure he finishes those insects before leaving!” Natasha said coldly.

“What?” Dr. Jansen went pale. At this moment, in another hospital room, a similar scene of chaos was unfolding.

“Mom! How could Rhys hit me? Please, you have to teach him a lesson!”

James was whining on the hospital bed with his head bound up tightly. Only his nose and mouth could be seen.

“Don’t worry, I will get even with him for you!” Florence comforted James gently.

“Mrs. Nicholson, it is unthinkable that Dustin had the nerve to physically assault both of you!” A handsome young man dressed in a suit spoke up. He was the second son of the Nolan family, Chris Nolan. He was also deeply infatuated with Dahlia.

“Chris, you wouldn’t believe it. That punk went mad and hit my son like a maniac. No one could stop him!” Florence gritted her teeth.

“Really? Was he such a crazy person?” Chris frowned. “I know some thugs who can teach him a lesson. Shall I help you out, Mrs. Nicholson?”

“Oh, that would be great!” Florence broke into a smile.

“Chris, make sure they knock some sense into him. Fracture a bone or two!” James snarled in anger.

“Sure thing. I assure you, he is as good as dead!” Chris laughed maliciously.

To be honest, Dustin’s marriage to Dahlia had bothered him long ago. How was it possible that a useless bum like him could have such an attractive and successful lady as his wife? Chris couldn’t pass up this opportunity to beat Dustin up!

“James, how are your injuries?” Dahlia asked as she entered the hospital room suddenly. She was dressed in a slinky black dress that showed off her voluptuous curves. Chris’s eyes brightened considerably.

“Dahlia, you’re finally here! Look at me, I’m terribly hurt!” James sat up immediately and pointed at his bandaged head.

“Alright, Dustin told me what happened and apologized over the phone. Let’s forget about it and move on,” Dahlia comforted her brother.

“Forget about it?” James raised his voice. “Dahlia, are you kidding me? I was beaten black and blue! An apology isn’t going to cut it! What do you take me for?”

“Well, what do you want?”

“I want him to kneel before me and beg for forgiveness!” “He is still your brother-in-law. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.”

“Don’t lie to me! I know that both of you have divorced!”

“Regardless of what happened, we were once family. Besides, you are partly to blame.”

“Dahlia, why are you taking his side? What did I even do wrong? I only broke his stupid necklace! What’s the big deal?” James snapped angrily.

“What? What did you say about a necklace?” Dahlia frowned.

“The necklace you wore previously. He claimed that it was an heirloom, but I’m sure it’s just rubbish!” James mumbled under his breath.

“Did you destroy that necklace?” Dahlia probed further.

“Yeah, he was being extremely rude! That insolent punk refused to give me the crystal necklace, that’s why I smashed it on the ground!” James said stubbornly.

“You’re really asking for a beating!”

When Dahlia learned of this, she was furious. After everything that had happened, she finally understood why Dustin would beat James up. James was the one who demanded and shattered the precious crystal necklace.

Other people might not have understood its significance, but Dahlia knew otherwise. The necklace wasn’t just a family heirloom, it was also the only thing that reminded Dustin of his mother. It was a symbol of his mother’s love for him. When they got divorced, Dustin didn’t want anything but the necklace. From this, it was evident that the crystal necklace meant the world to him.

“Dahlia, it’s just a necklace! Why are you lecturing me over this?” James whined. “That’s right! Is that trinket more important than your brother’s life?” Florence demanded.

“I’ll deal with the both of you later!”

Dahlia didn’t bother to argue and left immediately. She didn’t have the energy to quarrel with her spoiled brother and unreasonable mother. Moreover, in her haste, she hurt Dustin with her words. Now that Dahlia thought about it, she regretted saying them. With his temperament, Dustin would never have lost his temper so easily. She had made a mistake…