Benard pouted aggrievedly, not daring to utter a word.
"Don't take it out on him, " Zayn said calmly. "The truth is I've been struck with an incurable disease, and I don't know how much longer I'll live. That's why I drafted this will—just in case anything happens."
"What?" Flabbergasted, Thompson fell into a daze and snapped back to reality after a long while. "What incurable disease? Are you joking around, Mr. Zayn? D-D-Don't do this to a geezer like me. I won't be able to take it at this age."
"I'm not joking, " Zayn answered coolly. "Do you remember Selena Benday?"
"You're talking about Layon Benday's eldest daughter, right? Yes, I do remember her. But why are you bringing her up now?" Thompson replied anxiously.
"After I exposed her tricks in front of Grandpa back then, she threw some poison at Carla, but I took the bullet instead."
Zayn recounted the previous incident calmly and sighed.
"She shot me a vicious look before being taken away by the cops, signing that I would join her soon. I thought nothing of it at first, and it was only later that I realized what she had meant. I never expected the poison to be so deadly that I'd fall sick from it just by getting some in my eyes."
"How could this have happened? That horrible woman!" Thompson shook with rage. "Have you talked to Dr. Feroma? He's an expert in toxins, isn't he? If he could cure both Carla and Venus, surely he'd be able to help you too—"
"It's too late, " Zayn cut him off. "Dr. Feroma has passed away."
Thompson froze in astonishment. "He's gone? When did that happen?"
"Just a few days ago. Carla and I sent him off after taking care of everything necessary, " Zayn answered flatly. "That's why there's no one who can cure me anymore."
"How is that possible…" Thompson refused to accept the truth. "No, there has to be another way."
"There's a guy called Derelo, who used to be Dr. Feroma's apprentice. We've been searching for him all this while, but we haven't got a clue about his whereabouts, " Benard chimed in.
"Don't ever give up as long as there's hope, " insisted Thompson. "I know Derelo. He's a close friend of Daemon Lierger. You'll be able to find him if you find Daemon."
"We've been looking for him too, but he's also currently missing, " Benard responded softly.
"How useless could you be? You can't even locate a guy!" Thompson was so infuriated that he hit Benard with his crutch. "I trained both you and Brandy, and this is all you're capable of?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Thompson."
Benard looked down in shame.
Indeed, he felt extremely remorseful after being reprimanded by Thompson, and he despised himself for not being able to find Derelo.
All their problems would have been solved long ago otherwise.
Thompson glared at Benard before turning to Zayn. "By the way, were you receiving treatment during your two-month disappearance? Did Dr. Feroma not come up with any way to cure you?"
"Dr. Feroma had followed Ms. Lierger to Erihal at that time, so we had another medical team assist us—" Benard blurted out.
"Shut your mouth!" Zayn cut him off with a glare. "You've grown some guts, haven't you? How dare you interrupt me while I'm talking to Mr. Thompson?"
"I'm terribly sorry." Benard hastily backed away, afraid to say anything more.
"You should've gotten Dr. Feroma to help you back then! Why didn't you?" Thompson demanded frantically. "Does Carla know you've been poisoned?"
"She doesn't." Zayn hastened to explain, "Venus was also poisoned back then and needed Dr. Feroma. There's no way I'd have gotten him to treat me instead of them."
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