"I'm slowly but steadily changing everything in our company, Mom, and I swear I won't stop until Dante's trace of the corporation you own is gone."
Given the fact that his mother was unconscious, Luke held her hand. She wasn't his biological mother because she was the only person outside of the orphanage who cared deeply for him. This is what he remembers fondly to this day.
"Get well, I'll handle everything," Luke said, biting his lower lip to keep the tears at bay. He simply averted his gaze and spent a few hours with his mother.
He also spoke with the doctor, but his mother's condition has not improved, which makes him even bleaker. He returned to his mansion for some fresh air. Mother Lingling will remain the only person he considers, which is fortunate because he will be able to tell her what happened after he saw his mother.
He went in search of Mother Lingling as soon as he got home. She was most likely talking on the phone with someone. He couldn't help but notice her on the patio, talking on the phone with someone.
"Rejected? Just get over it and stop crying. There are other opportunities waiting for you," Mother Lingling explained towards the conversation partner.
"Did you contact me again? I still have something to attend to," she said as she hung up the phone.
Luke quickly suspected that the lady was in distress. And the faster he realized Yumi was the one he was talking to, the faster Mother Lingling hung up the phone.
"I'm already here," he said, much to the lady's surprise.
"Luke, I believe you arrived home early. How are you doing? Have you visited the hospital?" Mother Lingling probed further.
Luke nodded and forced a smile before imploding on the couch. "I believe you spoke with someone earlier; who is that?"
"Oh nothing. Just a friend," Mother Lingling lied, despite the fact that she was speaking to her niece, Yumi.
"Not once, I have never seen someone pay a visit to you in the house — except Yumi. Do you really have no relatives besides her? I don't have a problem if you will welcome a visitor as long as it's not Yumi," Luke said sincerely. During the time he and Mother Lingling were together in a mansion, he was also curious about that matter.
"Oh, some of them are living from afar. Then I wasn't able to pursue on having a family because of—"
"Because you took care of me and mama. But, it's not too late to be happy," Luke replied then stood up to give the lady a big hug. "I'm sorry if you can't handle me sometimes and thank you for respecting me for the reason why I don't want to talk to Yumi anymore."
"I'm glad you're here and capable of running the company. Then once you get better; what if you look for a girlfriend and possibly forget about Yumi?" Mother Lingling smiled as she hugged Luke back.
"How can I love again?" Luke replied. "But I've already forgotten about her. It's just that I can't get over how much I despise her for what she did."
"I don't know, I'm already an old woman, and I don't want to go through what my sister-in-law has been through after she married and became a battered wife. But I'm sure, I'll be happy for you to love someone who deserves to be loved. You'd still remember how you felt when you first fell in love." Mother Lingling's smile spread from ear to ear.
Luke simply folded his arms, and all of his memories returned to him. Yumi has been her firefly over the years even if he tries to deny it.
Flash back:
"I told you, don't go anywhere!" Mother Lingling's irritable growl at Yumi, she covered her mouth until they could go down the first floor.
"Who is that boy? Is that their child?" Yumi asked immediately as she panicked. Mother Lingling just looked at her niece as if she didn't know what to say.
"Auntie, who's that kid?"
"You shouldn't have gone to Luke's room, it wouldn't be good for him. It's a long story to be told, even myself was forbidden to enter his room," Mother Lingling was forced to reply.
"His name is Luke? Who is he?" Yumi asked incessantly. She even pulled Mother Lingling's apron so she could get an answer. She was very worried for Luke. For some unknown reason, she just felt the urge to comfort him.
"I'm here! Is dinner ready?"
The man's voice reigned on the patio. Mother Lingling became even more nervous and quickly looked for Yumi's possible hiding place. The boss doesn't want other people to come to the mansion.
Yumi huddled behind the refrigerator. It was hot but she had to be patient to hide. She also listened to the conversation between Mother Lingling and her boss.
"Nelia, where are you again? Did Luke's doctor come?" the man asked.
"Ma'am Nelia was at the company. Yes, the doctor came, Sir Dante," Mother Lingling replied to her employer whom she addressed as Sir Dante.
"Why does she have to adopt a child, It's condensing!" Sir Dante growled and went straight to the second floor to look at his adopted child.
Upon hearing the conversation, Yumi immediately knew that something was wrong with the mansion. So she also tried to visit Luke even though Mother Lingling forbade her.
One day, Yumi managed to enter the room. She found Luke in his bed and was sound asleep. She smiled broadly as she approached the bed.
"You're handsome..."
She stayed beside him for more than five minutes. That moment, she knew that she easily adored Luke. Maybe, she fell for his undeniable charm. She was too young to feel it but she was sure it was the best feeling that a person could feel in his entire life.
Yumi was taken aback when she saw Luke open his devious eyes. She dashed away, but she accidently bumped into the lampshade, which tumbled to the floor.
"Who are you?" Luke asked aloud as he groped the side of the bed.
Yumi felt even more pity because she knew the situation of a blind boy like Luke was difficult. She still didn't say a word and she kept her eyes on Luke.
"I know someone is here! I'm not imagining you, get away, don't hurt me!" Luke's abundant tears began to flow.
He forced himself to balance to stand up and he wanted to find the source of the noise earlier. As he acted, Yumi walked away. She was struggling to squeeze into the side of the cabinet, luckily she was skinny so she fit in there. Yumi was even more confused when the door opened.
"Hey, crazy boy!"
The angry man's voice was familiar. Yumi remembers that voice of Sir Dante who was her aunt's terror boss.
"Don't hurt me, papa," Luke begged and seemed to have lost his strength as he lay down on the bed and quickly wrapped himself in a thick blanket.
"Get well huh! You must be healed because I still need to benefit from you! If you do not recover, I will not send you to another country for surgery and send you back to your family!" Dante threatened to be heartless to the young man.
Luke's response was only tears as he hid in the blanket. His adoptive father left him in tears. Ever since he landed at the mansion, Mother Lingling and Ms. Nelia, Sir Dante's wife, have been obliged to take care of him. He knew that Sir Dante wasn't good to him, he's one of the reasons why he was unable to overcome the disease. His illness was further triggered by his father's way of treating him.
Yumi was just stunned upon witnessing the suffering of young boy, Luke, if she only had the courage, she would talk to him and calm him down in tears. But she also found out from Mother Lingling that Luke is mentally sick apart from being blind, Luke is said to have a mental disorder and he also knows that he will be considered part of this part of the hallucination.
It's better to keep herself away from him. When Sir Dante finds out that she is in the mansion, Mother Lingling's work may even be at risk.