Chapter 365 The Old Woman’s Intentions
Not long after the old lady had left Zachary’s room, the nurse came by for another routine check. Noticing Zachary
still fast asleep in his bed, she tapped him gently on the shoulder to wake him.
Zachary opened his eyes and blinked a few times dazedly. Did he fall asleep again? It felt like he had just woken up
not long ago. Was he still dreaming? These days, he could barely differentiate his dreams from reality. Things that
happened in his dreams happened in real life too, like his alarm clock ringing and hist morning routine which include
brushing his teeth and washing his face… It was usually halfway through his dream when he would wake up
unexpectedly and realizing it was all a figment of his imagination. Sometimes, he would even feel the urgency of
needing to use the toilet while stuck in his dream, only to find that he had wet the bed.
Zachary felt that same strange feeling right now, like he was caught in between a dream and reality. He recalled
waking up to look for his father, but he could not say how he had ended up in bed again. Perhaps it was all a dream
from the beginning…
T
Noticing that Zachary was caught up with his own thoughts in his world again, the nurse shook her head
sympathetically, thinking the poor child must be going through a lot right now. She said a silent prayer for his
surgery to be successful so he could lead a normal life once more before leaving the room.
As the nurse left. Liam entered the room and looked at the time. It was 7.50am. He had left the room for barely ten
minutes and Zachary had already woken up. Liam wondered why his son had woken up so soon after falling asleep
just a while ago, but he decided against saying anything. “Have some breakfast, Zac. It won’t taste exactly like
home, but it’s pretty good!” Liam said as he unpacked a giant takeaway food box filled with an egg and cheese
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtburrito, some yogurt and hot cocoa.
His father was right, Zac thought. Nothing else could compare against homecooked food, but he ate his breakfast
obediently anyway. As the father and son ate quietly, the room was so silent that Gilbert almost thought there was
no one in the room when he dropped by.
“Zac, your surgery has been set for tomorrow at nine in the morning. Don’t eat too much today.” Gilbert reminded
his nephew as he looked at his watch. “Don’t worry too much, son. The surgeon is one of my mentees. He’s a great,
meticulous guy!” Gilbert reassured.
Zachary swallowed in fear as he automatically translated his uncle’s words to mean, “Don’t worry too much, son.
The surgeon has plenty of experience cutting heads wide open”.
Gilbert was already used to his nephew’s lack of response by now. “It’s just a simple procedure to remove the blood
clot from your brain. There’s a 95% success rate for the surgery, and my mentee has never botched any of his
surgeries before!” he added.
Zachary considered his uncle’s words. That meant that he had to prepare himself for a 5% chance of dying. Uncle
Gilbert said a few more reassuring words to Zachary and his father before returning to his ward rounds.
After eating breakfast and going through his routine morning check-up by the nurses, Zachary took out a pen and
paper and began writing his will. Even though he had already stopped gaming, his main “crowzee” account was still
worth at least millions. He had a side account that would easily sell for $10,000 since he had bought so many
characters and limited-edition skins. He also had about $500,000 left in savings. He decided he would leave it all to
Lilly, together with any money he made once he sold off all his gaming character figurines. He would leave his two
unfinished textbooks to Hannah.
Zachary frowned as he realized that was about all the assets he had. He thought about how adults usually left their
children land or houses or cars when they died, but he had none of those at all. Well, he could not just die like that
with nothing to his name, could he He had to live for a few more years and work
1/3
hard to buy a house and car for Lilly, along with a few plots of land.
Lilly and her family arrived just as Zachary finished writing his will. Sharp-eyed Josh immediately caught sight of the
paper Zachary was holding and made a grab for it. “What is this?” he asked curiously. “Let me see it!” Zachary
quickly pulled back, preventing Josh from grabbing the paper.
“Fine, I don’t need to see it,” Josh rolled his eyes.
Lilly tilted her head as she looked at Zachary. “Zac, are you okay?” she asked out of concern.
Pablo too noticed the defeated look on Zachary’s face and shook his head. “The kid hasn’t even gone through the
surgery yet and he’s already looking like he’s going to die…”
Lilly still felt like something was not right. “Master, did Zac get cursed by an evil spirit or something?” she
whispered.
“Of course not! Don’t say things like that blindly,” Pablo shook his head. Even though the hospital had a bad aura
and spirits wandering around, Pablo would have easily been able to tell if Zac was struck by an evil spirit, Pablo
figured the boy was just more likely overly hopped up on medication, not realizing that the old lady had drugged
him. Pablo and Lilly were too used to supernatural spirits being the cause of trouble that they completely forgot that
human beings were perfectly capable of evil too.
Lilly climbed onto Zachary’s bed and peered at him curiously. “Zac, did you see anything untoward? Or met with
any strange incident?”
Zachary stiffened. “No, why would you say that? Don’tjinx me,” he retorted, having completely forgotten about his
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmencounter with the old lady.
Lilly quickly put her hands to her mouth. “That’s not what I meant, Zac!” she said apologetically.
“Hmph!” Zachary let out an annoyed sound before stuffing the handwritten will into Lilly’s hands. “Keep. this
properly. You can only open it up after the surgery, got it?”
Lilly looked at the piece of paper curiously. “What is it she asked. She wanted nothing more than to find out what
was written on the inside, but she respected Zac’s wishes and put the piece of paper into her little. bag pack.
The very next day, it was almost time for Zachary’s surgery. His nerves began to kick in as he was wheeled closer
and closer toward the operating theater. A little hand reached out for his as Lilly’s sweet voice filled his ears. “You
can do this, Zac! You’re the best! You’ll come out of the surgery just fine!” she said as she tied something around
his wrist.
“I made you a good luck bracelet! Don’t take it off!” Lilly told him. The bracelet had little triangle charm threaded
together by a red string. In that moment, Zachary felt all of his fears and nerves dissipate. He looked into Lilly’s
eyes without saying a word, searching for the calm reassurance she always brought him. It was just moments
before the anesthesia kicked in and he lost consciousness when he finally muttered, “Okay, Lilly…”
During Zachary’s surgery, the old woman was in the last ward at the end of the corridor. She held a small wooden
stake in her hands as she chanted some indecipherable gibberish and hopped around the room. as if in a trance.
There was a little straw man with a piece of paper stuck on it placed in front of her, with Zachary’s name and date
of birth written on it. Her young grandson had suffered through various calamities and bouts of bad luck since his
birth. She was performing a ritual to transfer all her grandson’s bad luck onto Zachary, so that Zachary would bear
all his misfortune instead. Her poor grandson was
2/3