The Alchemists

Mrs. Lu sighed softly when she looked at Nicolae with her deep eyes.

"Marie doesn't have anyone. Apart from being an only child, I also don't have any family in this world anymore. Her father and I grew up in an orphanage. We don't know who our family was ... Our fate was the same, we were sent to the orphanage when we were infants."

Nicolae remembered his brother who also never knew his parents and grew up in an orphanage. He felt growing sympathy for Marie and her mother.

"I understand how you feel..." he could only say those words, without revealing too much about his family.

Mrs. smiled a little. Her gaze seemed to see something far away in the past. "Peter, my husband, was later adopted when he was a teenager, but his family died in a traffic accident. He was once again alone in the world."

Nicolae just stayed where he was listening to Mrs. Lu's story about her past together with her husband. After Peter Lu lost his adopted family, he returned to Singapore and studied here. At university, he met Rosamund, who was his childhood friend at the orphanage.

Their love grew since they were little and blossomed when they spent a lot of time together in university. Peter and Rosamund finally decided to get married when Peter got a job offer in London. He left first, and Rosamund would follow after graduation.

Unfortunately, bad luck befell the young couple. The new type of aircraft Peter was boarding suffered engine failure and crashed in the mountains. None of the passengers survived.

Rosamund experienced a difficult pregnancy because of the stress of being left behind by her soul mate in such a short time. Her health never recovered after she gave birth to Marie, but the woman struggled to survive while caring for her daughter because she did not want Marie to be raised in an orphanage like her.

All the money that Peter left behind was invested for Marie's living expenses. After Rosamund was admitted to the hospital, she managed to make sure there was always someone taking care of Marie so that her daughter could stay in school, and most importantly ... not taken by the state.

"My assistant claimed to be Marie's distant relative so that Marie could stay at home, not be taken by the social services to be admitted to an orphanage while I'm in a hospital like this ..." said Mrs. Lu with a happy face. Her voice sounded proud, as she looked at her daughter lovingly. "My smart daughter managed to take care of herself and grow well. She has grown into an amazing woman, don't you agree?"

She patted her daughter's cheek affectionately, and Marie just looked down with a smile.

"Mother must be very proud," Nicolae commented honestly. "Marie is indeed amazing."

"You are right... I'm very proud of her. Marie is my moon and my stars."

"Mom... I already told Nicolae about all that ... If you repeat it like that, he will be bored ..." Marie said to her mother.

"Ahh .. it's okay, I'm never tired listening to stories about you," Nicolae said hurriedly.

He was impressed by Mrs. Lu's story about her daughter. His view of the girl had changed a little now. He knew Marie had deliberately prevented her mother from telling him too much about her past because she was ashamed and didn't want' Nicolae to feel sorry for her.

"Ah, you heard the man. Nicolae loves hearing stories about you ..." Mrs. Lu chuckled. "Oh, by the way... what happened to your flower shop? Do you still manage your flower shop like before?"

Marie nodded. "I do, Mom. I also just secured a contract to supply flowers to several hotel chains. Everything is going well."

"Hmm ... I'm glad to hear that. Then where do you two live after getting married?" Mrs. Lu asked again.

"We both live in my apartment ..." Marie answered.

"On Robertson Road," Nicolae added.

For a moment, Mrs. Lu frowned in surprise. "Isn't your apartment in ...?"

"I ... I have moved, recently ..." Marie said hurriedly. "Now, I live on Robertson Road."

Nicolae did not understand why Marie looked a little panicked. Did Marie live somewhere else before? This was not a strange thing, right? People can move house for one reason or another. Why did Marie look so uncomfortable?

"I moved there because the location was very strategic, Mom. We really like staying there," Marie added.

"Hmmm ... it looks like everything is going well with you. I see that you guys are very compatible. I am very happy to hear that," said Mrs. Lu softly. The woman's face winced again in pain, and for a moment, she couldn't make a sound.

When she saw Mrs. Lu's fists clenched and her knuckles turned white, Nicolae turned to Marie and saw the girl's face turn pale and tears welled in her eyes.

Obviously, the girl knew the suffering her mother was going through, but she held back and said nothing. Just like Mrs. Lu who was used to hiding her pain, Marie was used to pretending not to see her mother hiding the excruciating pain she was having.

The sight stunned Nicolae. He saw how much the mother loved her daughter. She did not want her child to worry about the pain she was experiencing, while the daughter seemed very fond of her mother and pretended not to see the pain experienced by her mother so that her mother did not feel worried.

This is a scene that broke Nicolae's gentle heart. For a few minutes, the three said nothing. Mrs. Lu then took a deep breath, and it seemed that the pain she had experienced had now dissipated.

She smiled again and then turned to Nicolae. Her hand touched the young man's cheek, and her voice sounded very soft when she spoke seriously.

"Nicolae, you are a very good young man. Thank you for willing to come here to help my daughter. Actually, I truly wish... you could be the man that will love and protect my beloved daughter, but sadly, I know that you two are only pretending ..."