The Alchemists

That night Nicolae could not sleep. His mind was filled with problems. The most severe one, of course, was letting go of Altair and Vega to return to their parents. He knew it would be truly unfair to his younger brother Alaric, who loved his two children dearly, if he kept taking the two children away from Alaric.

Why ... Why can't he find a woman for himself and have his own children so, he didn't have to share Altair and Vega? It is already very sad that these two brothers loved the same woman... and now they had to compete for the love and affection of her children.

[I took care of everything. The wedding will be held in the hospital chapel at 10 am tomorrow morning. Thanks. I owe you one.]

A text from Marie came at almost midnight. That reminded Nicolae that he had to force himself to sleep so that he wouldn't look sleepy and tired tomorrow morning in front of Mrs. Lu. Pretending needed immense energy, therefore he must rest.

Nicolae finally took two sleeping pills and forced himself to rest.

***

The next morning at 9.30 am, Nicolae arrived at Stamford Hospital. This time he was dressed in a neat suit. Even though for him, this was a fake marriage, but he still had to respect this procession and Mrs. Lu's presence, so he dressed up like a groom.

"You arrived early," said Marie, who emerged from her mother's ward after Nicolae knocked on the door. The girl closed the door behind her. "Mom is getting ready. She insisted that she wants to look beautiful at her daughter's wedding."

For a moment, Nicolae was stunned to see the girl's appearance. Yesterday was the first time he saw Marie in a yellow summer dress that looked very elegant, but this morning, he saw the girl wearing a white dress made of fine brocade, and this really made her look like a beautiful bride.

The girl even wore thin makeup that made her beautiful face look even more attractive. Her hair was fashioned in a small bun above her head. Overall she looked like a real bride. She also put considerable effort into looking her part for this fake marriage in front of her mother.

"Then I will wait in front of the chapel. Please let me know when you are ready." Nicolae refrained from complimenting Marie's appearance.

At five to ten, he got a text from Marie asking him to come to her mother's ward. The young man got up, put on his suit, and walked there.

In front of the door to Mrs. Lu's ward, he saw Marie standing elegantly while pushing her mother's wheelchair, accompanied by two nurses.

"Let's begin now," Marie said, smiling sweetly.

Nicolae nodded. He approached them, then took the wheelchair from Marie's hand and said gently, "Let me push it."

Mrs. Lu touched Nicolae's hand as he pushed her wheelchair and squeezed it softly. The woman looked very beautiful despite her frail condition. "Good morning, Nicolae ..."

"Good morning, Mother, how are you?"

Mrs. Lu nodded weakly, "I am fine. Thank you. You look very handsome today."

"Thank you. Mother looks very pretty too."

"Are you only going to compliment me?" asked Mrs. Lu in a feign of protest. "You're not going to compliment my daughter? You know she hates wearing a dress. All this time, she always looked casual. I think only you managed to change her. For two days in a row now, she had dressed up very elegantly and feminine because she came with you ..."

"Marie is always beautiful in anything," Nicolae said in praise. "I don't mind her wearing a tank top and ripped jeans. For me, she is still beautiful. But today, she does look different, and I really like it."

Hearing Nicolae's words, Marie blushed. She looked away, trying to hide the red tinge on her cheeks. For a moment, Nicolae was stunned by the girl's attitude. Today, she looked so adorable, but Nicolae didn't say anything more.

At the moment, the focus was to bring Ms. Lu to the chapel and have their fake marriage officiated. Later, he would leave it to Marie to take care of the annulment after her mother died.

By that time, Nicolae must have already gone back to Grosetto. He would be far away in Italy or even continued traveling around the world after handing Altair and Vega back to his brother.

Nicolae, Marie, and Mrs. Lu and the two nurses who helped her slowly but surely headed for the chapel of the Stamford Hospital.

When they arrived, it turned out, several doctors and nurses were waiting. They had been helping to take care of Mrs. Lu while she was being treated in this hospital. They all rose to welcome the small group when they arrived.

Their faces looked very happy.

"We are very pleased to hear this news. This is truly a very good day. You look wonderful today, Madam," said the doctors and nurses in the chapel.

"Thank you ... Thank you..." Mrs. Lu repeatedly returned their congratulations.

With an expression filled with happiness and a happy face, she held Nicolae's left hand and Marie's right hand.

After he placed Mrs. Marie's wheelchair among the guests, Nicolae crouched down and hugged Mrs. Lu's knees. "Mother, thank you for giving birth to this wonderful woman for me. I promise that I will love her and take care of her for the rest of my life. Sorry, I cannot hold a better and more festive wedding than this because of time constraints, but I promise that once you are well, we will have a grand wedding ceremony, that is so much better than this one. I will give what your daughter deserves ..." Nicolae said softly

Mrs. Lu nodded slowly and smiled. She said nothing.

"Then we will immediately begin the wedding ceremony," said the marriage registrar in a loud voice.

Nicolae got up and then stood beside Marie, who was already facing the registrar. To make it look more convincing, Nicolae deliberately clasped Marie's hand and squeezed it softly. They both seemed to love each other and were ready to get married.