The Alchemists

"What did you say??? You are married?!?"

"Married? Without telling us, your family?!?"

Terry and Alaric blurted at the same time when they heard Nicolae muttering that he and Marie were married when they were having s.e.x.

Nicolae was astonished to see the enthusiasm on their faces. He thought they were too much.

"It's a long story," said the young man, shrugging. "I don't want to discuss it now."

Alaric and Terry exchanged glances. Obviously, both of them seemed dissatisfied.

"I have been your best friend for more than one decade. How could you get married and not tell me that important news? Is our friendship that meaningless to you?" slammed Terry.

"And I'm your brother. I don't think there is anyone in this world closer to you than me. We shared 9 months together in our mother's w.o.m.b. Even if you didn't tell your best friend, you should at least tell me. Moreover, you got married in Singapore, where I stay most of the time. How outrageous ..." Alaric joined in criticizing his brother.

The words of the two men made Nicolae shake his head. "That's not what happened. It was only temporary. I told Marie to take care of the annulment as soon as I left. Surely, now she must have taken care of it."

"Temporary? I don't understand ..." Terry sat in Nicolae's sun chair and pushed his friend's b.u.t.t aside so he could get a space there. He then grabbed Nicolae's shoulders and asked urgently. "You have to tell me everything. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep."

"Gosh ... what is this? If you can't sleep, ask my father for sleeping pills... Don't blame me," grumbled Nicolae.

Alaric frowned and looked closely at his brother.

"Her name is Marie, huh? You know, Nic ... if you don't want to tell me, I can easily order Pavel or Takeshi to look for information about the girl. Especially since she lives in Singapore. Now... you can tell us. I ... along with Terry will promise not to tell anyone. Or ..." He smiled a little, "or I will find out who she is and pay her a visit as a good brother-in-law."

"Ishh .. why would you come to see her? Don't you have anything better to do?" grumbled Nicolae. He then waved his hand and rolled his eyes, finally giving up. "Okay. Her name is Marie Lu. She has a flower shop in the city center near my apartment. We met several times."

"You only met a few times, but you immediately decided to get married? Wow ... maybe this runs in the family, huh? You and your brother are the same," Terry commented. "Let's continue."

"Ugh ... you guys really want to know? Okay ... I'll tell you what happened. But don't you dare tell the others," Nicolae finally said.

"I promise not to tell anyone," Terry said, raising his right hand solemnly. Alaric just nodded, but anyone knew that the man could keep his promise.

"All right. I met Marie several times when I was in Singapore. One day, she suddenly asked for my help to be her fake husband. Her mother had been lying sick for a long time. Her condition was very bad, but she tried so hard to stay alive, even though she was in extreme pain. She even had to be put in a medically induced coma for a long time so she would not suffer too much ...

"However, her mother struggled so hard to stay alive. According to Marie, the only reason she did not give up was that she was worried about leaving her only child alone in the world."

"Oh ..." Alaric was stunned to hear Nicolae's story. He could immediately sympathize with Marie because he understood what it's like to lose a parent. Especially since Alaric loved his mother deeply. "So... she asked you to pretend to be her husband ... to give her mother peace of mind?"

Nicolae nodded. "You can guess what happened. At first, we only pretended in front of her mother. But Mrs. Lu was very smart. She knew it was a lie. I didn't have the heart to see her devastated... So, I proposed to Marie right then and there in front of her mother. We were married in the hospital chapel the next day."

"Hmm ..." Alaric remembered something, and then he looked at his brother with a serious expression. "Then, this happened when you were still in Singapore? When exactly did Altair and Vega know Marie?"

"Before your wedding anniversary, last September to early October. I told Marie to annul our marriage after her mother died. I don't have time to do it myself ... Besides, I don't want her to bear the status of a married woman since I would leave immediately. She has a long future ahead of her, and she will definitely meet another man," Nicolae said. Somehow, his voice began to falter. "We both know the marriage was only temporary ... She and I got carried away after her mother died and we slept together ..."

Actually, this was his fault. It was he who left Marie and told her to annul their marriage. At that time, Nicolae did not know that he had fallen in love with the girl. Now, imagining Marie annulling their union and finding another man to marry... Nicolae's heart was troubled. He didn't like to imagine Marie dating another man, married him, and slept with him ...

Ah ... for some reason, his c.h.e.s.t began to feel heavy when he imagined all the possibilities. He really didn't like it.

"Do you think she likes you?" Terry asked. He knew his best friend very well, and for the past three months, he had suspected something was amiss when he saw the young man dating different women who all had similar appearances.

Only when he saw Marie's photo did he understand what was happening. He knew Nicolae had unknowingly fallen in love with the girl. But what about Marie's own feelings? He needed to know before telling Nicolae what to do.

"Uhm ... when we were together, I did see that she seemed to have feelings for me. That's why I avoided her. I didn't want to give her hope. At that time, I wasn't ready to open my heart to new love ..." Nicolae answered.

Now, he could only regret his decision. It took him three months of dating different women and being reprimanded by the people close to him ... that he finally realized his own feelings for Marie.

"You are so stupid ..!" slammed Terry again. He massaged his forehead. "It's been three months. Hopefully, when you meet her again, she still has some feelings for you. You don't fall in love easily. Why did you have to chase out the only girl you like?"

"Hey ... I didn't know, okay? At that time, I was still heartbroken. I didn't want to make Marie my rebound. She was too good for that ..." Nicolae said.

"Okay, then, after this holiday, you have to hurry to Singapore and meet her. Tell her your true feelings," Terry urged.

"Yes ... yes. I thought so too," Nicolae said. "What do you think I've been doing for the past few days? I have thought about it carefully. I don't want to hurt her by giving her hope when I'm not yet sure of how I feel. So for the past three days, I've searched my heart and thought a lot about my own feelings ..."

Alaric touched Nicolae's hand and patted it softly. "Good luck."

Alaric really wanted to see Nicolae happy, and he would support his brother in every way. No matter what, Nicolae was his dearest brother. He felt uneasy being the only man in their family who was having a good life with the woman he loved.

He wanted to see his father and brother also find the women they could love and share life with. He really wanted Nicolae to find the love of his life and have his biological children with her.

He knew how his brother would be a good father. All these years, Nicolae took care of Altair and Vega as his own and poured so much affection to them. Nicolae deserved to have his own child.