Supreme Mars

When Marie hung up the phone, she was met with Lizzie and Mr. Harris' angry stares. Since Marie had put the call on loudspeaker, they had both heard the conversation between Marie and Shawn, loud and clear.

Neither Lizzie nor Mr. Harris had been aware of Shawn's scheme to extort money from Marie, and the knowledge of it now made their blood boil. Lizzie, for one, was incensed at Shawn's blatant shamelessness. Here she was, taking care of a debilitated Mr. Harris, all the while Shawn had been trying to use his illness to make a few quick bucks. "What a despicable guy," Lizzie thought.

When Mr. Harris turned to address Marie, his tone was firm and resolute. "Don't worry, young lady. You don't have to pay him a single cent. When he gets back, I'm going to give that ingrate son of mine a piece of my mind—" Mr. Harris' angry tirade ended in a series of violent coughs.

"I understand your frustrations, Mr. Harris," Leo said, stroking Mr. Harris' back. "But you can't do anything until you've regained your full health."

When he'd finally stopped hacking and coughing, Mr. Harris shook his head and gave Leo a pained look. "Oh, Leo..." A wry smile tugged on his lips. "I know you mean well, but you have to be realistic here. My health is long gone."

Instead of replying, Leo looked towards Marie. "Get me a trash can."

A sense of puzzlement filled Marie's mind at Leo's request. "What on earth does he need that for?" she thought.

Still, she complied and reached for the trash can stashed underneath the bed.

"This might hurt a little, Mr. Harris," Leo said. "Please bear with me, okay?"

Without waiting for Mr. Harris' reply, Leo gently lifted Mr. Harris' wrist and began massaging a spot near his wrist bone.

At first, Leo kept a steady and slow rhythm. But gradually, his ministration became faster and more forceful.

Mr. Harris breathing became increasingly ragged and his face pale. At one point, his throat began constricting, and he felt like throwing up.

Moments later, Mr. Harris felt his stomach expanding. Tightening his grip on the trash can, he bowed over the rim of the can and hurled out his stomach's contents.

Everyone in the room could stare in shock as the torrents of dark liquid poured out of Mr. Harris' gaping mouth. Leo suspected that Mr. Harris had been fed herbal medicine that had gone way past its expiry date. And from the looks of it, Leo was right.

"Oh, my God! Dad! Are you okay?" Lizzie said, already moving towards the bed but was held back by Nadine.

"He's fine," Nadine said in a calm tone.

"This is to empty the contents of Mr. Harris' stomach," Leo explained. "The herbs he consumed have yet to be digested, so he should be fine after this."

out a silver needle, the same needle

a sense of relief the moment Leo pushed the needle into

Leo worked deftly with

forehead,

said, bursting

the bedside with a wet towel and began

gave her another glance.

Marie's hands stilled. "Huh?"

through Marie the moment her eyes landed on Leo's

drenched. Somehow, Leo was sweating even more than

only one who

seeped into Mr. Harris' heart and lungs, so it would take a long time to get expel it with medication alone. Nadine, as well as anyone else who was highly trained in martial arts, knew that there was only

rid of the chill using one's Qi was the most

task. Rumor had it that only one in ten million martial artists possessed the skills to master's one's Qi. And the exceptional individuals

Spencer, who was a decent martial artist, had mastered

knew better. She understood that he was forcing the chill out of

minutes later, Mr. Harris let out a soft groan. By then, the color had returned to Mr. Harris' complexion, and he no longer looked pale or sickly. Rather, he looked like he was in

drawn to the tip of the needle, which was red and sizzling hot, like the residual embers of hot steel. The needle's burning tip sizzled the moment it met the

can, Leo wiped the sweat from his brow and

His limbs felt strong, and he no longer felt lethargic. Mr. Harris swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly climbed down the bed. When he took a few tentative steps, he knew. He knew that he'd

Harris

not seeing things," Lizzle

Harris, he himself couldn't believe that this was his body.

who had been shooting furtive glances at Leo, finally found her voice. "I know you're my brother-in-law and all that," she mumbled. "But who are

he'd pulled, Marie wasn't so sure anymore. First, there was the limited-edition Rolls-Royce parked outside. Then, there was the fact that he had a woman like Nadine doing his bidding. And now this? Marie would

passed in silence until Marie broke

almost five," Marie said, giving Leo a look of concern.

some kind of magical power, like she just knew that everything would turn out okay if she let him handle it. In a way, this was true. Before they came here, Marie saw the whole situation as hopeless. She couldn't see

far away from the city center." He looked towards Marie. "It's a secluded,

wasn't a local, so she had no idea where Middlehill Garden was. Lizzie, on the other hand, had heard of the place. "It's a very remote place, yes," Lizzie said, nodding anxiously. "Nobody hangs around there. I heard..."