The Zhu family was one of the very few families in the upper echelon that maintained their status for generations. Their connections stretched to every industry, but no one truly knew how deep and strong the strings they could pull behind the scenes.
Aside from the reputation of the current head of the LYON Group of Companies, Dominic Zhu, the previous heads of the family — Dominic's father and grandmother — had a much more respectable reputation. Every time those people would speak, everyone had to listen. But other than that, no one truly knows the actual nature of the family and their relationship to one another.
Having such a wealthy, influential, and powerful family, it wouldn't be surprising if many assumed the family members' relationship was fragile, constantly battling each other for inheritance. In actuality, the reality was different.
The Zhu Family had a close relationship with each other. Unlike his nonchalant and aloof personality, Dominic was surprisingly filial. Even Father Zhu and Mother Zhu (Dominic's parents) were kind people. Not to mention his grandmother, the Old Madam Zhu. Their status might be intimidating, but they held no prejudice in people's statuses and the sort.
It was the reason Heaven and Dominic's marriage went through smoothly. No one on his side objected.
Heaven didn't focus on this memory of the original Heaven until she tagged along with Dominic after hearing the news.
'It was very different from my family,' she thought, standing a step behind Dominic as the latter sat down on the chair beside the bed. Dominic carefully held the old woman's wrinkly hand. Even though she couldn't see his expression, his stiff shoulders already told her a lot.
The family the current Heaven grew up with was the complete opposite of Dominic's. The environment was full of dangers. She was always surrounded by weapons growing up, and disappearances were normal occurrences.
When she was young, she would always look for the uncles and aunties that she had grown attached to. She didn't know the real reason for their sudden disappearance until Heaven grew a little older. Those uncles and aunties didn't just go far away for a mission but died or were captured, only to be sentenced to death. Her own family executed others after discovering their ill-intention toward her.
Heaven had to ingest the bitter pill of the nature of the family she was born in. Soon enough, she accepted the reality of her life. She was not born a princess in a castle that gave her the privilege of being who she wanted to be, but she was born to be the queen of that hell.
There was no other choice.
'Back then, I thought that sort of family is the standard family and the ones in my mind were fictional,' she thought, watching the Old Madam slowly open her eyes after minutes. 'Dominic, you are one lucky bastard.'
Heaven kept a stoic front, not saying a word to respect Dominic's silence. If she could, she would excuse herself. However, she didn't know how to approach the man at this moment.
"Dom, you're here." The Old Madam chuckled weakly as soon as she recognized the man sitting beside her bed. "Did I make you worry?"
"Grandma, what were you doing for you to faint?" Dominic frowned. "Doctor Peng already told you to refrain from straining yourself. You're not getting younger."
to assist her. He grabbed a pillow, putting it on the old woman's back so she could recline 09:40
comfortably.
"This brat." The Old Madam Zhu propped her elbow to sit up. As if on cue, Dominic rose from the chair to assist her. He grabbed a pillow, putting it on the old woman's back so she could recline comfortably.
"I am only in the youthful 70s," argued Old Madam Zhu, facing his grandchild with a frown. "I can still run a few laps if I want to."
"Grandma." Dominic frowned. "I heard you fainted because you've been doing aerobics since morning. Exercise is good, but too much is not."
"You still have to eat a lot of rice before you can lecture me." The Old Madam Zhu argued stubbornly like a child. After a second, she caught a figure from the corner of her eyes. When she moved her eyes to look at the person better, Heaven instantly stood properly and bowed to greet her.
"Heaven, child!" the old Madam's face brightened up. "Come here, child. It's been a while since you visited me."
Old Madam Zhu patted the space on the bed. "I'd rather chat with you than get lectured by your husband."
'Oh…' A memory suddenly resurface in Heaven's mind but didn't dwell on it that much as she nodded. She marched toward the bed, but since Dominic was already on the other side of the bed, she walked around to sit on the other side. Although he had a chair beside the bed, Heaven didn't want to block his view.
"Hehe. You promised you will visit Grandma often." Old Madam Zhu immediately held her hand gently. "Did you lose weight, my child? Is this punk not taking care of you?"
"Grandma." Heaven smiled subtly, a little conflicted about how to answer that.
"Just tell Grandma if this brat is giving you a hard time, hmm? Even if I'm already in my late 70s, I can still set him straight for you."
'Actually… I was the one who was giving him a hard time.' Heaven bit her tongue to stop herself from throwing herself under the bus.
"Heaven…" Old Madam Zhu sighed, looking at the young lady with genuine affection and worry. "Have you been unhappy? Is Grandma hurting you?"
"What?" Heaven's breath hitched, seeing the sincerity in the old Madam's eyes.
Meanwhile, Dominic frowned but didn't say a word. He knew why Old Madam Zhu fainted. It wasn't just because she did continuous exercise, but because the news about their marriage reached her.
"You don't have to lie to Grandma anymore, child. I heard what happened." Old Madam Zhu nodded in understanding. "Grandma is sorry for not knowing I have been pressuring you and for not seeing how unhappy you were."
"Grandma, you should rest first." This time, Dominic couldn't help but speak.
"Shut up!" Old Madam Zhu glared at him. "You are the reason little Heaven is unhappy. Did you think I will not know about the divorce? When are you planning to tell us about it, huh?!"
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