Chapter 1012A single glance at Yael and his perverted leer at Lacey told Zeke exactly what he needed to know
about the lowlife gangster he was dealing with. A fit of different anger was boiling in his chest.
Yael did not get to touch any woman, much less his woman. Zeke’s thoughts were coldly calculating,
despite his seething anger. Yael was looking for death.
Without saying another word, Zeke planted his foot into Yael’s stomach with all the force of a spine-
shattering kick.
Cursing and swearing loudly, Yael was flung backward. His pathetic threats resounded in the
mountains long after he vanished out of sight.
“Just you f**king wait! You ain’t walking out of these mountains alive no more…”
Ignoring Yael, Zeke just took Lacey’s hands in his own, staring into her eyes. Lacey struggled, but it
was a futile effort.
“Zeke, let go of me. I don’t want to spread the sickness to you.”
Zeke sucked in a surprised breath. “Lacey, what sickness?”
Lacey stopped struggling. Sighing quietly, she looked out to the vast expanse of the mountains
sprawled before them. “Watch the scenery with me, Zeke.”
Soundlessly, Zeke agreed. Side by side, they sat on the large stone that had been Lacey’s frequent haunt over the past three
days.
The early twilight cast their figures into long shadows, stretching forward endlessly. Before them, the
sunset turned the towering mountain into a burnished shade of gold. High up here, the wild scenery
was chillingly beautiful, a little slice of heaven on earth.
It was in the face of such jagged beauty that Lacey confessed the secret that had been slowly
consuming her. “I have cancer, Zeke. The doctor told me it was signet ring cell carcinoma and... and it
causes accelerated aging. I’ll be dead in a matter of months.”
She breathed a melancholy sigh. “It’s contagious too. I didn’t want you to get it or see me dying and
wasting away. So, I ran away.”
The gears in Zeke’s mind whirred soundlessly, thinking about what Lacey had said. He was well-aware
about signet ring cell carcinoma, but something else troubled him.
“But that’s impossible.” Zeke was stunned. “That particular type of cancer has been extinct since the
eighties. Lacey, you look healthy. You don’t have any symptoms either, haven’t you noticed?”
He grabbed Lacey’s wrist gently, quickly carrying out a pulse diagnosis.
A moment later, Zeke asked seriously, “Lacey, do you trust my medical skills?”
“Absolutely.” Lacey nodded. She had personally witnessed Zeke cure brain-dead patients who were deemed permanently
vegetative. His top-notch medical skills were nothing else but short of miraculous.
Zeke broke into a relieved smile. “Believe me, you’re very healthy. Forget about cancer, you don’t even
have a hint of a cold.”
Zeke left something unsaid, however.
Lacey actually appeared to have been poisoned. It had all the typical witchcraft-like marks of venomous
insect poisoning. The mystery, in this case, was that it was a poison that Zeke had never seen before,
despite his broad experience.
It was also yet another mystery how Lacey remained unaffected by the venom. Her body had naturally
neutralized the toxins in the venom, leaving only traces of it remaining in her system that posed zero
threat to her health.
Lacey looked incredibly confused. “How is that even possible?”
She looked aside, lost in thought. “Director Kingston—he was the director in charge of the employee
health exams—and the attending physician at the Atheville Affiliate Hospital all confirmed that I had
signet ring cell carcinoma!”
“It was very likely that it was a trap, Lacey,” Zeke said gravely. “Both Director Kingston and the
attending physician who diagnosed you vanished mysteriously after you left. Someone must have paid
them to mislead you so you would leave me.”
It was almost too much for Lacey. “A true physician has the heart of a parent,” Lacey said angrily. Her face was pale with the force of her
outrage. “How could they use abuse their position to torture other people like this? They’re disgracing
the entire medical industry!”
“Don’t worry, Lacey. I swear I’ll help you get justice for this, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
He hastily drew Lacey into his arms when she started looking teary-eyed again. Lacey’s sobs rattled
against his chest as she said, “You know, I thought I was never going to see you again, Zeke. You
really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He stroked her hair tenderly. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Soundlessly, Lacey agreed.
The two of them were holding each other’s hands tightly, deathly afraid that the other would disappear
into thin air if they let go.
However, just as they were about to leave, Yael appeared to block their path, leading a gang of grizzled
villagers that looked as seedy as he did. They quickly surrounded Zeke and Lacey.
Yael’s snorting laughter grated on their ears. “I told you I’d be back, huh? You won’t be escaping this
time! I want payback for the leg you ruined.”
“But I’m a considerate man.” Yael smiled cruelly. “Leave me ten million for my medical fees and the
b*tch to accompany me for a night. Then I’ll consider letting you go, how about that?” noveldrama