Chapter 55
Lucinda supported Hayden's arm, her pace steady and measured, perfectly matching the old man's rhythm.
Outside the main entrance, the crowd was still watching and waiting.
Someone spotted Hayden's figure first and shouted, "He's coming out!" Every eye in the crowd turned toward them.
Then they saw the young woman beside Hayden.
Pale yellow blouse. Hair draped over her shoulders. Simple and composed. She supported Hayden's arm with a naturalness that looked like she'd done it a thousand times before.
"Isn't that the woman who just went in... Why is she helping Mr. Hayden Lancaster out?"
"Who is she? A Lancaster family relative? Or..."
"Not a relative. I've met every Lancaster family relative. She's not one of them."
Allegra stood at the back of the crowd, her gaze locked on Lucinda's hand resting on Hayden's arm.
Lucinda again! How is this possible? How could she have gotten in with the Lancaster family?
No. Impossible.
She must have used some kind of seductive trick.
Allegra's face darkened. She tugged on Gemma's sleeve and leaned close to her mother's ear. "Mom, I know what's going on. She's trying to get into Mr. Hayden Lancaster's bed. She can't get the young ones, so she goes after the old ones."
Gemma's pupils contracted slightly. She turned to look at her daughter.
Allegra's lips curled into a cold sneer, her gaze contemptuous. "Two men a day isn't enough for her. Now she won't even let old men go. Lucinda—she's really something."
Gemma opened her mouth, about to say something, but as she watched Lucinda help Hayden out, that thought took root in her mind, growing larger and larger until it became a fact she believed.
She bit down hard, her voice squeezing through clenched teeth. "Shameless."
Soon, Lucinda helped Hayden into her car.
The vehicle passed through the crowd and drove smoothly along the wide boulevard.
Hayden leaned back in his seat, in the best mood imaginable. He looked out the window one moment, at Lucinda the next, the smile lines around his mouth never fading.
Suddenly, he spoke, turning toward the person in the passenger seat. "Chase, take that thing out."
A man in his fifties sat in the passenger seat—Hayden's personal assistant, Chase.
He responded and retrieved an object wrapped in silk cloth from his briefcase, handing it over with both hands.
Hayden accepted it carefully and unwrapped the cloth, revealing a yellowed antique book.
The cover was made of navy silk with gold embroidery forming a few characters. It clearly had some history to it.
"What's this?" Lucinda's gaze settled on the book, pausing briefly.
"A medical text." Hayden handed the book to her, his tone casual. "I collected it when I was younger. Supposedly a handwritten copy from an imperial court physician in ancient times. You can't buy it anywhere. It's just gathering dust at my place. You're good at medicine—you should use it."
Lucinda accepted the medical text and opened the cover.
The pages had yellowed, but the handwriting was clear and neat. Each page was accompanied by detailed meridian diagrams.
She flipped through a few pages. Her gaze froze slightly.
Several of the formulas recorded in this book were ones she'd only seen referenced in ancient indexes. They were supposedly lost to history.
Her fingers gently brushed the edge of the pages. She stayed silent for a moment.
"Mr. Hayden Lancaster, this is too precious. I can't accept it."
"Precious? What's precious about it?" Hayden put on a stern face and pushed the book into her hands. "Leaving it at my place is the real waste. You take it and read it. If you can understand it, that's its good fortune. If you don't take it, I'll throw it out the window right now."
He moved as if to roll down the window.
Lucinda reacted quickly, pressing her hand over his. Her mouth twitched. "I'll take it. I'll take it, okay?"
Only then did Hayden smile with satisfaction, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out. "That's more like it. Young people shouldn't be so polite with old folks. All that back-and-forth will make my blood pressure spike."
Lucinda tucked the medical text into her bag, thinking that Hayden was just like Reginald—neither of them played by the rules.
One gave necklaces and hotels. The other gave medical texts... Before she could finish the thought, Hayden pulled a black card from his pocket and held it out. "Take this too. You came to pick me up today. Can't let you make the trip for nothing."
Lucinda glanced down at the card. No bank logo. No stated limit. But the quality of it—you could tell at a glance it wasn't ordinary.
She pushed the card back. "I accepted the medical text. I really don't need this."
Hayden's hand froze mid-air. The expression on his face shifted from expectant to aggrieved, then from aggrieved to stubborn.
He looked at Lucinda for two seconds, then suddenly sighed, tucked the card back into his pocket, his tone reluctant. "Fine. If you don't want it, you don't want it. Then I'll do it another way."
Lucinda thought he'd given up. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she heard Hayden turn to Chase in the passenger seat. "Chase, call the lawyer. Have him draft a contract and send it to the house tonight."
"Will do." Chase had already pulled out his phone, moving with practiced efficiency.
Lucinda's brow twitched. "What contract?"
Hayden waved his hand dismissively, his tone light. "Nothing much. Just a little something. Don't worry about it. You'll just need to sign it when the time comes."
"Mr. Hayden Lancaster—"
"Look outside—the weather's so nice today." Hayden suddenly pointed out the window.
Lucinda looked at him. She stayed silent for two seconds.
Suddenly, she had a feeling that whatever Hayden was planning was going to be even more absurd than Reginald giving her a necklace.
She leaned back in her seat and sighed, deciding not to ask for now.
Asking wouldn't stop him anyway. This entire family, from oldest to youngest, was cut from the same cloth.
Seeing that she'd stopped pressing, Hayden's lips curved slightly. He shot Chase a look.
The car entered the elite residential district where the Lancaster Estate was located.
From a distance, they could see a large crowd gathered outside the community entrance—all well-dressed, holding gift boxes, craning their necks to peer inside.
Barriers, security guards, police tape. The setup was even more elaborate than the one at the nursing facility.
Lucinda glanced through the window and recognized a few faces.
The vice president of the Starlight City Chamber of Commerce. The chairman of a publicly listed corporation. A few familiar faces who regularly appeared on the covers of financial magazines.
All of them major players. People who were usually surrounded by entourages wherever they went. Now they stood outside like ordinary passersby, forced to watch the security guards' expressions.
Her gaze swept over the crowd and suddenly paused.
Marshall stood near the front, beside a middle-aged woman in a royal blue suit—his mother, Tatum Roberts.
Both of them held gift boxes, their expressions shifting from anticipation to irritation.
"These people again." Hayden leaned back in his seat, his tone carrying a note of annoyance. "Every year, same thing. So tiresome. Driver, tell security to keep a close watch. Don't let a single one of them through."
"Yes, sir." The driver responded and quickly typed a few words on his phone.
The car didn't slow down. It drove straight toward the gate.
The moment the guards saw the license plate, they immediately pushed aside the barriers and stood at attention, saluting.
The car passed through the crowd. Every eye followed it.
"That car again! It was the same one at the nursing facility!"
"Who's inside? Why does no one stop them, but they stop us?"
"Didn't you see? That's the car that picked up Mr. Hayden Lancaster!"
The crowd buzzed with speculation, voices overlapping.
Tatum craned her neck, trying to get a look in that direction. She only managed to catch a blurry glimpse of a profile.
Her brow furrowed. She had the nagging feeling she'd seen that face somewhere before.