After Estella’s illness had taken a turn for the better, James disappeared for six months. He had been idle and spent his time globe-trotting. He contacted Lucian intermittently and occasionally sent photos of beautiful scenery from his travels.
He also hopped between Alendor and Archulea, saying he was researching the objective laws of human psychological evolution. He did go about it very professionally and even published many research papers.
Nonetheless, only Lucian knew he just wanted to take it easy and wanted no part in shouldering his family’s burdens.
The Lann family ran a fairly large business in Xendale that dealt in tea leaves, coffee, lumber, dry cargo, and many others. Over the past few years, it had begun collaborating with Farwell Group on foreign trade, which led to the business expanding by leaps and bounds.
However, James was content being a laid-back psychologist, enjoying traveling to every corner of the world. Once Roxanne heard James’ name, she nodded eagerly in agreement and barely even paused to think about it. I’m sure there won’t be any error in judgment as long as the candidate is someone Lucian recommends.
“What good timing. He’ll surely return to attend our wedding, so you can take that opportunity to force him to stay and get him to help you manage Flora Verba Group.”
As Lucian’s thoughts lingered on Jonathan and James, he could not help but think that the two seemed to have swapped lives.
The trio used to be schoolmates. Back then, James was like a careful and meticulous robot who could answer every question. He never stepped out of line and was the top in every subject.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was the polar opposite. He was always boisterous and liked to play many different sports. As for studying, he did not have much interest in it. Later on, both of them made very different choices upon encountering family responsibilities. As a result, their personalities and lives changed drastically.
After listening to Lucian’s detailed introduction of James’ background, Roxanne could not help feeling doubtful. “But if he doesn’t even want anything to do with his family’s business, what makes you so sure he’ll be willing to take over Flora Verba Group?”
“I believe he’ll agree to it because he covets your medical expertise. You just need to agree to teach him some of your medical skills.”
She had no issues with that. After all, any medical practitioner would be pleased to see medical knowledge and skills being passed on and continuing to flourish.
After deciding on a suitable candidate, the couple left the house and headed to the wedding venue to finalize a few plans.
Over at the hospital, Madilyn was busy working in her office when she heard a knock on the door. She called for the person to enter and smiled upon seeing that it was Jonathan.
“Mr. Queen, don’t tell me your stomach pains are acting up again?” she asked, her tone lighthearted. During the last follow-up check, his gastritis was better, and the gastric erosions in his stomach had healed. Hence, she did not think there would be any major issues.
Shaking his head, he pointed at his heart and replied frankly, “Madilyn, I feel as though there’s something wrong with me here.”
That shocked her, and she sprang to her feet at once. “A heart condition? No way. The last time I checked on you, your heart rate, blood pressure, and arteries were all fine.”
Madilyn’s mother had a close brush with death due to a heart condition not long ago, so it was still a very stressful topic for her. Jonathan shook his head again. After a while, he walked over to her desk and sat in front of it. “You should sit down, Madilyn. I want to have a proper chat with you.”
Observing his calm demeanor, she nodded and sat down. She quickly guessed that he was referring to his depression, and her heart grew heavy. This means he hasn’t completely dealt with his depression. What’s more, the relapse is more severe than before.
