CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: THE WOMAN HE LOVES

Josephine listened, her face full of disappointment, "So you haven’t found any crucial clues yet?"

"We haven’t found any useful information for now, just that he went to that sanatorium. And once he entered that sanatorium, he never came out."

"..." Josephine felt a blockage in her heart, falling into confusion.

That is to say.

The woman he loves so deeply has been living in the sanatorium?

What kind of woman could she be to captivate him so much?

"Josephine, I’m sending you the sanatorium’s information now. I’ll inform you if I find more useful details."

"Mm-hmm, okay."

Jamila hung up the phone.

Within a couple of minutes, she sent over some pictures and information about the sanatorium’s exterior.

"Buzz buzz..."

Josephine opened the pictures to take a look.

The sanatorium’s external signboard was in gilded English letters.

Translated, it reads ’Royal Garden Sanatorium’.

The place exuded a sense of high-end luxury, nestled amidst a mountain-water landscape, with picturesque surroundings. Even a casually taken photograph made the setting look like a retouched scenic shot.

One could imagine the extent of luxury inside.

"That woman has been living here all along? Why does she need to stay here?"

Josephine couldn’t figure it out, nor did she want to think about it any longer.

In recent days, she searched the internet for Nathaniel Gallagher’s past romantic rumors.

Unfortunately, she found nothing.

His romantic history was a blank slate, without any rumored girlfriends before marriage. Of course, it might be that his confidentiality was well-maintained, not that he was without women.

And he had already been in Vessia for a week.

During this week, he hadn’t made a single phone call to her. It was clear he was devoting himself entirely to that woman.

Thinking of this.

Josephine couldn’t help but feel a pang of sourness, blockage, and pain in her heart.

"Forget it, since we’ve decided to separate, what’s the point of getting jealous like this? It just makes me seem petty and laughable, lacking in dignity."

"If he no longer loves, then I shouldn’t love him either. The advantage of marrying young is probably being still young when divorcing!"

"It’s just that the cost of error is too high. Next time, I probably won’t have the courage to try again..."

Josephine’s heart was a mix of emotions, but she couldn’t stop her tears from flowing.

She just cried her heart out once and for all.

"Nathaniel Gallagher, this is the last time I’ll cry for you. From now on, you won’t be my husband anymore. We will return to being strangers... like strangers passing by!"

...

The next day.

Josephine and her grandfather were discharged together from the hospital.

"Josephine, your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, it’s best not to rush into work. Come home with grandpa, grandpa will find an old Chinese medicine doctor to help you recuperate."

Josephine helped her grandfather into the car, gravely saying, "Grandpa, I’ve already stayed in the hospital for ten days, and I feel completely better now."

"The artifacts that Professor Warren asked me to restore have also been delivered to my studio."

"I can’t waste any more time, I must restore them for Professor Warren as soon as possible. Once I successfully restore the artifacts, I’ll be able to apprentice under him and intern with him."

The old man listened, feeling both heartache and helplessness, "Ah~, you’ve been so determined since you were young. You’ve grown up, grandpa couldn’t stop you even if he wanted to."

"Do whatever you want to do! As long as you’re happy and healthy, grandpa is at ease."

Josephine mustered a small smile and obediently said, "Rest assured, grandpa, I won’t embarrass you, nor will I embarrass the Thornton Family."

"Hehe, you’ve always been the pride of the Thornton Family, and even more so the pride of grandpa."

"Let’s go, I’ll take grandpa home."

...

Noon.

Thompson Estate.

Josephine accompanied her grandfather back to the old estate, having lunch with him at noon. Afterwards, she instructed Auntie Lena and the butler to take good care of her grandfather.

In the afternoon.

Josephine went to her family’s The Antiquarian Market.

Assistant Ruby briefed her on the work while opening the office door, "President Thompson, please come in. The artifacts have been delivered to your office."

"Mm-hmm, I know."

Josephine walked into the spacious office.

Inside were five tightly wrapped packages.

Josephine changed into her work attire, donned gloves, and opened the packages one by one for inspection.

In total there were five artifacts.

One was a Plain Silk Robe, one an Ancient Dynasty Colored Sculpture, one a shattered bronze tripod, and two were Ancient Paintings.

Josephine carefully placed the artifacts on the long office table, then focused intensely on assessing the damage while her assistant photographed and documented the process.

After completing the inspection.

Josephine drafted a detailed restoration process, including the techniques and materials needed. She sent the complete plan to Professor Warren.

Professor Warren reviewed it and was pleased with the restoration plan, granting her permission to begin.

Josephine started preparing for the restoration work: "Ruby, this Shengli Dynasty Ancient Painting requires several natural pigments. Our warehouse is out of stock, so come with me to Serpent’s Head Island tomorrow to personally source the materials."

Ruby nodded, "Okay, President Thompson, I’ll get ready."

"Mm-hmm, okay."

...

The next day.

Josephine woke up early in the morning, bringing Ruby and a bodyguard, Sophia, and drove to Serpent’s Head Island.

Serpent’s Head Island is an island located between Audenburg and Caldwen’s waters. It covers a vast area and is also a natural ecological reserve.

Josephine had been to the island a few times before when searching for materials.

So, she was somewhat familiar with the island’s environment and climate.

Ruby, carrying large bags of outdoor gear, successfully bought two tickets for the island, "President Thompson, the car’s parked and we’re ready to board the boat."

"Did we bring everything? If the search doesn’t go well, we might have to stay on the mountain for two or three days."

"Don’t worry, President Thompson, everything is fully prepared."

"Alright then, let’s board the boat!"

Josephine was dressed in outdoor sportswear and hiking boots, also carrying the tools needed for the outdoors.

The three didn’t say much more and boarded the boat one after another.

The boat trip would take about two hours.

It was the off-season for travel, so there weren’t many people going to the island.

The three of them boarded the boat, found a place to sit down.

There were plenty of empty seats in the cabin.

Josephine sat down, took out her laptop, and began earnestly working on a restoration design drawing.

Sophia sat at the bow, while Ruby stayed by Josephine’s side.

"The boat’s about to depart." The crew began to raise the anchor, ready to set sail.

"Wait a moment, there’s still someone."

Just as the boat started to leave the shore.

A young and handsome guy came running fast.

"Hey~ no, no, that’s dangerous. The boat is already moving, you can’t get on now." The crew hurriedly blocked him.

The young guy seemed not to hear, took a swift leap, crossing nearly two meters in the air.

With a "bang!"

He deftly jumped onto the deck of the boat.

The crew was shocked and scared, "What’s with you? The boat is moving, you can’t just get on. That was too dangerous just now, what if something happened?"

"Also, did you buy a ticket? You just got on the boat?"

Julian Grant casually pulled out a wad of thousand-dollar Caldwen notes from his pocket, nonchalantly shutting up the crew, "Can you shut up now?"

"..." The crew was dumbfounded, instinctively taking the wad of cash, which seemed to be several tens of thousands.

"Uh hehe~, sir, please have a seat, I was just worried about your safety earlier."

Julian Grant couldn’t be bothered to listen, "OK, you can go now."

With that, he walked straight towards Josephine.

Having heard the commotion, Josephine looked up.

Seeing it was Julian Grant,

her head ached.

"...Julian, what are you doing here?"

Julian’s handsome face showed a mischievous smile, "Oh~ what a coincidence, are you also going to Serpent’s Head Island?"

"Isn’t this quite the coincidence, meeting here, it must be destiny."

Finished, he sat directly on the armrest of the boat chair, swung his long legs, and effortlessly flipped over to the chair next to hers from the adjacent row.

He clearly could have walked over.

But he chose not to.

That’s just how he is, not one to take the usual paths. He was like this in school too, with paths available, he’d still jump over the desk. When going downstairs, you could never expect him to take the stairs properly.

In short, you could never guess what he would do next.

"..." Josephine was like a wooden chicken, face turning to stone.

Julian, after sitting down, suavely flicked his side-swept hair, and with a tilt of his head, playfully shot her a tongue flower.

He was sporting the usual wild, rebellious silver-gray hair, wearing a simple white t-shirt paired with casual black trousers.

"..." Josephine felt a prickling down her back.

Staring at his silver-gray hair, she couldn’t help but frown.

But honestly speaking.

His looks were quite striking, with sharp and deep features, a distinctly angular jawline. Unrealistically handsome, like a modeled face of an anime protagonist. Radiating strong aggressiveness and assertiveness, just one glance at him would instinctively make one feel he was a very dangerous man.

"Why are you looking at me like that? It really was a chance encounter."

"Whatever." Josephine couldn’t be bothered to expose him, lowering her head to focus back on her computer, preparing to work.

Julian, filled with curiosity and lacking any sense of boundary, leaned over, "Josephine, what are you doing?"

Josephine frowned, wishing she could throw him off the boat, "Julian, please keep your distance from me."

He was like this in school too.

He was a year above, a senior.

But he basically never attended his own classes, always mingling in her class, causing trouble. Then, he got kicked out of the classroom by the teacher several times.

Even though they went to the same school, Josephine got in through hard-earned grades, while he gained admission through a donation.

"Josephine, why are you still the same as before? Do you really hate me that much?"

"Julian, can you please just behave? I have work to do now, could you go to the other side?"

"Alright, alright, I won’t interrupt you working. I’ll just sit here beside you, is that okay?"

"..." Josephine was utterly speechless, feeling like she was back in her school days.

"Suit yourself."

She couldn’t be bothered to pay him any more attention, intending to continue working. But with him sitting beside her, she found it impossible to concentrate.

Then came the buzzing.

Her phone vibrated.

She instinctively took out her phone to glance, it was Nathaniel Gallagher calling.

It was the first time he called her after so many days.

"Hello."

Once connected, Nathaniel’s anxious and chilling voice came from the other end, "Josephine, Henny is missing, did you take him?"