London was welcomed by Marc and Dave in the hospital lobby. They always followed him wherever he went and always kept a good distance between them. After seeing that London was walking alone and L was with him, they became relaxed and joined their boss.
"Marc, we're going to the office. There are so many things I need to do. Dave, you stay here watching over my family. Alex will send a team to help you here. As always, please report to me if anything happens." said London to his two bodyguards. Marc and Dave nodded and immediately did as they were told.
Upon arrival at the Schneider Tower, London immediately called Jan, and the two discussed all that needed to be taken care of. Work matters came first, then his personal matters.
"Sir ... I still don't understand why you have to go through all these hassles. Miss L is obviously looking for a man like you to marry, why not just tell her honestly? I'm sure she won't reject you if you openly profess to be London Schneider .." Jan said again.
"Hmmm ... I'm afraid she will get more stressed, and her heart condition will get worse... or even worst, she will hate me because I have lied to her a lot ..." voiced London.
"Mmm .. maybe you can try to find the right time to do it. Maybe have a romantic dinner, then when the mood is perfect, you can slowly tell her everything," Jan tried to find a solution. "After all, what you've been doing all this time is for her own good. You never did anything bad to her..."
London pondered at Jan's words. Finally, he took a deep breath. "You're right. Maybe I'll look for the right moment to open up to her."
Jan nodded happily. "Good luck."
"Hmm ... Don't forget to send rain at 10 pm tonight," said London again.
"Of course, Sir."
Ahh ... London might try Jan's advice. He will prepare a romantic candlelight dinner... then asked for his kiss after winning their bet ... then, well... when the atmosphere felt right, he would tell her who he was.
He can't wait for the night to come. But at the same time, his c.h.e.s.t was pounding too. What if the right time didn't come?
How long could he continue to keep his lies to L?
***
After returning from work, London found time to visit his family at the Schneider Mansion, which was located near L's new home. His mother was happy to see him and forced London to have dinner at home with the family before he returned to the hospital.
"You've been busy these past few days. When can we sit down and talk again? I am also dying to see Lily ..." Finland complained to her son.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I did mess things up. I promise I will fix this problem as soon as possible with L." London looked guilty. "Once you lie, it's very difficult to get out of this circle of lies ..."
Finland could only shake her head when she heard him. She understood that London was initially involved in a situation like this because he was only trying to socialize with regular people. All this time he was only surrounded by wealthy or immortal people or people who had never experienced hardship at all in life.
She was actually happy that her son wanted to experience life as an ordinary human being so that he could be more sympathetic to people outside their family.
Finland now had lived her life as an Alchemist longer than she did as an ordinary human, but she still remembered what it was like to live a difficult life, experienced illnesses, and various life problems that the Alchemists never felt.
Unfortunately, London's journey was not smooth because he was tricked by a bad person and ended up sleeping with an ordinary girl. One situation led to another, and now he ended up having a child with her. From the start, their meeting was marked by dishonesty because London had to hide his identity.
This reminded them all of what happened with Alaric and Aleksis. Their story was tinged with misunderstanding and separation that led to deep sadness and suffering because they kept their identities a secret.
But in the case of London and L, fortunately, they were able to ensure that L was not an alchemist who kept her identity a secret like Alaric. Evidenced by her medical records stating L did indeed suffer from congenital heart disease, and she was allergic to anesthesia. An Alchemist would never experience such problems at all.
Now they only need to find out who she really was and what happened in L's past to find out more about the girl.
"Then what are your plans?" asked Rune, who was interested in his brother's case.
He also wanted London to be honest with L so that they, as his family, could freely visit Lily. The baby might soon be able to cry, and Rune cannot wait to test his latest machine.
"I will take her to a romantic dinner tonight, and find a way to reveal everything ..." London said, finally.
"Aww, good luck," commented Terry, who had just come out of his room with a small suitcase. "I'm going home to New York. Let me know the progress."
London nodded. He hugged his brother before taking him off to the airport. He knew that Terry was very busy but, for them, family was everything. That was why Terry left his job for two weeks and visited Aleksis in Singapore and then go to Germany to support London. But of course, he could not linger and had to return to take care of his work in New York.
Aldebar and Lauriel had left two days ago. They also still had things to deal with. Aldebar would give a speech at the world scientists conference in a few days, and Lauriel was about to meet Nicolae and his two grandchildren who were leaving for Grosetto.
London spent several hours at his family's mansion and coaxed his mother who kept complaining because she could not meet her granddaughter. Later, he went back and picked up L from the hospital.
"I promise, I'll deal with L as soon as possible," said London, kissing her mother's cheek and getting into the car. His father, who was painting on the veranda, only nodded with approval.
***