Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Separation by Life and Death, and the Arrival of Scum

"I’m fine, but I’ve made you all worry." Grandma Forrest shook her head and sighed. "My old man is over there all by himself. I wonder if he’s lonely."

"We were childhood sweethearts, together for so many years. He just left on his own, leaving me all alone in this world. How could he be so cruel?"

"It’s been so many years, and he hasn’t even come back to see me once."

"He and the children must be having a good time over there. They’re probably forgetting all about me."

As she spoke, Grandma Forrest wiped her tears and quietly lay back down.

Irene Lynch felt a pang in her heart watching this.

"You haven’t eaten anything all day. Please, eat a little. The children made it with care."

"How will you have any strength if you don’t eat?" Irene Lynch helped Grandma Forrest sit up, tucked a pillow behind her back, and pulled the nearby table closer.

Joanne Chase was a decent cook, and she could whip up a few simple, home-style dishes with ease.

Grandma Forrest didn’t have much of an appetite. After a couple of bites, she didn’t want to eat anymore.

Irene Lynch and Grace Winslow had to coax and cajole her just to eat half a small bowl of rice.

After eating and washing up, she lay down.

It was hard to tell if she was asleep, but she was clearly in low spirits.

Grace Winslow and Archer Rhys took the leftover dishes back. Grace had originally planned to stay and relieve Irene Lynch, but Irene refused.

Leaving the hospital, Grace couldn’t help but sigh. "Grandma Forrest and Grandpa Forrest had a wonderful relationship. When Grandpa Forrest died in an accident ten years ago, she was so heartbroken that her health has been poor ever since. But she’s also afraid. She’s afraid that if she dies too, there will be no one left to remember Grandpa Forrest, so she keeps holding on."

"Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Now she’s selling the house to me. I think she wants to let go of her attachments and stop holding on."

Grace greatly admired a love like that—two people supporting each other through thick and thin, a single pair for a lifetime. She had once hoped for and pursued it, but her own story ended in misery.

Now, she no longer yearned for it, but she couldn’t help feeling a mix of envy and wistfulness.

"Grace," Archer Rhys said suddenly, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

Grace looked at him, her expression puzzled.

Archer’s expression was grave as he spoke. "This next mission I’m going on... it’s a matter of life and death. I don’t know if I’ll make it back alive."

"I regret confessing to you and making that three-year pact. A guy like me, every time I go on a mission, I’m putting my life on the line. I never know when I might die out there. I really shouldn’t be wasting your time."

"If I leave and don’t come back, just forget about me. Find someone you like and marry them. Don’t wait."

Grace was stunned. She never expected Archer to say something like that.

He must have been moved by the sight of Grandma Forrest waiting ten years for Grandpa Forrest.

She was silent for a long time before finally saying, "I won’t wait for you."

Archer gave a bitter smile. "Yeah. Don’t wait for me."

"Just take care of yourself."

Archer walked Grace home. He didn’t bring up staying for a few days again. He watched her go inside, then left.

Grace stood just inside the door, listening to his retreating footsteps, an inexplicable melancholy washing over her.

She shook her head, trying to push these thoughts away for now.

Grandma Forrest was discharged from the hospital on New Year’s Eve.

She seemed to be in good spirits, and much of the color had returned to her cheeks.

Lily Callahan had made her new clothes. On New Year’s Day, she put on the new outfit and pulled Grace along for a trip back to her old house.

Grace already sensed something was wrong.

The way Grandma Forrest was acting, it looked an awful lot like a final burst of energy before the end.

It was as if she wanted to use her last bit of strength to reminisce.

She led Grace on a tour of the house, explaining every single item inside.

From a small pebble on the ground to a large piece of furniture, everything had its own story and origin.

They were testaments to her love with Zachary Forrest.

Sadly, while the things were still there, the person was not.

Zachary Forrest’s accident had been so sudden that many people didn’t have time to react. He, along with the children and grandchildren in the family, were all gone.

By the time people came to their senses and tried to rescue them, it was already too late.

Only Grandma Forrest, protected by them, had survived.

Because of the incident, the higher-ups were furious. They dismissed several people in one fell swoop and finally sent Grandma Forrest back to this house.

At that time, all the other houses had been repossessed and redistributed, but this one alone was preserved intact.

The old woman led Grace into the courtyard.

There was a rocking chair there. The plum blossoms next to it were in bloom, their fragrance rich and heavy in the air.

A light snow had fallen the night before, and a layer of fresh snow rested on the plum blossoms, creating a beautiful, serene scene.

The old woman sat down in the rocking chair, not minding the untouched snow that still dusted its surface.

She slowly closed her eyes and said wearily, "I’m tired. I’m going to rest for a while. You should go home."

Grace’s heart lurched with understanding. Looking at her, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

She stood silently to the side, watching Grandma Forrest sleeping in the sunlight.

She looked just like she did every other time she fell asleep, but Grace knew that this time, she would never wake up again.

Grandma Forrest’s given name was Quinn Hale. She had married Zachary Forrest at sixteen and had been his wife for seventy years. She passed away at the age of eighty-seven, which could be considered dying of old age.

Grace crouched beside Grandma Forrest and gently stroked her hair at the temples. Her eyes were red, and her voice choked with emotion. "Grandma Forrest, you can go in peace now. Grandpa Forrest is definitely waiting up ahead for you. He promised you. You two were supposed to grow old together. Whoever left first would wait by the bridge for the other."

On New Year’s Day, Quinn Hale closed her eyes forever.

Irene Lynch and Gregory Winslow helped arrange the funeral.

Usually, when Grandma Forrest lived in the house, almost no one came to visit except for relatives looking for a handout.

Now that she was gone, people began to arrive in a steady stream to offer their condolences.

Grace and Irene Lynch knelt there, burning joss paper, and received the guests one by one.

This continued until a family arrived, storming in aggressively. One of them kicked over the brazier of burning joss paper and pointed a finger at Irene and Grace, shouting, "You shameless bitch! Don’t think you can get a piece of this house just because you were nice to her before she died. I’m telling you, not a chance!"

"This house was left by my big brother! Now that his family line is gone, the house should rightly be inherited by us!"

"Get the hell out of here, right now! You don’t need to handle the funeral. We’ll take care of it ourselves."

Grace recognized the woman. She was the wife of one of Zachary Forrest’s distant younger brothers.

Zachary Forrest’s family was once large, but during the war, they all went to the battlefield. One by one, they died in combat until only Zachary himself was left.

However, there were still some relatives from his village. After Zachary Forrest made his fortune, those people swarmed him like flies drawn to a carcass.

Every single one of them coveted Zachary’s money.

When Quinn Hale was younger, she was a strong-willed woman and never indulged these people, so her relationship with them wasn’t good.

Later, when Zachary’s accident happened, these so-called relatives all came to kick him while he was down. Now that they knew everyone was gone, they were thinking about splitting up the house and the family fortune.