Chapter 114: What Happened To His Legs?
When they first met, the best she could remember was that big boy dressed in white with refined facial features and an indifferent impression. The following versions of Travis Cooper were all too different from her first impression.
And this Vince, who was sitting peacefully in front of her, somehow reminded Arianna about the day ten years ago, the sunny morning with bird tweets and the scent of flowers in the air, the moonlight of that night, as well as the young man dressed in white in the moon shadow.
Arianna only said, “Thank you for the flowers.” And she took a few steps backward until his face became vague.
When the deadlock was going on, Irene came and said, “So you are here, Arianna! Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson. You look good.”
Master Johnson regained the calmness and indifference he had before, “I’m fine. Thanks.”
“This is Arianna Jenkins. Miss Jenkins, this is Vince Johnson, the grandson of the Johnson Family.”
“I have already met Miss Jenkins.”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“Oh, is it?” Irene looked at Arianna, who had been silent. She could not think of the next topic, so she looked down at her new necklace and adjusted its location.
“Your necklace is very chic,” Vince said.
“Thank you. The shop owner said this is a piece from a Czech meteorite from outer space.”
Vince smiled lightly and said, “You can go back and return it to him and make a claim for double compensation. This is just a piece of ordinary green crystal.”
Arianna looked up at the man suddenly.
Irene was surprised, “You only took a glance, and from a distance!”
“I assure you that this is by no means a Czech meteorite piece.”
Vince and Arianna took a glance at each other. Then a trace of doubts appeared in his eyes. Vince raised his hand and made a gesture, and a servant silently appeared behind him.
Vince then slightly bent his body to two ladies and said, “I must go now. Both of you ladies are welcome to come here often.” His tone was polite, but he did not stand up while talking to them.
Arianna took a bow, and then she was shocked to see the servant pushing him away from the lotus pond. It turned out that he had been sitting in a wheelchair.
However, she was certain last night he did not sit in a wheelchair or wield crutches.
Later, Irene did a lot of online research and had to admit the so-called Czech meteorite she bought was just a piece of ordinary crystal. She took a long time to do that research.
“It’s weird. Mr. Johnson just took a glance from a meter away, how could he tell the stone was fake in an instant?”
“What happened to his legs?” Arianna asked.
She had a hard time focusing after they returned from the garden of the main mansion.
“A car accident. He almost lost his life.”
More doubts were popping up in Arianna’s head. She said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Mr. Johnson was lucky, though. He managed to survive miraculously from a deadly trauma. He was in a coma for more than a year in the hospital. The doctor said he might never wake up again or wake up in a vegetative state. When he woke up three months ago, it turned out that he had just lost his memory. A pity, though, but it’s a miracle too.”
“Memory loss? More than a year in the hospital?” Arianna unconsciously repeated the words, some thoughts spinning extremely fast in her head. Then she asked Irene, “The last time you said that the old lady’s grandson had an accident in Country C, you were mentioning him?”
“Right. Last spring in Country C.” Arianna felt the arteries on her forehead jumping fiercely, and she said, “You have known him for many years? Very familiar?”
“Yeah. My parents used to work for the Johnson Family. I grew up here too, and I have known him ever since he was born. I could see young Master Johnson almost every day before he went to college.”
****
Claire heard Vince Johnson was in the house, but she could not get the chance to see him. Claire went to the main mansion several times and always missed him. So, she began telling Arianna more about her Master Johnson.
Arianna had a bizarre idea until she heard more complete information about Vince Johnson from her sister.
Claire longed to meet Master Johnson and always missed him, while Arianna really didn’t want to see him, and she had met him twice already.
In the morning, Arianna walked alone in the vineyard. The sun rose, and the ambient temperature was pleasant, the air fresh, birds tweeting in the surrounding green scenes, and the air filled with the fragrance of sweet fruits.
The layout of the manor was beautiful. There were straight and sturdy bluestone paths and tall trees in between vine woods. There were also several promenades for rest and sightseeing, with white arched ceilings and white marble columns crawling with green vines. And the ground of these promenades were abstract patterns made with deep gray marble.
Arianna walked from one end of a promenade to the other. The sunlight outside the promenade suddenly stabbed her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a big boy pushing the wheelchair that was carrying Vince, and they were coming over to her.
Arianna had nowhere to hide. She could only stand in the same place and slightly make a gesture of greeting.
When they came close, Vince smiled with a graceful and elegant look and said, “Morning, Miss Jenkins. Do you also like to walk in the morning?”
“Well, the air quality is good,” Arianna said with a dry smile. Then she avoided looking at his face and his slender fingers and stopped talking.
Vince also greeted her slightly and passed by her.
Arianna really thought she made a mistake connecting him with Travis Cooper. She even made up a story in which Travis Cooper lived a double-sided life, and that could explain their resemblance and coincidence. But she made a mistake, that she ignored the fact that the voices of the two men were completely different.
Travis’s voice had a metal-like cold texture, and his voice was low, a little hoarse, a little magnetic, and a little confusing.
The styles of the two were also greatly different. Travis Cooper felt like a sun in the total solar eclipse, radiating cold light in the dark. And Vince Johnson, though cold and distant as well, was more like a bright full moon in the night sky.
Vince Johnson was indeed more like the first version of Travis Cooper in her memory.