Chapter 561 A Lucky Man
“Why didn’t you come out for a word with your grandfather before he left, Lizbeth? I’d thought that you girls weren’t home!”
Jared did not answer Josephine as he gazed at Lizbeth in question.
“If he sees me, he’ll make me go home,” Lizbeth said with a giggle. “I don’t want to do that!”
Jared shook his head helplessly. “Maybe you should.”
“You haven’t answered me, Jared,” Josephine pressed on haughtily. “Where are you planning on going?”
“There is an auction for antiques in Jadeborough. Mr. Grange has kindly extended an invitation to me.”
“Sounds fun! We would like to come along,” trilled Josephine.
“We’re coming along,” affirmed Lizbeth. “I have friends in Jadeborough. We’ll be treated well there.”
Jared gazed at them, the suspicion that they had planned to tag along the moment they heard the plan began to dawn on him.
“I’m not getting involved. You tell your grandfather that when you see him tomorrow.” Without another word, Jared disappeared into his bedroom.
Luca, Walter’s loyal bodyguard, arrived at Jared’s residence early the following morning.
As soon as the car stopped, Lizbeth and Josephine burrowed in at once. Jared and Luca merely exchanged a helpless glance before the former got in after them.
Walter was slightly taken aback when Luca arrived with Josephine and his granddaughter in the car. However, he regained his composure quickly and merely smiled at them without saying anything.
In accommodation of his frail joints, Walter was offered in the passenger seat while Jared was forced to be squeezed between Josephine and Lizbeth at the back.
“Look at you—a lucky man flanked by two beauties,” Josephine whispered in Jared’s ear.
Jared was shocked speechless at the innuendo. He knew that the seating arrangements had been deliberately designed by Josephine to test him.
Lizbeth, on the other hand, blushed profusely. Aside from the incident of her rescue in the hotel, she had never been anywhere this close to Jared.
Trying hard to ignore his overwhelming masculine scent, Lizbeth kept her eyes glued outside and prayed that the others would not be able to hear her racing heartbeat.
Walter glanced at the rearview mirror and smiled at the look of embarrassment on Jared’s face.
He knew his granddaughter well. Though Walter could tell how Lizbeth felt about Jared, he did not stand in their way. If Lizbeth ends up with Jared, I can think of no better man for her to be with even if she is one of many.
“Mr. Chance,” Walter began in an attempt to ease the younger man’s discomfort. “There will be many consulting geomancers hired by businessmen in this auction. Hence, there will be no shortage of masters plying their trade. In fact, the top geomancer from Zaprington, Boris Yonce, will be present too. He was personally hired by the richest man in his city to modify a talisman which had kept him unscathed in a horrifying car accident!”
“He was just the first. After him, more rich businessmen in Zaprington who valued their life or possessions treated these mages and geomancers with high regard. Of course, many charlatans jump at the opportunity to capitalize on this developing industry. However, some of them have actual skill.”
“These are all gimmicks,” dismissed Jared with a sardonic smile. “It is no easy task to create an object of such power.”
“Crafting a true talisman requires one to manipulate the very laws of nature and the realigning destiny.”
The knowledge and skills needed are so prodigious that even with all his expertise, the jade pendant that Jared had crafted for Josephine was entry-level at best in potency.
Walter did not attempt to justify his views further for fear of sounding churlish. The only sound to be heard after that exchange was the roar of the car’s engine as it sped steadily on.
After five hours, the party arrived at Jadeborough. Jared gazed at the bustling city in wonder for Horington was incomparable. Even Jazona and Summerbank is no match.
Tall skyscrapers rose like islets out of the unceasing tide of traffic and were reflective of the frantic rhythm of life in Jadeborough.
