join patreon for update and advance 40+ chapters
"What's wrong?"
Bran, who had been watching anxiously from inside, saw Chuck and Haley at the entrance of the house. She ran out with a startled cry, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Haley didn't want her mother to worry, nor did she want her to stop the valuable training she was getting from her brother. So she forced herself to smile despite the pain.
But before she could finish speaking, her smile froze.
Her mother Bran's first reaction wasn't to check on her obviously injured daughter, but on Chuck.
Even though she was smart and understood human nature, she understood her mother's subconscious guilt and overcompensating behavior.
But knowing was one thing—facing such a stark contrast, even she couldn't help but feel a sting of resentment. "Mom, I'm pretty tough, so Chuck's training didn't hurt him at all."
"What nonsense! Even tough people would still get hurt," Bran replied warmly, without even turning around.
"Dad!"
Seeing her biological mother acting like a stepmother, Haley could only turn to the police chief who emerged from his study upon hearing the commotion.
"You insisted on this, didn't you?"
Although the chief felt sorry for his daughter, he couldn't help but give his stubborn child a stern look.
"This is unbearable," Haley said dramatically, feigning despair as she looked at Chuck.
Chuck ignored her and went straight upstairs.
"Was this a real fight?"
The chief came over to support his daughter. He took a closer look, gasped, and his expression changed drastically.
"What do you think?"
Haley complained, "So you thought we were just playing around? Even if future criminals will play games with me, do you think Chuck is the type of person who would go easy on someone?"
"That's enough."
The chief was both distressed and angry: "You keep talking about danger and violence—how could it come to that? Even when we move to Washington D.C., the neighborhood where we'll be living is completely safe. You're just looking for trouble! Bran, help her inside. I'll go talk to Chuck."
"Don't say 'completely'!"
Seeing that her father was really angry, Haley quickly grabbed him as he was about to confront Chuck, and laughed nervously: "Completely safe places don't exist, and do you want me to stay home forever? What about when I go to college?"
"You asked for this!"
The chief wanted to argue about what college had to do with any of this, but when he saw the look in his daughter's eyes, he was worried he'd hear some violent reasoning that not only he couldn't handle but would also make his wife extremely anxious. He could only swallow the words that were about to come out and cursed helplessly.
"I'll get some medicine."
Bran finally began to focus on her actually injured daughter, hurrying off to get medical supplies.
The chief carefully helped his daughter sit down. After Bran returned with the first aid kit, he gently lifted her shirt, and both parents' expressions changed again.
They had seen their daughter still laughing and talking back, thinking the injuries weren't serious. But when they saw her normally fair skin exposed, it was already covered in bruises and swelling. They were shocked.
"Chuck!!!!" the chief roared.
"Ray!"
Bran, though heartbroken for her daughter, saw her husband's fury about to explode at Chuck, and quickly tried to calm him.
She didn't want her son, who had finally come back to them, to be driven away from the family.
"Don't worry, these injuries only look bad."
Haley held onto her father tightly, chuckling. "Chuck is really skilled. He knows exactly how hard to hit. That's exactly what I wanted."
"Chuck!"
The chief remained unmoved this time. While he didn't shake off his daughter, he continued yelling upstairs.
"Use this!"
Chuck had already cleaned up and came downstairs with a bottle of ointment. He ignored the furious chief and the somewhat smug Haley, and handed the medicine to the worried Bran: "Follow my lead and learn how to use massage to help the medicine work better."
As he spoke, he motioned for Haley to sit down, then applied the ointment to his palm, and while slowly massaging her bruises, he calmly explained to Bran the proper massage technique.
Bran took mental notes, asked questions, and tried the technique herself from time to time.
Haley grimaced occasionally, but praised it constantly: "This ointment is amazing—it doesn't look like anything you can buy in stores."
"It's a private formula specifically for treating this type of injury."
Chuck nodded and said: "It works remarkably well."
Seeing this, the police chief couldn't vent his anger and felt incredibly frustrated.
"Oh no."
Bran, following Chuck's instructions, suddenly burst into tears.
"What's wrong now?"
the chief said helplessly. "I'm not angry anymore."
"That's not it," Bran cried. "Chuck has had such a hard life."
The chief and Haley: "..."
Are you serious?
Who's hurt and who's doing the hurting here?
"Chuck, you still use this?"
Bran ignored the speechless father and daughter, looking at Chuck with a mixture of regret and pity. "Do you get hurt often? Otherwise, why would you always have this on hand?"
The chief was stunned, finally understanding Bran's reason for breaking down.
"Better to be prepared than not," Chuck said, without further explanation.
Although he'd passed the stage of intensive training, he still needed these ointments sometimes.
After he'd made his fortune, he'd spent considerable money buying up nearly the entire supply of these miraculous ointments and storing them for future use.
After a brief massage to teach Bran the basics, Chuck let Bran take over while he went back to wash his hands.
Not to mention the sibling relationship, there were also gender considerations. Even he really didn't like physical contact with others. He'd pushed his limits today.
That night.
"This ointment is really incredible. Can you give me some more?"
Haley asked with a smile as she lay in bed, watching Chuck enter her room.
"Sure," Chuck nodded.
It was obvious this sister wasn't going to stay out of trouble. She was bound to get beaten up and injured in the future, so this kind of miraculous ointment really needed to be kept on hand.
"I have a friend who's a doctor. If you want to study medicine, I can introduce you."
Chuck looked at her.
"No rush for now."
Haley thought for a moment and smiled. "Didn't you say it yourself? Don't be so obvious. I'm only thirteen and studying with your famous doctor friend would really draw attention."
"Fair enough," Chuck agreed.
Besides, that doctor friend had a terrible bedside manner, and most people couldn't tolerate him.
"I heard I have another brother?"
Haley lay there, looked at Chuck for a while, and suddenly said, "What's he like? Is he similar to us?"
Chuck thought of the current situation of his brother whom he hadn't seen in years, and after a moment of silence, he said, "His name is Frank. If you don't want Mom and Chief McGrath to worry, don't ask about him in the future, and don't try to track him down."
"He's like us."
Haley couldn't help but smile.
She'd always known she was different and had worked hard to hide it.
But now it seemed she wasn't alone at all. She had family members she could be her true self around without them being surprised, worried, or frightened.
This was wonderful.
"It's different."
Chuck corrected and warned: "Compared to him and me, you're basically a hello kitty."
Haley: "..."
(End of this chapter)
join patreon for update and advance 40+ chapters
https://www.p-atreon.com/c/Soulforger
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
"If you're enjoying this story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone! Your support keeps me motivated and helps the novel reach more readers."
"100 Power Stones this week = 1 extra chapter release!"
"500 Power Stones = bonus side story."