Chapter 14 Afraid of Thunder

• Raven instinctively turned her head when she heard Iris' tone. The instant she turned, Raven saw Elias striding forward.
• She snickered as she stared helplessly at Elias and turned to Iris, "Is this fun for you, Iris? Hah!"
• Then, Raven carried her bag and left.
• Iris had lost her mind. If she liked Elias, she could marry him. Raven wouldn't even try to stop her. However, now Iris was the one who refused to marry. What else did Iris want? One moment ago, she berated Elias as an illegitimate child. Then, the next moment, she became pretentious in front of Elias. Was it interesting to her? Back then, she acted weakly and took money from him. What else did she want from him this time?
• As Raven shook her head, her hatred for Iris grew even stronger.
• Elias noticed Raven shaking her head as soon as he got close to her, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
• She was taken aback and thought Elias would comfort Iris before coming out. However, she didn't expect that he would immediately come after her.
• Raven shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Nothing."
• "Does she want to buy the bungalow?" asked Elias.
• "Yeah," she answered.
• "OK. Let's go." He didn't pester her anymore.
• Elias' response left Raven speechless. Wasn't he going to ask her anything else? Wasn't he curious why she'd poured the drink on Iris? Since Elias didn't seem interested in knowing more, Raven figured he might have misunderstood the situation and believed in Iris. He must have thought she poured the drink at Iris because she wasn't willing to sell the bungalow. Though she wanted to explain, she decided against it.
• What was the point of explaining? Raven wasn't close to him anyway. It was up to him to believe whomever he wanted. Moreover, she was unwilling to reveal the deep wound in her heart to others.
• "Is Grandpa awake?" she asked.
• "Not yet. I came to pick you up," Elias answered.
• "OK," she replied curtly.
• For a moment, the two were in an awkward situation again. The whole atmosphere turned dull. Suddenly, a loud rumble came from above, followed by a flash of lightning across the sky as if tearing the sky open. Raven shrank unconsciously and had been terrified of thunder since she was seven years old.
• On a rainy night, a plate of chicken was on the table. The whole chicken had two wings, so after Aria took a piece, Iris looked for the other. At that time, Raven wasn't aware that Iris was looking for the other wing, so she took it and put it in her mouth. Iris was instantly infuriated when she saw her do that. Iris whined, smashed the plate and cutlery, and made Raven pay for the chicken wing. Although she apologized, Iris would not stop whining.
• After that, her mother, Aunt Lori, locked Raven up in a small, dark room on the first floor of the bungalow and didn't allow her to eat anything while she repented for the whole night. The small room was an abandoned nanny room. It was cramped, and the lamp in there had been broken for years. Therefore, the room was dark, and even the bed smelled musty.
• That night, there was thunder, and it was deafening. Raven trembled in fear as lightning flashed by the window. She patted the door anxiously and called for her mother, admitting that it was her fault, yet no one bothered to pay attention to her. Raven didn't even remember when she fell asleep, but she knew it was since then that she was traumatized by thunder. Whenever there was a thunderstorm, she would find it hard to fall asleep. It felt like torture to her to hug herself in a state of alert while staring out the window. She felt relaxed only when the thunder quieted down, and the rain started to stop.
• Boom! When another roll of thunder rolled in, Raven shook uncontrollably. Elias instinctively went to hug her shoulder, but she bolted towards the hospital. As he ran forward to catch up to her, he noticed Raven was heading toward the direction of the stairs. She ran to the stairs in the hospital and reached for the barricade as she gasped for air.
• Elias asked in a low voice, "Are you afraid of thunder?"
• Raven turned her head and smiled foolishly, "Haha, no."
• However, her pale face exposed her fear of thunder.
• "OK." Rather than expose her, Elias suggested, "Let's visit Grandpa."
• "S-Sure." Even her response was incoherent.
• When the thunder roared again, she shrugged in fear. As the sound of raindrops began to fall, Raven let out a sigh of relief. Usually, when it started raining, the thunder would stop.
• Elias glanced at Raven's profile and smiled faintly. The two went upstairs together, but before they reached the door of Joseph's ward, Dr. Lent greeted them.
• Dr. Lent exclaimed enthusiastically, "Mr. Elias, I was about to call you to tell you that your grandpa woke up."
• "Thanks." Elias thanked him and asked, "How is he doing?"
• Dr. Lent smiled and told him the operation went well, but since Joseph had undergone bypass surgery, they should not agitate and keep him in a good mood. When Elias learned that his grandpa was doing fine, he thanked the doctor again and hurriedly took Raven to his grandpa's ward.
• Since Joseph woke up this time, no one stopped them. When they were at the ward door, Elias held Raven's hand, and she accepted his touch, so the two walked in with their fingers intertwined.
• "Grandpa!" the two exclaimed in unison.
• Joseph was lying on the bed with an IV drip in his hand. When he saw his grandson and granddaughter-in-law come, he smiled weakly. "You're here."
• "Yeah," Elias and Raven replied in unison.
• With a smile, Joseph apologized, "Sorry for delaying your honeymoon."
• Raven shook her head, while Elias uttered, "Nothing is more important than you, Grandpa."
• Seeing Joseph's weak appearance, Elias felt his heart tremble in pain as if a dull knife had pierced his heart. Elias was 12 years old when he first met his grandpa for the first time. At that time, although he was in his sixties, Joseph looked energetic and full of vigor. It had only been ten years since Joseph had wrinkled all over his face. He was no longer as strong and agile as before. The sight of his grandpa lying in bed weakly made him misty-eyed.
• Joseph was moved when he saw his grandson's concerned eyes. He looked closely at Elias and smiled, reaching out his other hand that was not connected to the IV drip. Elias immediately walked over and held his grandpa's hand. This time, Joseph looked at Raven.
• Seeing that, Elias quickly called out, "Raven."
• Raven walked over quickly, and Elias understood what his grandpa meant, so he placed Raven's hand with his as they held Joseph's hand together. Joseph's eyes become teary. He always thought that Raven was more suitable for Elias than Iris.
• He patted the back of Raven's hand and uttered in a low voice, "Live a good life with Elias, Raven."
• Raven instantly felt a lump in her throat because she was moved. She choked a little when she responded, "I will, Grandpa."
• She thought that she might have longed for affection too much. Joseph calling her name made her feel like crying.
• Joseph finally spoke after much deliberation, "About the investment"
• Leonard continued, "Dad, about the investment fund, we will proceed according to what we discussed. When Cayden and Aria get married, we will offer them three billion. When Elias and Miss Raven get married, we'll offer them one billion."
• Vivian immediately nudged Leonard to tell him not to talk about this in case it angered Joseph again.