Chapter 170

Dane walked her in and nodded at Edison.

Edison didn’t really know Dane all that well, but they were always polite when they crossed paths.

He was genuinely taken aback when he heard Claire had been treating Baldrick. Was it even possible for someone her age to be that skilled? It must have taken a lot out of her, and she probably went through more than her fair share of tough times.

“Is studying medicine exhausting?” Edison asked, reaching out to ruffle his niece’s hair.

Claire dodged his hand before he could mess up her hair. “Not too bad. Honestly, I only got into traditional medicine because I was such a handful as a kid. I couldn’t sit still for five minutes p>

“Pandora just didn’t have the energy for me sometimes, so she’d drop me off at the Hale’s next door p>

“My teacher there started teaching me how to tell herbs apart. He figured out pretty quickly that I have a good memory, so he encouraged me to learn more about traditional medicine p>

“But before that, Pandora had already taught me some basics about Western medicine. She likes to say that since I started with Western medicine, I can’t really call Hale my official master p>

Talking about her childhood, Claire actually made it sound funny.

She had lived with her grandma for a while before she was brought back to the James family. After that, every time she had a break-on weekends, during summer,

or winter holidays—she’d run straight back to her grandma’s place.

It wasn’t like Octavia had time for her anyway. Octavia was always busy with mahjong games or meeting with other socialites. She never bothered to look after Claire.

Edison felt a pang of sympathy. “If your parents were still here, they’d never let you go through all that p>

Claire was supposed to be spoiled and loved. Instead, she was just a little girl, sitting alone on a tiny stool, memorizing her textbooks. It made his heart ache.

“But I was happy,” Claire said, her voice soft but firm. “Whatever I learn is mine, you know p>

She was gentle, but there was a core of strength in her.

“Think about it. If I hadn’t learned all those things, and if I’d been kicked out of the James family, and if we hadn’t been lucky enough to have money, wouldn’t life have been a lot tougher for me p>

“I just got the hard stuff over with early. Now, all that’s left is the good part p>

She said it like it was nothing.

Edison tugged gently at her hair. “You’re pretty good at cheering people up, you know that p>

Claire just pouted and didn’t reply.

She yawned. “You should get some sleep, Edison. I’m heading to bed p>

“Oh, by the way, I heard you and your first love went through some serious drama lately p>

Valeria had filled Claire in on all the gossip. Since Edison cared so much about her, she figured it was only fair to tease him back.

Edison gave her a look. “Just go to bed, okay? I don’t need your concern p>

Claire was a pro at getting under people’s skin.

“Roger that!” she said with a goofy salute.

She glanced down, rubbing her left hand, then her leg.

Honestly, memorizing those books had been the easy part. It was learning acupuncture that nearly broke her. At first, she practiced on mannequin, but soon enough, she had to try it out on herself Later there

were times she had to practice on Pandora and Hale, too.

Everyone got to experience her “special” care.

She’d stuck herself the most. Sometimes it hurt so badly that she’d cry and want to

give up, but somehow she never did.

Tomorrow was the weekend, so she could finally sleep in.

Latham called her early in the morning to remind her to pick up her grandma.

If the rest of the James family

doo net

showed up to get Pandora, she might not even open the c

them. But if Claire went, it was

1

completely different story.

Pandora would always go with her granddaughter.

When Claire finally saw Pandora, she

wrapped her arms around her

grandma’s neck and said sweetly,

“Grandma, have to go to the James

family’s place for a bit. I won’t be home to keep you company today p>

She’d be at the hospital all morning and through lunch, so she wouldn’t head out to

the countryside to pick up Pandora until the afternoon.

Luckily, Pandora’s place was only about an hour away by car, so it wasn’t much of a

trip.