Why would she want to raise such a glutton?
Perhaps it was when Laura first met her, Karen was just five years old, emaciated, and pale-faced.
Even though she could eat so much, when she found a piece of stale bread and encountered Laura, who had just returned from a mission and looked a little disheveled, she looked at her with a pair of timid yet bright eyes. Even the dirty appearance couldn't hide her pure heart.
For Karen, who had eaten even dirt, this stale bread was very delicious. However, she kept swallowing saliva, handing the stale bread she held to Laura.
She could eat so much that no one could afford to raise her, constantly being abandoned by various welfare institutions for various reasons, with no one willing to accept her.
Since then, Laura thought, since she's already raising a child, she wouldn't mind raising a few more. As long as she could eat, Karen would never go hungry.
She knew Karen was a bit abnormal; no one would have such an appetite. The food she ate didn't match her physique at all. But she went to the hospital for check-ups, and there were no problems.
Maybe there would be other issues. But who cared about other issues? Laura was willing to take care of her.
Laura reached out and touched Karen's hair. "Finish eating and then do your homework later." As soon as she saw Karen's face immediately drop.
Karen looked a bit downcast while eating, after all, she had never been very good at studying. All her energy was used for eating; she couldn't function without it. If she didn't eat, she would go hungry. So how could she have the energy to deal with studying?
"Did you meet your work target today?" Karen obediently asked Laura.
"I did."
Karen was curious, "What does he look like? I heard from Brother Wilson that this job of yours is special. Are you going to be someone else's fiancée?"
The family knew what Laura did, but they never asked for specific details.
Laura nodded her head. "Something like that."
Karen scrunched up her little nose. "Then he must be very handsome."
Laura glanced at her, and Karen said, "You wouldn't agree if he's ugly."
Laura, "..."
This time Karen was wrong in her guess. Before taking on the mission, Laura didn't know what Hyman looked like. All she knew was that he was very wealthy. Wealth and inheritance were enough for her.
Laura entered her room, and as she stepped into the hallway, a semi-transparent spirit floated by.
The spirit faintly resembled a dignified and elegant man in his former life. It was clear that he was still wearing a suit, but the spirit was too blurry, and only some vague facial features could be seen.
"Did you meet him?" The spirit spoke, even though he had no voice, but this voice could be seen by Laura.
"I did."
The spirit seemed nervous. "How is he doing now?"
"Fine, jumping around happily. You can't tell at all that he's someone who will die in a year," Laura said, furrowing her brows slightly. "So, the possibility of inheriting his estate that you told me about was a lie?"
The spirit twisted its body in mid-air as if he was guilty. "If what they told me is true, he only has one year left to live. Within that year, if you marry him or even if you don't marry him, as long as you coax him willingly into letting you inherit his wealth, it's possible. Right now, your main goal is to find out who harmed him."
Laura glanced over indifferently, her voice sounding lazy. "Is that so? I thought it was you, Uncle Robert."
The spirit was Robert Martin, Hyman's Third Uncle, who mysteriously vanished.
Since he was a spirit, it means he was already dead.
Uncle Robert got a bit angry. "How could it be me? If it were me, wouldn't I just find someone to kill me first?"
Laura fell silent for a moment. "I suspect that Hyman found out about your plans and got rid of you first."
Uncle Robert, "..."
Laura encountered Robert by chance when he was wandering alone near the incident, invisible to others, not knowing what to do.
Then she saw Laura. He saw Laura as a lifeline and asked her for a favor. That was to return to Hyman's side and protect him. Because he was dead, the next target for the Martin family was Hyman.
Sure enough, Hyman had an accident the next day. But, Laura couldn't make it in time, and with the help of these Uncle Robert's information, she successfully infiltrated the Martin family.
After knowing that Hyman lost his memory, the Martin family came up with a crazy idea to find someone to pretend to be his fiancée.
It was an old plot, and this fiancée had to be easily controlled, have no ulterior motives, and have enough leverage for them to hold onto.
Laura needed money to support her four siblings, so it was a perfect opportunity.
Of course, they were also wary of Laura. They privately investigated a lot of information about Laura, but all they found was that she had been studying from a young age and occasionally did part-time jobs to make a living. There was nothing else.
As for the money to buy that suburban apartment back then, they found out that Laura had won the lottery.
Hmm...
A very simple girl.
There was no time to find someone else. After all, Hyman had already woken up, and they had to let him know as soon as possible that he had a fiancée.
Uncle Robert didn't want to dwell on these issues. He was just a spirit now, unable to do anything, and didn't know how long he could stay. Naturally, he had to make good use of his time and asked, "When you met the Martin family, did you feel anyone suspicious?"
Laura thought carefully. "Do you want me to tell the truth? In my opinion, every member of the Martin family looks like a potential murderer."
Uncle Robert, "..." Ouch, that hurts.
Indeed, even from an outsider's perspective, even someone as meticulous as Uncle Robert was constantly being suspected of trying to take advantage of Hyman's wealth, let alone other people.
Laura opened the door and entered the room. When she saw that Uncle Robert wanted to float in with her, her voice turned cold. "Don't come in. How can a man enter a girl's bedroom? Have some shame!"
Uncle Robert, "..." Upon hearing this, he was so angry that he felt like he was about to spit blood.
Before the incident, he was in a high position. He had seen all kinds of beauties, and women would throw themselves at him. How could he have any ulterior motives for a little girl like her?
But this young girl was a big shot, and he couldn't provoke her.
He stood at the door, somewhat hesitant. "Then..."
Laura entered the room, opened a drawer on the right side, took out a colored lollipop, and held it in her mouth. She turned around and faced Uncle Robert standing at the door.
"He only has one year left to live. Why would you spend money to let me protect him? Isn't that a waste of money?"
Robert fell silent for a moment, then said, "I don't really believe in this judgment. If the people from the Martin family want to deceive him, they might have manipulated the doctors too."
Laura thought for a moment, "Not likely. I inquired when I went there, and that hospital is filled with Hyman's people. The doctors' reports are reviewed personally by Hyman's assistant. Moreover, he is monitored by a team of professors. It might be easy to bribe one person, but it was impossible to bribe a group of people."
This shocked Robert. In other words, the fact that Hyman only has one year left to live is not fake...
He wanted to go with Laura to see Hyman's condition and said, "Should I go to the hospital with you tomorrow?" He was genuinely concerned about his nephew.
From childhood to adulthood, his elder brother, Hyman's father, always treated him well and continuously nurtured him. Since he didn't have a son of his own, he always regarded Hyman as his own son.
But his second and fourth brothers...
Laura thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but you can't be more than 100 meters away from me."
Spirits generally can't leave the vicinity where they died, except when they are with her.
So Robert couldn't be too far from her and could stay in the apartment where Laura lived.
Laura also didn't know how long a spirit could exist, perhaps a long time, or perhaps it could disappear quickly.
Laura had seen spirits disappear in four hours, but there was a strong spirit who had been around for over a decade and had not disappeared.
Robert asked one last question, "What did the doctor say about his illness?"
"They said it's organ failure related." But from Hyman's appearance, she couldn't see any signs of this illness...
Robert silently drifted away.