CHAPTER 371: ONE CONDITION

"Help! Somebody! Someone is drowning! DEREK! HELP!"

A young girl’s faint yet desperate voice echoed in Derek’s ears, trying to make him keep his eyes open. But even when he tried, all he could see was the young girl’s silhouette over the rippling water.

"Help!!! Please!!"

Derek reached out, panic rising in his chest. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he only sank deeper and deeper. He reached out with the last bit of his strength and consciousness—but nothing.

"Help—" The crying on the surface stopped, but the blurry figure was still there.

Just when he thought the person had left, she jumped into the water. He didn’t even know if she could swim, but she dove in and reached for him. When that small hand clasped his, he caught sight of a necklace shimmering underwater.

*

*

*

GASP!

Derek snapped his eyes open, gasping for air as if he hadn’t breathed for a long time. His hands flew to his neck as he tried to steady his breathing. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead while his lungs burned from the imagined drowning.

"You’re awake?"

Before he could even process the dream, Derek flinched at the sound of Celestine’s voice. Turning his head, he saw her standing by the window, her side leaning against the jamb, arms crossed under her chest.

She slowly turned her head and looked back at him. "Should I start scolding you now?"

"Aunt Celes." Derek sighed, ruffling his hair. "Please."

"Derek, you just attempted to take your own life." She walked toward him. "What are you expecting me to say? ’Good work’? If it weren’t for Justine, I doubt we’d be having this conversation."

He looked up at her, his face carrying exhaustion and the remnants of last night’s alcohol. He leaned back against the headboard, sighing.

"I wasn’t trying to kill myself," he whispered. "I was just trying to wake myself up."

"By submerging yourself in a tub?"

He pressed his mouth into a thin line while Celestine rolled her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze never leaving him.

"Derek, dear, do you even understand why I’m disappointed in you?" she asked, but he said nothing. "I wasn’t disappointed last night—you couldn’t have known what would happen. But what disturbed me was what you tried to do today."

"Auntie, can you blame me?" he scoffed weakly, finally meeting her eyes. "Melissa... all my life, I dedicated it to her. I worked hard with her in mind. Sure, I’m not perfect, but I did everything for both of us. I wanted to give her a good life."

Every word came from the bottom of his heart. He wasn’t perfect—he’d admired other women before, when Melissa wasn’t looking—but that was all it was. He had never crossed the line. Temptation came, but he resisted it every time. As twisted as it sounded, he wanted to make Melissa his wife. To make her happy and protect her from a cruel world.

"But last night..." he trailed off, hanging his head low. His eyes turned red. "...I don’t even know if I knew her at all."

They had grown up together, yet now, he questioned everything she had said or done.

"What do I do?" he groaned, clutching his hair as tears spilled into his lap. "Why do I even fight so fiercely?"

He couldn’t even blame Lola this time because his mind was too tangled in betrayal. The lies he’d been told by the people he trusted most burned in his chest. Even if Derek had been betrayed by relatives before, he never dwelt on it. He knew how greedy the Lancasters could be, but this... this was different.

Celestine’s eyes softened, pity flickering across her face, though her resolve remained firm. In her eyes, Derek was a poor boy—manipulated, taken advantage of. His kindness and his warped sense of justice were exploited by the Youngs.

I can’t blame him, she thought. Even I was almost fooled by Melissa. That woman is just like her mother. She has a gift for deception, making people believe in her until they’re already trapped.

Celestine moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, gently patting his back. She didn’t say anything, letting Derek cry until the sobs slowly quieted.

"Derek," she murmured once his breathing steadied, "I spoke with the chairman. He told me... if you still want to continue with the wedding, he’ll approve it."

Derek froze and looked up at her. "What? He said that?"

"Yes." She nodded. "He was here earlier, before you woke up. He told me himself."

Derek squeezed her hand tightly. "Auntie Celes, did Grandpa really say that?"

"Yes."

"He’ll bless my marriage with Melissa?" he asked again, eyes flickering with a faint spark of hope. "He won’t punish me or disown me?"

"No, he won’t." Celestine smiled subtly. "He’ll approve it, and he’ll even attend the wedding, if that’s what you truly want."

Derek stared at her in disbelief. All his life, his grandfather had been stern and impossible to please. The old man had always been harder on him than anyone else.

If Derek was honest, he’d always felt like the chairman favored others—especially Lola. That favoritism had festered within him for years. He once thought it was because his grandfather still saw Lola as his future wife, but as time passed, he realized the truth was simpler: the old man was just biased.

So, hearing this now—hearing that his grandfather would forgive him—felt almost surreal.

"I... I didn’t expect that," he whispered, wiping his tears. "Auntie Celes, are you sure? Grandpa really said I can still marry Melissa, and that he won’t punish me or remove me from the will?"

"Yes, Derek. Do you think I’d tell you something like this if he hadn’t?" She chuckled softly, tugging his hand to ground him before he could get carried away. "But Derek, the chairman will bless this marriage on one condition."

He froze, brows knitting. "What condition?"

"Go to Melissa and the Young family," Celestine said clearly, enunciating every word, "and tell them you’re willing to proceed with the wedding. But also tell them that you’ll do it even if it means cutting ties with our family."

"But you said—"

"I did say the chairman wouldn’t cut you off," she interrupted. "And he won’t. But he wants you to do this first."

She leaned back slightly, studying his face. "He’s not removing you from the will. He simply wants to see if the Youngs—or Melissa—are sincere."

Silence filled the room as their eyes met.

"You will do it, won’t you?" Celestine tilted her head slightly. "Derek, don’t you want to know if Melissa is really worth fighting for? The Lancaster family will pretend the engagement party never happened as long as the Youngs prove they weren’t only after the prestige of being our in-laws."

"Just try it," she urged softly. "Unless... you’re not confident yourself."

"No, Melissa loved me," he said, determination clear in his eyes. "She will be with me even if I have nothing."

"I’m..." he hesitated while nodding. "... sure of that."