A Healer’s Journey

Chapter 1 Mischievous Doctor

his mother also lost her job. Finnegan left without saying a word one night to avoid burdening his parents. He wondered if they were doing well. Finnegan collected himself and knocked on the iron door. Footsteps could be heard, followed by the opening of the door. His mother, Quiana Lane, stepped out of the house. “You are?” Finnegan’s height and appearance had changed a lot in the past five years, so she failed to recognize her son immediately. Tears brimmed in Finnegan’s eyes as he gazed at his aged mother. Her hair had turned white, and the wrinkles on her face had deepened. “Mom!” “Fi…Finny? Is that you, Finny?” “Mom, it’s me. I’m home!” At that instant, he couldn’t suppress his emotions of missing his family anymore. He stepped forward and embraced his mother tightly. Upon ascertaining the man before her was indeed Finnegan, Quiana shed tears of joy. “You’ve finally come home, my son!” “Who’s there?” Desmond’s voice rang out from the courtyard. Quiana hastily let go of Finnegan and replied merrily, “It’s Finny, Desmond. Our Finny is back.” Finnegan was about to greet his father while dragging Quiana into the house when utter shock overwhelmed him. He immediately dashed forward and crouched down at the sight of his father. “What’s wrong with you, Dad?” In Finnegan’s memories, his father was a gentlemanly-looking educator. Yet at that moment, Desmond, lying on a recliner, had been reduced to a white-haired, emaciated, and sickly man. “You’re really back!” Tears streamed down Desmond’s cheeks. He wanted to lift his arm to caress his son’s face, but he couldn’t. “All that matters is that you’ve returned. You don’t have to ask or know anything else. Let’s get on with our lives now that our family has reunited.” Finnegan held Desmond’s hand and placed it on his cheek. How can I not find out what happened? “Dad, tell me. What happened to you?” When he left, his family members were healthy and well. Their household wasn’t as shabby and poor either. “Desmond, Finny will discover the truth sooner or later, so let’s just tell him,” Quiana sobbed. Finnegan learned that after he was forced to leave, Killian was still reluctant to let that matter go. He led his subordinates to the Larkin residence and demanded that the Larkins compensate him one million for the medical fees after Finnegan injured him. Because of the Chomsky family’s influence, the Larkins had to sell their a*sets to gather the sum. Unfortunately, they could only pay around four hundred thousand. Finnegan’s parents had no choice but to beg Killian on their knees to provide them with more time to reimburse the rest of it. To their surprise, Killian mentioned Desmond could settle Finnegan’s remaining debt by shouldering the blame. Then Killian ordered his men to cripple Desmond. As a result, Desmond had been disabled for five years. Finnegan didn’t expect Killian to dwell on that matter even after he left. He punched the table beside him, shattering its surface with one strike. “He crossed the line by driving our family to the brink of desperation. I won’t let Killian off!” After a brief pause, he added coldly, “Also, that girl is such an ungrateful person. I shouldn’t have rescued her if I had known that was her character!” “Are you talking about Bernice Zimmerman of Firebird Group?” Quiana held Finnegan’s hand and explained, “You misunderstood. She came here to look for you, but you were gone. She wanted to give us five million as a token of appreciation, but you know your dad—he didn’t want to receive favors from her simply because you saved her. He rejected all forms of remuneration from Ms. Zimmerman aside from letting her sponsor Rhia’s education.” “He’s the daughter of the Zimmerman family, and her family owns Firebird Group?” Finnegan merely remembered the girl he rescued was beautiful. He knew nothing about her background. Quiana nodded. “She’s a nice girl. She visits us