Chapter 60: Family (1)

One day, a person who did not believe in God asked a priest from a church engaged in charitable activities.

“How can you be so certain of the existence of a God you cannot see?”

“If an omnipotent God exists, shouldn’t He have created a world without unhappiness in the first place?”

“If God exists, why is one child born into poverty, why are some people so evil they feed on the tears of others, and why must some, no matter how virtuously they live, contract incurable diseases and depart this world early?”

The priest’s answer was unexpected.

“The Radiant One is indeed a great being who watches over us, but there are things even He cannot do.”

Hearing this, the man asked again, as if finding it absurd.

“Why on earth should we believe in a God who is not even omnipotent?”

The priest replied.

“Believing or not believing the words of the Radiant One is an individual’s freedom.”

“However, because He considers us His children and has shown us unconditional love like a parent, we too merely revere and follow Him.”

The man asked again.

“Then can that love be proven?”

“How do we know if a God, unseen and unheard, intends to cherish us or abuse us?”

The priest smiled gently and answered.

“The proof of that great love can already be found beside us.”

“Because the Radiant One pitied the suffering and waywardness of His children, He sent His most cherished first daughter into this world in His stead.”

“She is the Saintess whom we serve.”

And then he added.

“The heart of the Saintess, who cannot turn away from the stories of the desperate, and who loves her neighbors as herself.”

“That itself is the clearest proof of love originating from God—Agape.”

• Author Unknown : God’s Love –

==========

Inside the maglev elevator ascending silently to the penthouse at the top of the skyscraper.

Rian glanced at the girl standing quietly beside him, lost in deep thought.

His wife’s chronic illness was an incurable disease for which countless medical scholars, top research teams, cutting-edge medical AI, and even giant pharmaceutical companies had failed to find a cure.

An uncharted challenge that numerous experts had poured vast amounts of capital and time into without solving.

So why, then, was he now taking this unfamiliar girl to his wife’s side?

All they had shared was a brief conversation.

It felt as if he were possessed by something.

He himself couldn’t understand his own irrational behavior.

But a person who is truly desperate will sometimes willingly become a fool.

Rian was like that now.

He was like an idiot willing to be deceived by even the most preposterous lie.

Nevertheless, the sole reason no con artist had tried to deceive him thus far was this:

Everyone knew that the moment that fool realized he had been tricked, he could transform into the world’s most terrifying avenger.

That was why Rian, conversely, couldn’t simply dismiss the audacious story of the girl who spoke of a way to cure an incurable disease.

A feeling of wanting to grasp at straws, and a sense of skepticism that he was wasting precious time.

Amidst those mixed emotions, the elevator finally reached the top floor.

Upon entering the penthouse, the housekeepers greeted him politely as always.

“Welcome back, Chairman.”

Rian dismissed them with a wave of his hand and walked down the corridor without hesitation.

A light, quiet presence followed behind him.

At the end of the wide, long corridor.

Finally arriving in front of the room where his wife resided, Rian let out a soft sigh.

He couldn’t be sure if this was truly the right choice, but he had already come this far.

He turned the doorknob.

Click-

As the room slowly revealed itself, a woman sat like a doll on a pure white bed in the center.

Lifeless hair, an emaciated body.

An IV needle pierced a faint vein in one of her gaunt forearms.

Most heartbreaking of all was the emptiness in her eyes.

They no longer held any trace of consciousness.

No matter who entered or left the room, no matter what sounds were heard nearby, the woman showed no reaction.

She stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes.

Rian approached her side and spoke gently.

“Rachel, did you have a good day today?”

“I came home a little early.”

But, as expected, there was no reply.

The man, letting out a deep sigh, turned to the girl who had followed him and said softly.

“No doctor, no research institute, has even been able to guess the exact cause of that illness.”

After a long silence, as he stroked his wife’s withered hand, he spoke again.

“All they told me was… that Rachel has less than a month left.”

Even as he announced the eternal farewell with his beloved, his eyes were strangely devoid of emotion, dry.

The deep shadow of resignation that came after trying every possible means.

Perhaps, for Rian now, the effort to save his wife was closer to an inertia he had forgotten how to stop.

Therefore, he now voiced the question he must have repeated thousands of times, without suspicion, curiosity, or expectation.

“….Perhaps, you could save my wife?”

“…….”

The girl’s eyes, facing the couple, wavered slightly.

The emotion in her gaze was… a very unfamiliar reaction to Rian.

‘Compassion?’

It was a somewhat new sensation for Rian.

The doctors and researchers he had met so far had all expressed apology, awkwardness, or professional regret in his presence.

None had dared to show pity towards the leader of a major corporation.

But the girl’s gaze now was distinctly different.

Eyes that seemed to pity a man who possessed incomparable wealth and power.

Yet, strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.

Her gaze wasn’t mere superficial pity… it felt like a warm mercy, looking down from a much more distant place.

Perhaps Rian had been entranced by that unfamiliar aura and brought the girl this far.

“…….”

Soon, the girl approached the couple without a word.

And slowly, she raised her finger.

Until the tip of that finger touched his wife, who was still staring blankly into space, Rian could only watch in a daze.

Until a warm aura of light, its origin unknown, filled the room.

=========

Honestly, fear outweighed anticipation.

Saving paupers in back alleys whom no one cared about was a completely different matter from saving the wife of a chairman suffering from an incurable disease.

It was difficult to even guess how the repercussions of this choice would unfold.

But ever since I became aware of the dangers of the ‘miracle,’ I had steeled myself every moment I used the ability.

Whatever the consequences, let’s do what’s human.

It’s the same now.

The choice has already been made.

Having heard the couple’s story and felt compassion enough to come this far… there was no need for further hesitation.

I used the miracle before their eyes, and the result—

“…….”

“………”

A heavy silence descended upon the room after the sudden burst of light faded.

The chairman of the major corporation, Rian Lumen, wore an expression of someone who had lost his senses for a moment, witnessing a mystery for the first time in his life.

It was then.

It began with a very small change.

The eyelids of the woman lying on the bed trembled minutely, then blinked.

Like a dust-covered window struggling to open and close, her eyelids twitched faintly.

And the fingertips, resting limply on the bed, twitched, as if spasming.

Then, a slight undulation appeared as she swallowed dryly down her parched throat.

Then, as if the sounds of the world, long stopped, were restarting…. a small cough burst from the woman’s lips.

“Cough-“

“Ra, Rachel!”

At that sound, Rian, as if ice had shattered, startled and looked back at his wife.

And the woman, after a brief dry cough, very slowly, like a creaking doll, turned her head towards the direction from which the voice had come.

Her gaze, which had lost focus for so long, fumbled through the air, finally finding the man before her and stopping.

The moment their eyes met, the world stopped.

Rian froze on the spot as if turned to stone.

Afraid that if he even let out a breath, all of this would disappear like a dream, he held his breath tightly.

In that silence, he discovered his own reflection, however faint, in the woman’s eyes.

Towards the husband who had despaired alone in a hopeless effort, the wife finally opened her lips.

“….Ri…….an…..”

It was a cracked, faint voice, uttered after what felt like an eternity.

The moment he finally heard that voice, the man collapsed by the bedside as if crumbling.

Unable to even touch her body, he could only call out her name desperately.

“Rachel…. Rachel, can you hear me….?”

The woman nodded, with difficulty, but clearly.

And in a cracking tone, she whispered an unbelievable story.

“Always…. I was always listening…..”

At those words, the man’s face crumbled.

He bit his lip hard as if to stop the tears from bursting out, but his whole body was trembling.

With that trembling hand, he clasped his wife’s hand, then carefully drew her into an embrace, as if afraid she might break.

Hope, long abandoned.

Tears, like welcome rain, fell drop by drop onto his heart, as dry as a desert.

The heat flowing down his cheeks trickled in droplets onto his wife’s shoulder.

“Rachel…..”

Rian, fearing it might be a dream, momentarily pulled away to check his wife’s face again.

Then, as her beautiful eyes met his gaze squarely once more….

He finally couldn’t hold back and, bowing his head, began to sob like a child.

Like the boy he once was, who, after wandering without receiving any love from his family, met his first love who understood him for the first time.

“Rachel…. sob…. Thank you… hic….. For coming back… I, really…”

Thus, I stepped back and quietly watched the couple, reunited at the brink of farewell.

---

The couple, who had been sharing an emotional reunion for a long time, finally composed themselves and turned to me.

It felt like half a day had passed, but the wait hadn’t been boring in the slightest.

I hadn’t wanted to disturb their tender reunion.

Holding each other’s hands tightly, the chairman of the Lumina Group, Rian Lumen, bowed deeply to me.

“Thank you.”

“Truly… I’ve incurred an unpayable debt of gratitude.”

“There’s no way to fully express in words what you’ve given back to me.”

“I can only say thank you.”

His wife, Rachel, added.

“Eve, thank you so much.”

Her face was much more vibrant than a moment ago.

She was a beauty whose striking looks could be recognized even in such an emaciated state.

It was a moment where I could somewhat understand why a man, even after rising to the position of a major corporation’s chairman, could never forget his childhood love.

I asked her.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, aside from being a little hungry….”

As Rachel answered, Rian, who was beside her, startled and said.

“You’re hungry?!”

“I’ll call the chef immediately…!”

“It’s not that serious.”

“What rudeness is this in front of our benefactor?”

“We haven’t even properly expressed our gratitude yet.”

“Ah, right… My apologies.”

I replied awkwardly.

“Not at all.”

“You should eat well and recover as quickly as possible.”

Even so, a slight shiver ran down my spine at the sight of the middle-aged man acting strangely restless.

To think that the gloomy and pessimistic corporate chairman, who seemed on the verge of death, could change his demeanor so drastically in just a few hours.

He looked like a husband prepared to fetch fresh fruit for his pregnant wife even in the dead of winter at the crack of dawn.

For someone like me, who knew what his face had looked like just moments ago…. it was a bit awkward to deal with.

But at his wife’s single word, Rian unhesitatingly bowed deeply towards me again.

“I say this again, thank you.”

“Tell me whatever you desire.”

“I will repay this kindness using whatever I possess, whatever my power can reach.”

“I swear this on my name as the Chairman of the Lumina Group.”

That promise.

At first glance, it might not have sounded like such a grand statement.

The Lumina Group merely occupied a minor seat on the list of Omega Detroit’s major corporations.

But the reality was entirely different.

To understand the standing of this city’s ‘Top 100 Corporations,’ one first had to understand what kind of city ‘Omega Detroit’ was.

A free economic city, planned and designed from the outset by the world’s first trans-national mega-corporation, ‘Omega International Group.’

Thanks to near-zero corporate taxes and extremely pro-business policies that dismantled all managerial regulations, it was a city environment structured to be incomparably capital-friendly, even compared to tax havens.

Consequently, over the past few decades, even many of the world’s leading companies had relocated their headquarters or branches here.

Of course, mid-sized companies within the city were still largely focused on domestic demand.

These were companies responsible for city infrastructure like transportation, media, and real estate.

At a point where the city’s population was equivalent to that of a nation, the power of such companies was considerable, but their limits were clear.

However, for ‘major corporations,’ meaning the top 100, the scale was entirely different.

In a hyper-capitalist society, after corporations began to surpass national power, the need for venues where they could closely concert global affairs increased.

Thus, even companies from other continents gradually established branches and gathered in ‘Omega Detroit.’

Therefore, to be on the list of this city’s top 100 corporations… was synonymous with having that much influence globally.

The head of such a corporation was now, before my very eyes, saying this.

“Tell me. What can I do for the benefactor who restored something that is more precious than my own life?”