Chapter 194: Uncle Kendrick: You Youngsters Are So Dramatic...

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Uncle Kendrick: You Youngsters Are So Dramatic...

Estelle Lockwood abruptly pulled back the hand she had raised to knock on the door. She thought, "Wait, why does this voice sound so young, and even a bit familiar?! Mr. Lynch is supposed to be an elegant man in his forties. He might even be living apart from his wife because of a midlife balding crisis. How could a man of his age sound so youthful?"

Estelle was a bit confused, but Enzo Kendrick harbored no such reservations. "What are you thinking about? Snap out of it," he said, pushing the door wide open.

Estelle grabbed his sleeve. "Uncle Kendrick, don’t you think something is... off?"

Before she could finish her sentence, Enzo was already greeting the person inside with natural ease. "Good afternoon, good afternoon!"

Enzo marveled that this was Nathaniel Sloan, and this was Mr. Lynch. Sure enough, over those five years, he had cast countless hexagrams for Estelle, and every single one indicated her destiny with Nathaniel was far from over. This was fate!

Estelle was stunned by Enzo’s overly familiar attitude. Her uncle had followed a Taoist priest up the mountain at the age of five and had stayed in the temple for forty years. He rarely spoke unless he was divining fortunes—in short, he was severely introverted. How did he end up acting so chummy with Mr. Lynch?

Estelle kept her head down, her heart fluttering with excitement. After all, she was finally going to meet the good friend who had helped her for so many years. Though they had a significant age gap, true friendship knew no bounds. She reminded herself that she absolutely must not show any weird reaction to Mr. Lynch’s baldness.

She mentally instructed herself to act naturally. She put on the most sincere smile she could muster and looked up. "Mr. Lyn—"

Inside the private dining room, sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows and bathed in sunlight, Nathaniel Sloan chuckled and raised his eyes. His gold-rimmed glasses reflected the warm rays, casting tiny golden specks into his smiling gaze.

Estelle’s smile froze, and the rest of the word got stuck in her throat. She stepped backward out of the room, checked the door number, and looked back at Nathaniel inside. Then, she closed her eyes, waited five seconds, and opened them again.

Nothing had changed. It was still the same room, and it was still Nathaniel.

Estelle could no longer smile. "Why is it you?"

Nathaniel gestured for Enzo to take a seat before looking unhurriedly at Estelle. "Who else did Mrs. Sloan expect it to be?"

"Of course it’s..." Estelle suddenly choked on her words. She thought, "If I admit I am here to see Mr. Lynch, wouldn’t Nathaniel get jealous and go cause trouble for the man?"

"Estelle, why are you still standing at the door? Come on in," Enzo called out before turning back to Nathaniel. "It’s a pleasure to meet you! We meet again! I truly didn’t expect such a coincidence!"

Nathaniel nodded. "Master Kendrick, I didn’t expect to see you here either."

"We’re not in the temple right now, so there’s no need to call me Master. You can just call me Uncle Kendrick, same as Estelle." Enzo rubbed his hands together, clearly thrilled. "Back then, I had no idea you were Nathaniel Sloan. Destiny! This is definitely destiny!"

Enzo recalled the time a Mr. Lynch had come to the temple to divine his wife’s whereabouts. Enzo had been taking a nap and hadn’t paid much attention when he heard the name. Mr. Lynch? Who? Never heard of him. He only caught a glimpse of Mr. Lynch from afar as the man was leaving.

To think that years later, he would suddenly learn that Mr. Lynch was actually Nathaniel Sloan! Enzo wanted to slam the table in excitement. If this wasn’t destiny, what was?

Nathaniel smiled and nodded.

Estelle narrowed her eyes. "You two know each other?"

Enzo was about to speak, but Nathaniel beat him to it. "Back then, I felt you were still alive but couldn’t find you, so I wanted to find a grandmaster to cast a fortune."

His tone was calm, but Estelle pursed her lips. Nathaniel was a man who didn’t believe in gods or Buddhas, let alone divination, yet he had sought out the very temple where Enzo resided.

Before she could feel touched by the revelation, Nathaniel took a sip of tea and asked with interest, "Mrs. Sloan, you looked very surprised to see me just now. Who were you originally hoping to find here?"

Enzo also looked over, wondering why Estelle had been so shocked earlier.

Estelle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you sure you want to know, Mr. Sloan?"

Nathaniel pretended to ponder. "It seems the person you’re looking for is that Mr. Lynch."

Enzo was savoring his tea. Hearing this, he nearly did a spit-take. He thought, "Hold on, what are you two talking about?"

He instinctively wanted to speak up, but Estelle cut in first. "Mr. Sloan, where did you hear such a thing? There’s no such person."

She panicked inwardly and thought, "Oh no, I shouldn’t have run my mouth this morning. Nathaniel isn’t going to go cause trouble for a balding middle-aged man, is he?"

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "No such person? Mrs. Sloan, Mr. Kendrick is right here. He can tell if you’re lying."

Enzo could read faces; no lie could escape his eyes. Estelle suddenly choked up. "Strange, why am I feeling guilty?" she wondered. "I have a clear conscience. I have nothing to hide!"

A half-smile played on Nathaniel’s lips. "Mrs. Sloan claimed that you care deeply about Mr. Lynch, but if you care so much, how have you still not found him? Could it be that Mrs. Sloan doesn’t even know what Mr. Lynch looks like?"

The more Enzo listened, the more confused he became. He shot Nathaniel a suspicious glance and thought, "Aren’t you Mr. Lynch?"

Nathaniel set down his teacup and gently shook his head. "I originally thought you two shared a profound bond and supported each other through hard times. Now it seems it’s nothing more than superficial."

Estelle nearly slammed her hands on the table and stood up. How dare he doubt her mutual, supportive friendship with Mr. Lynch!

She steadied her nerves, casting him a sidelong glance as she pretended to be perfectly calm. "Who says it’s superficial? Doesn’t Mr. Sloan know that some bonds transcend words? Uncle Kendrick, you know about my friendship with Mr. Lynch, don’t you?"

As Estelle spoke, she winked frantically at Enzo. "Mr. Lynch has helped me so much with my business. You should know about this, right?"

Enzo instinctively wanted to nod, but he was completely lost. Wasn’t Nathaniel Mr. Lynch? So the person helping Estelle was Nathaniel himself! "You young kids sure have complicated relationships," he mused inwardly.

Nathaniel’s smile deepened, the corners of his lips curling up uncontrollably as he nodded. "So that’s how it is. It seems you truly do care about Mr. Lynch."

Estelle replied with absolute confidence, "Of course I do!"

Amusement danced in Nathaniel’s eyes. "Alright, I understand."

Estelle was bewildered for a moment. She felt that his response was very strange, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why.

Nathaniel had just ordered, and the food hadn’t arrived yet. Estelle was a bit worried that if she delayed any longer, Mr. Lynch would leave. After hesitating for a moment, she finally decided to step out and look for him.

Those two waiters had mentioned that Mr. Lynch acquired Celestine Pavilion. As the new boss of Celestine Pavilion, he would likely head to the office area rather than the dining section. With this thought in mind, Estelle walked toward the other side of the building.

Back in the private room, Enzo looked at Estelle’s husband with a complex expression. Why did he send Estelle away? The two of them barely knew each other, and being left alone in the room together was incredibly awkward!

Enzo let out an awkward laugh. "Drink your tea, drink your tea."

Nathaniel parted his thin lips. "Mr. Kendrick, forgive my intrusion, but I have a question I’d like to ask you."

Enzo shook his head. "You want to ask about Estelle’s origins, right? You should know that a soothsayer cannot divine the fate of their own family. Estelle is now practically part of the Kendricks, which makes her my family. Our cosmic destinies are intertwined. If I try to divine her origins, there is a high probability that I won’t get any results."

Nathaniel tapped his fingertips lightly against the table. "Apologies, I was overthinking."

What Enzo didn’t say was that there indeed existed a karmic connection between Estelle Lockwood and the Lockwood Family, which was likely related to the Grandpa Lockwood who adopted her.

Enzo coughed twice. "Um, Estelle’s husband, I can see that you’re about to face a major problem. Did you know that?"

Nathaniel was speechless. "Estelle’s husband?" he repeated inwardly. He wondered if Grandmaster Kendrick’s way of addressing people was always this unique.