National Asset: The Marvelous Tyler Wood

Chapter 5

Not long after Tyler arrived home, and stood at the gate.

Despite his ragged appearance, his eyes shone with warmth as he looked at his wife's family home. His calloused fingers traced the new stone walls while his mind wandered back to that life-changing day five years ago. Back then, his shoulders had been bent with worry, his clothes hanging in tatters, his mother's thin arm clutching his for support as they wandered Dapplewood's streets.

His throat tightened at the memory of his wife's grandfather opening his door for them that rainy evening.

He hadn't flinched at his dirty appearance or his mother's sickness.

Instead, he welcomed them with warm smiles and gentle hands.

That same night, the divine doctor had visited.

Tyler remembered how the old master's piercing eyes had studied him, looking past his ragged clothes to see something deeper.

When the divine doctor chose him as an apprentice, Tyler's hands had trembled with disbelief. The news spread through Dapplewood like wildfire - the homeless beggar chosen to learn the sacred healing arts.

Now, Tyler's feet carried him through the gate.

His mouth fell open in amazement at the changes. Where there had once been simple wooden fences, beautiful stone walls now stretched toward the sky. Tall trees cast cool shadows across the newly laid stone path. The house itself had grown grander, its fresh white paint gleaming in the afternoon sun.

At that moment a smile spread across Tyler's dirt-streaked face as he imagined his mother here.

Then Joy bubbled up from deep inside him, and he couldn't contain it anymore.

“Mom!” his voice boomed across the compound.

 “I'm home!”

At that moment Tyler's heart leaped with joy as the door creaked open and people emerged from the house.  

Immediately his body trembled with excitement when he recognized Luke, his wife's cousin, dressed in what looks like an expensive silk shirt and pressed pants.

Behind Luke came his wife's parents, looking even more wealthy than he remembered - her father in a business suit and her mother wearing fine jewelry that sparkled in the sunlight.

Immediately Tyler's bare feet moved faster across the garden path, ignoring the sharp stones that dug into his calloused soles.

Then  his arms opened wide, muscles aching from his long journey, ready to embrace the family he'd missed every day for five years.

The sun continues beating down on his torn clothes, making the forest smell rise stronger from his unwashed body.

“Where's my wife? my mom, where are they?” Tyler asked, his voice cracking with emotion. The dirt on his face cracked and shifted as his smile grew even bigger, revealing white teeth that stood out against his dirty skin.

His heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his throat, five years of longing making his hands tremble.

At that moment Luke's handsome face twisted into an odd smirk.

 His perfectly groomed eyebrows rose as he looked Tyler up and down.

Then the expensive gold watch on his wrist caught the sunlight as he crossed his arms.

“What are you doing here?” Luke asked, each word dripping with disgust.

Hearing what Luke just said.

Tyler's eager smile faltered, confusion washing over his weathered face.

His rough hands, stained dark from years of grinding herbs and digging roots, dropped limply to his sides. The happiness in his eyes dimmed as uncertainty crept in.

It seems they didn't recognize him under all this forest grime.

“It's me, Tyler!”

he said, gesturing to himself with dirty fingers.

“I've just returned from the supreme Forest. I finished my training!”

Hearing what Tyler just said.

His wife's mother's perfectly made-up face contorted as she threw her head back.

 Her laughter burst out like shattering glass, sharp and cruel. Her diamond necklace caught the light as her body shook with more mocking laughter. Her perfectly painted red lips curved into a sneering smile, and her manicured hand waved dismissively in the air.

“Oh, I knew this would happen,” she said, her voice dripping with scorn, her nose wrinkling at Tyler's dirty appearance.

“I knew after being useless all these years, you would come back as a beggar, pretending as if we don't know everything, like we don't know what actually happened, what a loser.”

At that moment Tyler's eyebrows pushed up, hearing their cruel words, he Couldn't this was the same people he spend a little time with.

“Mom?” he called to his wife's mother, his voice soft and confused. His bare feet moved forward hesitantly.

His mind couldn't make sense of what was happening - these people had been his family, and he was surprised hearing such words from them.

But before he could reach them, Immediately his wife's father stepped forward.

“Enough of this nonsense!” he roared, making Tyler stop in his tracks.

Tyler's could  now see their were serious.

And  his wife's father continued, each word hitting like a slap.

“Everyone knows the truth about you, bastard.” the older man spat, his fingers gripping his suit lapels.

“The divine doctor rejected you five years ago. You never even got past the first stage of training, let alone learned any medicine skill!”

Hearing what his wife father just said.

Tyler jaw tightened, But his wife's father wasn't finished.

“And now,” he continued, his voice getting louder, “you have the nerve to show up here? After disappearing for exactly five years - the exact training time - thinking you can fool us?” He straightened his gold cufflinks, his face twisting with disgust.

“You must be even more stupid than you look if you think you can scam the Emmett family.”