The Goldmaster

002. Secrets

She continued breathing heavily, “Answer me! What do you think you’re doing, you a**hole!” she cursed.

“I thought you didn’t want anything from me, so why are you trying your best now, huh?!” she continued ranting, forgetting her current condition.

Lucas, who had been in these kinds of situations before, knew it was best to keep shut or it would just lead to more arguments.

He walked over to the drawer and pulled out an old medic box—one his mentor had

once used to save lives.

While she ranted from the bed, he opened it, grabbed a silver needle, wiped it clean,

and disinfected it with practiced ease.

“What were you doing there?” she questioned, but Lucas didn’t respond to her rants, just walked up to her. “Why won’t you answer me?”

“Because you’re not feeling too good,” he muttered, briefly putting his hand on her forehead, then leaned closer to her.

He took the needle and aimed for her chest, and in immense panic and fear, she hit his hand away. Luckily, he held the needle firmly or it would have flown off his hand.

“Be careful!” he shouted. “Just stay still, let me take care of you.”

She stared at him, unsure whether to trust him or not, but then decided to stay still since it was for her illness—though she was unsure he could treat it.

He swiftly pierced the acupoints near her heart and lungs, then traced a path upward, linking the silver needles along a meridian.

A warm current spread through her body from top to bottom,and slowly, she started breathing better and her rapid heartbeat started returning to normal.

She couldn’t believe what she was feeling. “Is this real?” she thought to herself.

The illness had followed her for years. She’d seen countless doctors, travelled far, spent money, begged for answers.

But no one had ever found the cause. No one had found a cure.

Eventually, she gave up. She stopped hoping. She learned to live with the pain, to carry it like another part of her.

So how… how did he?

He was just a low-grade human. Ordinary, untrained.

Then how was he able to do what skilled doctors and experts couldn’t?

It didn’t make sense, and that terrified her.

“That should take care of your problem”, Lucas set down the silver needles and said to her.

“Thanks, but I never thought you were so good at medical stuff.”

“How’d you even pull that off? I mean, someone like you doesn’t exactly scream ‘medical expert’.”

She looked down on Lucas’s worn-out medical box, as if searching for some kind of answer.

“Maybe I’m just a med school dropout?” Lucas shrugged, flashing a mocking smile.

“Oh, by the way—name’s Lucas. And you are?”

“Pamela. Pamela Bellingham.”

The next second, the room spun. Pamela suddenly found herself pinned against the wall by a pair of strong, unrelenting arms.

“What are you doing?!” she stared in disbelief as his face leaned in, too close, too fast. That unreadable smile was still on his face.

“Nothing,” Lucas murmured by her ear, voice low.

“Just wanted to say—never judge a book by its cover.”

Pamela was stunned. Furious. Speechless. This man was insane!

Then, a sharp sting struck her ear. Cold metal brushed against her skin—a piercing. An earring. A mark. A violation.

“Don’t touch it. Might get infected,” Lucas said calmly, watching her expression shift—from confusion to outrage—as she realized what it was: a blood-red pigeon ruby. She looked like a cat ready to explode.

It’s funny!

“Sorry I didn’t ask first,” he said with a smirk. “But I figure this little gift more than makes up for it.” He nodded toward the earring, knowing anyone in the industry would lose their mind over its rarity and craftsmanship.

“You bastard!” Pamela lost it. A dropout like him dared to lay a finger on her? In Bellingham?

She raised her hand to slap him again—but he caught her wrist with ease. That terrifying strength returned. Unshakable.

“If you’re still not satisfied,” Lucas said, leaning in, “I guess I’ll just have to find another way to shut that little mouth of yours.”

He let go. Pamela slumped back against the wall, face flushed—not with embarrassment, but rage.

She was about to tear into him when her phone rang.

Pamela took a deep breath. “This is Pamela.”

“What? … I’ll be right there!”

Lucas narrowed his eyes. Something was up.

He watched her quickly gather her things. Just as she stepped through the door, he blocked her path.

“If you need me, the earring works both ways.”

“In your dreams. We are never seeing each other again!”

She slammed the door shut and stormed off.

“What a relief,” he sighed, falling to the bed.

Just as he was settling on the bed for another nap, his phone buzzed with a phone call.

He shrugged before answering the call. “Yeah Jackie, what’s up?”

“Hope you haven’t forgotten about the auctions, sir. It’s in three days,” he reported.

Lucas shuffled a hand through his disheveled hair. “Yeah, I haven’t.”

“I’ll be expecting you at the auction then, Gold Master,” Jackie said over the phone.

“Been a while I’ve been called that name,” he said, staring up at the ceiling.

He created the identity of the Gold Master, a legend in the business world. He saved failing companies and turned them into giants.

Just a rumor of his interest could make stock prices jump. CEOs begged for a chance to meet him. No one knew who he was—but everyone knew his power.

His name had spread around the globe within a year, but he always kept a low profile. That’s why only a few people had seen his face, and most of those were his family members.

Every year, he quietly collaborated with the government to host the prestigious “Lunch with GOLD MASTER” charity auction. All proceeds went to charitable causes, but the real draw was the chance to sit across from the man himself.

Despite the sky-high bidding price, the event was always flooded with eager participants.

This year, the auction would be held in three days at Luna Hall, a large building for special occasions such as this.

“Well, sir, you earned it,” Jackie responded, his voice light.

“Another reason I called you, sir, is to inform you that Rebecca is getting engaged today, at Diamond Parish,” he said. “She and her family are utterly ungrateful and don’t know what’s good for them.”

“If you want, I’ll ruin them. They’ll live the rest of their lives with their tails between

their legs!”

“Relax. No need to overreact—I didn’t come here because of some engagement,” Lucas said calmly.

The truth was, he came to City A only because his mentor asked him to deliver a life-saving medicine, not to fulfill some so-called promise. He had never taken the engagement seriously. It was just bait Rebecca’s family used to get Master Antonio to treat their illness.

If he’d been dumb enough to fall for it, his thirty-something years of life would’ve been a joke.

Besides, a man like him never wanted marriage in the first place. To him, it was nothing but a chain—something that would only hold him back.

“As you wish, sir,” he said.

“Your luxury fleet is waiting on your command”,Jackie insisted, but Lucas turned it down as well.

“There’s no need for that.I don’t want any unnecessary attention and drama,” he ordered.

After all, he’s there to sprinkle some sugar on top, not to kick someone when they’re already down. Right?

“Alright then, sir,” Jackie said before hanging up.

He grabbed his clothes and dressed without a word.

“This won’t be easy.”

He opened the door and stepped into the cold, uncertainty pressing down like a weight.