When Mirabe got home from school that afternoon, she was taken aback to find a small gathering in the living room, especially when she spotted Johnny among the visitors. She immediately caught a strange look on Delh''s face, which only deepened her bewilderment.


    Setting her backpack down with a soft thud, Mirabe nodded in greeting. Linnea, who had been anxiously awaiting Mirabe''s return, could barely contain her excitement as she rose and approached.


    "Little Mira, was it you who cured my boy Owen''s illness?" Linnea asked, her voice trembling with emotion.


    Mirabe paused, her mind racing. Owen? Linnea''s son?


    After a moment, Mirabe nodded, her expression somber. She hadn''t expected Linnea to return with the Davis n in tow, especially since there hadn''t been a peep about any medical treatment during their dinner the previous evening.


    Mirabe''s eyes flicked to Johnny, who felt an unexinable shiver run down his spine under her gaze. With Mirabe''s affirmation, Linnea pressed on eagerly, "What exactly was wrong with Owen? Is he truly better now?"


    Knowing Linnea was a friend of her mother''s, Mirabe patiently exined about gic diseases, glossing over the more technical aspects. Once Linnea heard the term ''gic disease,'' her faith in Mirabe as Owen''s healer was sealed. "So, there''s noplete cure for Owen''s condition? Just management and treatment?" Linnea inquired, a hint of disappointmentcing her words.


    Mirabe murmured an affirmation. With the current state of medical science, that was the best they could hope for. Linnea''s eyes clouded with a touch of sorrow, but she quickly rallied, realizing that even though her husband had passed away without a cure, her son''s condition was now manageable. That in itself was a blessing.


    Wiping a tear from her eye, Linnea expressed her heartfelt gratitude. "Marian, thank you. Thank you for saving my son''s life."


    "It''s nothing," Mirabe replied, her lips pressed into a thin line. After all, she had beenpensated.


    Following a few more questions, Linnea and Johnny departed from the Davis household.


    Once they were alone, Delh, who had remained mostly silent throughout the visit, turned to her daughter with aplex expression. "Mirabe, you... know how to treat people?"


    Mirabe massaged her temples, having anticipated this moment woulde. With a sigh, she nodded and crafted a usible exnation. "Catherine hasn''t been well, so I spent some time learning from an old alternative medicine practitioner in the countryside."


    Delh was aware of Catherine''s frail health; otherwise, her daughter wouldn''t have opted to stay away for a whole year after the mix-up at birth. But to think that a brief apprenticeship with an alternative healer could lead to curing a rare gic disorder? She was skeptical.


    Narrowing her eyes, Delh suddenly felt that her daughter might be pulling the wool over her eyes for the first time. "So, my migraine... you treated that as well?" Delh probed.


    After a brief pause, Mirabe nodded.


    Delh''s feelings grew even moreplicated, and she felt an impulsive urge to shake the truth out of her daughter. Just a few pills had cured her migraines-was that really the result of just a stint with an old alternative medicine practitioner? Her daughter, the little chatan, was pulling a fast one on her own mother.


    Perhaps sensing the barely concealed exasperation in Delh''s eyes, Mirabe shifted subtly, took a sip of water, and deftly changed the subject. "By the way, why haven''t I seen our usual ountants aroundtely? I was almost under the impression they were here to collect debts."


    Delh''s frustration was momentarily deflected. "...."


    She decided to let the conversation settle there, but she knew this wasn''t over.


    She made a mental note to revisit this topic-just as soon as she figured out how to handle her extraordinarily mysterious daughter.