His voice wasced with deep affection and regret. He wanted to watch the children grow up into adults, just as he had watched his grandson transform into a magnificent man.


    Mr. Everett sighed deeply as he gently held his wife’s hand, which rested on his shoulder. They both regretted not meeting sooner and having more children. However, Zhane’s mother was frail, and another childbirth would have been too dangerous for her. They married in their 30s, and she needed a long time to nurse her body after giving birth to Zhane. Both Mr. Everett and his father were workaholics, often holed up in theb or hospital performing surgeries, much like Zhane. This was why they marriedte. However, Mr. Everett was older when he settled downpared to his father, who had married and fathered Mr. Everett at a younger age.


    Now, Mrs. Everett felt a twinge of heartbreak because this issue had always been her deep regret. Her frail body couldn’t handle anotherte pregnancy as it might cost her life. Everyone was against her getting pregnant again, so Mr. Everett had a vasectomy to ensure it wouldn’t happen.


    So, no one dared to question the Patriarch anymore. Little did they know that their beloved Zhane was destined to share a woman with his close buddies and would bring his wife home to meet his family. However, what they didn’t expect was that Zhane’s other "co-husbands" would follow behind, carrying gifts for the visit. To make matters moreplicated, Zhane’s supposed wife was pregnant, and it was uncertain who the father of the child was. The Patriarch nearly had a heart attack at the revtion and started to regret his decision of allowing Zhane to determine his own life.


    But that tale was reserved for the future. For now, the Everett family resumed their lives as if nothing had disrupted their tranquility. However, outside the core family circle, within the confines of one of the branch family’s vis, other rtives gathered for their own ndestine meeting, deep in discussion about the unfolding situation.


    "What’s our next move? We’ve already assured Ms. Lennon that Zhane would undoubtedly be her future husband, and the entire Everett n has backed this union. Isn’t it evident that the Lennon family is unting this alliance, making it look like there was courtship in this marriage talk, to enhance their daughter’s desirability in high society? They want to showcase that the Everett heir is smitten with their daughter, that the Everetts have pursued them for years," remarked one rtive, his tone dripping with sarcasm.


    "Isn’t that precisely why we’ve been dancing to the Lennon’s tune all along? But if this alliance falls apart now, we might be asked to cough up everything we’ve been enjoying," someone said nervously, driving home his point and reminding everyone of the bribes they’d received for this endeavor.


    The man with the square face grinned evilly. "Don’t worry. Let the Everett main family and the Lennons fight it out amongst themselves. We’ll simply watch from the sidelines and pick off the remains once they’ve torn each other apart," his smile carried a chilling depth, harboring ulterior motives. This individual had long harbored envy towards the Everett main family and coveted their power, yetcked the means or capability to seize it himself, biding his time for an opportunity to present itself on a silver tter.


    The Everett family, a lineage of divine healers spanning generations, was revered for their ability to even revive the dead, a feat that earned them titles and vastnds, solidifying their ce as one of the oldest and most esteemed families in history. However, unlike the prosperous Hendrix and Avery ns, the Everetts’ wealthy primarily in their medical knowledge, inherited and refined over the ages. While their ancestors traveled to aid the poor andbat epidemics, their family’s prominence was rtively recent, bestowed by the new reformed government after the monarchy, so their family was not as old as the Avery and the Hendrix.


    Due to their long history, the Everett family adopted many orphaned children into their fold. However, despite being part of the branch families under the main Everett line, these adopted children did not have the right to inherit the family’s position or teachings. This privilege was reserved exclusively for those directly descended from the Everett lineage, in ordance with the wishes of the family’s first ancestor, renowned as the first divine doctor in their line.