Unmasking Mrs. Newton's Secret Identities novel Chapter 1964

"I was doing an idiom exercise earlier," Lincoln explained, "It asked whether hard work or talent leads to greater success. I said that hard work is worthless compared to talent, but Nana disagrees."

Helen nodded thoughtfully. "Effort is important, but innate talent is hard to surpass in some areas."

This was one of those situations where both sides had valid points—each explanation carried weight.

In an unusually good mood, Chandler added, "Sometimes, even if you have talent, if you don't cherish it, the hardworking person can still surpass you.

"There's a saying, 'It's easy to conquer a kingdom but hard to keep it.' Even if something is destined, it requires effort to maintain, or you'll eventually lose it."

He paused, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Kingsley. "What do you think, Dr. Godfrey?"

Kingsley shot him a complicated look but didn't respond immediately. After a moment, he changed the subject. "My apprentice, you're free tonight, right? Time to learn from your master."

"I'm not your apprentice yet. Oh, by the way, I've come up with something. You need to help me defeat Mr. James."

"You want to defeat James?" Kingsley scoffed. "What, are we in an action movie now?"

Although Lincoln was nearly 5 feet 3 inches, he was still just an eight-year-old.

On the other hand, James was famous for his combat skills. He was the number one muscleman in Destiny Group. A match between them had no real suspense.

James, overhearing this, flexed his arm and showed off his biceps with exaggerated flair.

Lincoln briefly glanced at him before quickly looking away. "That's none of my concern. You promised to fulfill 30 of my wishes. If you can't, our agreement is void, and I'll find someone else to be my mentor."

"Of course," Chandler responded, smiling modestly. "But from now on, I think I should start calling you 'Uncle Dominic.' After all, Taylor will soon be your son-in-law.

"If we keep calling each other brothers, I'll end up sounding like I'm from another generation than my wife."

Dominic paused, then nodded in agreement. "You're right. By the way, it's been a while since I've seen Taylor and Abigail. Do you know what they've been up to lately?"

"Ah, young couples, they need some space for themselves," Helen quickly interjected, trying to cover up for them.

"Now that Abigail has found a good match, your job, Uncle Dominic, is pretty much done. You don't have to worry about them. You and Aunt Connie can just enjoy life."

Dominic had a bad temper. If he knew that Taylor had dragged Abigail off a cliff, he might rethink whether he could trust his future son-in-law.