Chapter 208 - 38 (1/2)

It was raining. The gloomy clouds reflected the event that was happening. As the priest read the words on his book with a blank face, the people wept with fake tears.

Just how many people in here truly shed tears from their hearts? Just how many people really felt sad? The priest? His business partners who couldn't wait for him dead? His fake friends who taunted him behind his back. The strangers who didn't even know him and were just there for the food? Or his one-year-old son, who didn't even know his father was dead.

NO one.

That's right. That's how Robert Krisnov lived his life. With no one who would truly miss him nor pray for him in the afterlife.

Not even her. His daughter.

Evangeline stood there with Eric by her side as she watched the dirt-covered Robert Krisnov's coffin. Her mind was screaming, but her body was lifeless. She wanted to yell at the people to fuċk off. They were just pretenders. Everything was fake. Even the whole ceremony was fake. They could just throw Robert Krisnov's body in the ocean, and no one would bat an eyelid.

It's sickening.

”Evangeline.”

Evangeline blinked. Her eyes then shot at Angel's face. How much time passed that she didn't even notice the people dispersing.

”I think you should have this,” Angel said, handing a pocket watch towards her.

Evangeline couldn't think straight as she reached for the pocket watch.

”It belongs to uncle Robert . . . your father,” Angel continued, ”You were gone, so the hospital called for me to process the papers and collect your father's belongings.”

Evangeline didn't reply. Her eyes remained stuck on that pocket watch in her hand.

Angel took in some breath before she said, ”Uncle Robert always carried it.”

When Evangeline still didn't reply, Angel looked at Eric, whose eyes didn't budge from Evangeline's face.

Her chin crunched, lips pressed together before she turned around. ”Though we don't get along . . . I'm . . . I'm sorry. . . ,” she whispered the last words before she went her way.

In Evangeline's hand, the pocket watch was dripping with rain. It seemed like it was weeping. When she pushed the side regulator, the watch opened, revealing the vintage clock's intricate details. Pushing the screen, another layer opened. Inside was an old picture of a family of three. The man with his kind expression. The woman with purple wavy hair and her bright smile and the child with big round innocent eyes.

They were a picture of a perfect family.

”Heh,” Evangeline sneered. ”What good is keeping this photo if you would just leave us.”

Eric looked at Evangeline. Her face was unremorseful, and her eyes were full of hate. But her voice was shaking as her lips, the only betrayal of her grief.

----

Back in Eric's apartment, Evangeline was inside their room while Eric prepared for their dinner.

Still a bit daze, Evangeline didn't know what to feel. Her shock hadn't subsided yet. It was a given that shock was all she felt. Robert Krisnov abandoned them. The moment he did, he was dead to her.

Without thinking, her hand reached for a drawer. Her fingers searched for something until it touched that familiar box.

Inside the box, a hairpin reflected her eyes. It was just a simple pink clip with no embellishment. The one that little girls used to love.

Hypnotized by it, the memories she thought forgotten resurface.

In front of that store, her little palms were plastered on the large glass, eyes glued on a single object. It was that pink hairpin.

”Eva, let's go.”

”Dad. I want that,” she said, pointing at the hairclip.

Her father looked at the hairclip and shook his head at the price. ”We can't afford it.”