411 The Hut Under the Bridge, The Race that See Love as Both Treasure and Poison (2/2)

Through the holes on the tarpaulin, Edzel could tell that there was gaslamp lit inside. It meant that there was someone inside.

\”Hello? Is anyone inside?\”

Edzel called out as it was impossible to knock on the door covered with nothing but tarpaulin.

He suddenly heard sounds coming from inside the hut. It seemed that the person was startled that someone came here in the middle of the night.

The door then opened slightly and a person peeked through the small gap of the door.

\”I-is there something you need from me?\”

The person spoke. The voice was rather hoarse but it was no doubt that the person was a woman.

From the gap, she could be seen wearing a ragged cloak and with one of her hands, she was trying hard to cover her face. Only her eyes could be seen that squinted a bit because of the flashlight Edzel was carrying.

Edzel, however, did not realize that the woman's eyes squinted. It was because he was shocked.

His shock took control of his body and shoved the door open with force. It was too sudden that the woman was pushed back and lost balance. A loud cracking sound was heard as the woman fell on her shabby med made of old bamboo.

The woman was shocked and scared. She stared at the man in front of her with extreme fear.

However, Edzel did not stop. He entered the hut and grabbed the woman's hood. He removed it hastily and pointed his flashlight at the woman's face.

The scared woman could only cover her face ugly face in fear. Because of the flashlight, she could not see the person's face at all. She could not understand why this was happening.

\”Hih!\”

A scared voice scaped out of the woman's mouth as she heard the sound of the man's flashlight being dropped to the ground.

She expected that she was about to get hurt and was about to curl herself in fear.

Then, she was shocked even more.

The man embraced her tightly.

\”Pearl, it's me.\”

The man spoke near her ears.

There was a moment of silence as she finally recognized the man's voice. Tears started to flow from her eyes. These tears were filled with sadness, guilt, and regret. She felt that she was not worthy of this embrace and such, she tried to push Edzel away.

However, Edzel did not budge. He tightly embraced her without any sign of letting go.

\”Edzel, let go of me,\” Pearl begged. \”Please... Let go.\”

\”No.\” Edzel firmly declined. \”No matter how much you reject me, I'm not letting you go anymore.\”

Those words ignited Pearl's guilt even more. Tears overflowed from her eyes.

\”Just let me go! You don't deserve someone like me!\” She sobbed loudly. \”I chose material things over you! My body had already been used by who knows how many men! I became ugly with these scars on my face and body! I'm nothing but a piece of useless trash of a wom-!!!\”

Pearl tried to tell Edzel about the degrading things about her and make him leave her alone. However, she was not able to finish her words. Her eyes opened wide as a kiss without any sense of disgust sealed her lips. Nevertheless, it did not make her happy. She felt even sadder.

She could feel Edzel's feelings from this kiss. His feelings towards her never changed. It would be a lie if she said that she did not like Edzel. However, she chose to be a slut who chose material things and comfort over staying true to her feelings.

Edzel then slowly moved his face away from Pearl. The light from the oil lamp lit up her face showing that ugly scar that went across it. There were also other small scars on her cheeks, chin, and forehead. However, none of those mattered to him as he wiped her tears.

\”No matter what you say, you won't be able to get rid of me.\” Edzel smiled. \”I'm not the same as the past me. This time. I won't let go of you even if I die.\”

Those words made Pearl speechless. She could tell that Edzel was not joking. She could not think anymore as his words pierced her heart.

\”Uwaaahhhh!\”

Pearl started to weep even harder than before. Edzel decided to no do anything but embrace her once more letting her head rest unto his chest.

***

\”Are you really sure about this?\”

Just a distance away from the hut, two silhouettes could be seen talking under the shadow of the bridge. The two were closely watching what was happening.

The two were no other than Mark and Pefile, Edzel's father.

As Mark felt that Pefile appeared before Edzel, he could not help but head out to see what was happening. He did not expect that he would make Edzel and his traitorous girlfriend to reunite.

Mark was against it at first. However, he started to think otherwise as he felt Edzel's genuine feelings towards Pearl.

To Mark's question, Pefile sighed.

\”Sad to say, we are not human. Unlike humans, we live with only a single partner for the rest of our lives. Once we fall for a female, that feeling will stay for the rest of our life. Why do you think that some of us would even abduct females with husbands if we can settle for females without partners? Love is a treasure, but it is also a poison to us. If we fall for a female, we can only be with that female.

Pefile turned to Mark.

\”You know. Love can't always be manipulated. Many of our kind die because of this poison. If I did not do this, my son will die from his own.\”

Mark looked at Pefile with a bit of pity. It seemed that there was more to this story as Pefile's emotions were everywhere as he said his reason.