Summoning her courage, she mumbled, "Yeah, for real."
She was curious as to why Vincent wanted to go against Perkins Family. That's why she suggested the deal as bait.
No matter what happened, she would leave him anyway in the future. It didn't matter what she said now, she thought.
At the same time, Vincent stared into her eyes, examining her expressions carefully, as if doubting whether she was telling the truth or not.
At first, she could still look him in the eye, but his gaze was too sharp. After a while, her eyes started flickering around, avoiding his eyes.
Suddenly, Vincent spoke, "There isn't a single good person in Perkins Family. Howard may be innocent, but blame him for being born into Perkin's family."
Dumbfounded, she questioned, "Why do you say so? I think they are all kind."
"It's just a facade."
"What kind of bad things did they do exactly?" "Do you know why Howard is the only son in Perkins Family? That's because his parents and grandparents have done many terrible things in the past. It's all karma now," he snickered.
"Ronan Perkins is the worst. He was a brutal young man back in the days, and he was also very superstitious."
The corners of Vincent's mouth curled up, revealing a hint of sarcasm. "He had a hard life. He married twice, but both wives passed away without leaving him a child. When his third wife gave birth, she died of labor. Luckily, his son grew up healthily even though their living conditions were harsh. Later, his son fell in love with a woman and they got together. Then, Ronan gathered the woman's background and consulted an experienced fortune-teller. The fortune-teller told him that his son and the woman he loved weren't compatible with each other. If they weren't separated, their lives would be full of misfortune."
Widening her eyes in shock, she almost forgot how to breathe. Curious, she prompted, "What happened then?"
"Ronan tried to break the couple up after listening to the fortune-teller, but his son disagreed and fought against him. It was so serious that they almost broke ties. Ronan had only one son throughout his life, so for the sake of the family, he compromised. But ever since he compromised, his son's health deteriorated day by day, and he passed away about two years later."
Elaine stared without blinking due to shock.
"After his son died, Ronan was sad and desperate, so he planned to take revenge on that woman. But unexpectedly, he found out that the woman was pregnant."
Something flashed across Elaine's mind instantly. She then grabbed hold of the thought in her mind and asked in disbelief, "Was she pregnant with twins?"
There was a praising look in Vincent's eyes. "That's right."
Now, Elaine understood that the pair of twins were Vincent and Howard.
"But... but why were you left to wander alone outside while Dr. Perkins grew up with Perkins Family?"
Caressing her face lightly, he snickered. His eyes were deep and dark. "When Ronan knew that the woman was pregnant, he locked her up and let her give birth after ten months. On the day she gave birth, she died on the operation table. Instantly, Ronan was elated when he got two grandsons to himself. He was planning to raise them both, but life told him otherwise." "What... what happened then?" "The two children looked the same, but their body conditions were different. One got stronger day by day, while the other got weaker. When Ronan brought them both to the hospital, the doctors couldn't find out the reason, so his superstitious mindset came to play. He then brought the two children to see a fortune-teller again. The fortuneteller told him that one of the children was born to bring bad luck to others, and the only solution was to abandon him. Otherwise, any one of them would face the fate of dying young. If Ronan gave up on one of the boys, then the other boy would have the chance to grow up healthily."
"So he sacrificed you..." Elaine muttered to herself.
Vincent nodded calmly. "Because Mr. Perkins compromised with his son, his son died at a young age. He couldn't let the same thing happen to his grandson, so he had to be merciless this time."
While he narrated the story as if it wasn't his past, Elaine exclaimed, "How could he? Babies are naturally weak at birth, so how... how could he sacrifice an innocent child just like that? This is... this is too absurd!"
With a faint smile, Vincent asked, "Now do you think that he's a foolish and wicked man?"
Pursing her lips, she couldn't say anything.
She thought that he was a kind and lovely old man from the days they spent together.
Never did she expect that he had such a past.
"I know you must feel terrible after all these years, but... Howard has nothing to do with this, isn't it? Can't you spare him?"
Looking up at him, Elaine uttered, "He's innocent. He knew nothing about those things."
"I didn't say he was guilty," Vincent nodded.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Because You Are My Lady novel (Sharon and Stanley)