Chapter 77
Emmanuel didn’t want to mention a word about a demon like his father.
But Tabitha now seemed a little curious about him, and he didn’t mind uncovering the torments he had gone through to gain sympathy from Tabitha.
Tabitha surmised that Emmanuel might be looking for someone to talk to. “You mentioned those people were your father’s creditors? What exactly is going on?”
“My parents fell in love freely at that time. My mother married my father against Granddad’s objection, but she didn’t expect him to be a gambler.” Emmanuel put his hand, which was always covered by a glove, in front of Tabitha and took it off.
Tabitha’s pupils contracted slightly.
The little finger of his left hand was missing. It appeared as if it had been cut off by some sharp object. The wound was flat but horrible.
“He didn’t have a job. If he lost the money in gambling, he would ask my mother for it. If not, he would beat us,” Emanuel revealed.
Emmanuel’s voice was faint, and his expression was calm as if he were telling someone else’s story.
Emmanuel continued, “He quickly lost all of my mother’s dowry and later owed over 20,000 dollars. Granddad helped Mother thany times and advised her to be tough and break up with him, but her temperament was really… In the end, Granddad was very disappointed with Mother and refused to help us anymore. My mother really couldn’t afford to pay the debt back, so John brought people to collect debts, but my father had already run away by that time.”
Emmanuel looked down at his missing pinky and said, “Then John
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Chapter 77
027 15:05
grabbed me and cut off my finger. He threatened to chop off all the rest of my fingers if we didn’t pay him back in ten days.”
At that time, Emmanuel was overwhelmed with pain, and he fainted on
the spot.
Meanwhile, Lorelai was too scared to come out of her room. It was Alaric’s people who foticed Emmanuel’s condition first and sent him to the hospital, but Alaric refused to settle the debt for Lorelai again.
Emmanuel was sent to the hospital too late to have his fingers reattached.
When Emmanuel woke up, he found that one of his fingers was forever missing. Lorelai sat in front of the ward and kept crying. Her face was full of despair. “Manny, I have no money. Your granddad doesn’t want to care about me anymore. What should we do…”
‘What should we do?‘ Emmanuel asked himself.
Emmanuel had never had a good day since he was born. He always faced his father’s ruthless beatings and his weak mother’s cries.
Emmanuel lashed out at that moment. He rushed out of the hospital to find his father, only to discover him gambling in a smoky place.
He called the police and reported his father.
Emmanuel spoke slowly, his body taut, and his eyes bloodshot.
“I was 13 years old that year, and everyone knew that I had put my father in prison. No one dared to approach me again,” Emmanuel added.
After saying that, he slowly looked at Tabitha and said, “Do you also think I’m scary?”
“You’re not scary, you did the right thing.” Tabitha was calm, with no fear. or disgust in her eyes. “If he were still out there, you and your mother. would only have suffered more.”
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Chapter 77
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The tension on Emmanuel’s body relaxed, and he looked up at Tabitha. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Tabitha chuckled. “You’re not a bad guy. Why should I be afraid of you?”
I’m not a bad guy?‘ Emmanuel mulled over the words, and suddenly, a profound irony spread through his heart.
“This woman, Tabitha, seems shrewd, but she is sometimes foolish,‘ het remarked silently.
He pursed his lips. “Tabitha, I’ve told you all my secrets. Would you mind telling me about your parents?”
As long as Tabitha was willing to talk to him about the past, he had the confidence to bring them closer and closer.
Tabitha paused.
She was a very sensitive person.
Although Emmanuel was injured while helping her gather information, he displayed too much initiative and curiosity about her parents.
Her suspicion and vigilance deepened, but she did not show it on her face.
She said, “In fact, you should know most of it. When I was 14 years old, my parents went to a friend’s birthday party. On their way back home, they met Naomi, who was being chased by bad guys, so they helped her, but they were killed by mistake.”
Although Tabitha had told the others about the story several times, she could not help but feel depressed when she brought it up again.
“Later, my grandpa was deeply affected by my parents‘ deaths and passed away a few years later,” she said.
Due to Fergus‘ case, Tabitha didn’t dare to let Alaric know the truth, so she
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