Ice and Fire novel Chapter 518

Kathy didn't say a word but listened to him attentively, nodding her head in the right spots and giving him encouraging looks, urging him to go on.

"I had to use dirty means to support myself. I wanted to tear apart my father's family for all the pain he caused me. How dare he live happily with his family when I couldn't live with mine? Everything I ever did was only to win the affection of my father, but fate is a cruel mistress," Mond continued, with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Kathy stretched out her hand and wiped his tears away. She realized that even this seemingly tough and wealthy man had his own sorrows, just like everybody else.

"It was at that time that I found a little something called money. Not only could it solve all my problems but also give me the life I wanted," Mond went on, staring blankly ahead.

"Mr. Mond, life isn't always how we expect it to be," Kathy finally pitched in. Looking at Mond, she seemed to come up with a way of making him feel better.

When Mond remained silent again, Kathy started to tell her story.

"You know what? I was born poor in the countryside, and both my parents are peasants. They made a living by farming, and also went to work in a factory around our village to make ends meet," Kathy said seriously, with her eyes fixed on a pattern on the wall, not looking towards Mond at all.

"It sounded miserable but things went just well, until one day, when everything changed. I recall it was stormy that day. My father was on night duty, and he didn't get off work until 4:00 am. His other co-workers had umbrellas, so they came home. But he didn't have one, so he stood in front of the factory gate, waiting. He intended to go home when the rain subsided, for he knew that he would get sick if he got wet in the rain."

Mond noticed Kathy's eyes. Although she was wearing make up, the grief in her eyes visibly shone through. Telling this story was causing her severe emotional turmoil.

"It was almost at 5:00 am that the rain began to soften. As it was daybreak, off his work, my father gladly went back home," Kathy said, her voice carrying how much she missed her father. "However, he walked so fast on the muddy path on the edge of the cliff. Because it was rainy and slippy, he missed his step and slid back, and then fell off the cliff as he lost his balance."

After a pause, she continued," It was a path that we had to walk past. We used to walk on it with great care. But that day my father was eager to go home, so..." Kathy didn't finish her sentence for she knew that Mond had guessed the outcome.