Chapter 299 The Shocking Truth
Jean was puzzled when she heard his words. She looked at the bearded man. He looked shocked. Edgar, on the other hand, looked terrified.
“You, do you know about it?” Edgar did not reply him. He told the innkeeper and Miles to carry Mr. Jevin out. When he opened the door of the truck once again, he realized that the driver had run off and was out of sight.
“The truth will be revealed as soon as we find the driver.” The whole village searched for the missing driver. But this person seemed to have vanished into thin air. There was no news of him.
That night, Mr. Jevin regained consciousness. But he refused to see anybody. He only called the innkeeper to let Jean come over. “Me?”
“I’ll wait for you outside. Don’t worry.” Edgar stood beside her and spoke to her in a low voice. These words gave Jean some strength and courage.
She nodded, and walked forward. The room was very dark. Mr. Jevin leaned against the bed head. When he saw Jean, he flashed an apologetic smile to her. “Come closer, girl.”
Jean did not hide her confusion.
Mr. Jevin sighed slowly. “You look very much like your father. I should have noticed you sooner. You have his eyes.”
“Do you remember now?” Jean got a little excited.
Mr. Jevin shook his head and smiled bitterly. “How could I forget something engraved deeply in my mind?”
He reached his hand underneath his clothes and took out an old wrinkled photo. His hand trembled as he handed it to Jean. “Look. Is it these five people?”
Jean looked at the photo. The same five people were in the photo. But the photo was different from the one she had.
Jean frowned hard. “Will you tell me what happened that time?”
Mr. Jevin gave a deep sigh.
“The story will torment you if I tell it. Do you still want to know?”
Jean paused for a while but quickly continued, “There is no way my life will be more difficult than it is now.”
She had a feeling that she could perhaps solve all the doubts that had been accumulating in her head.
“Twenty years ago, a company took up a construction project on the east side of the village…”
The project was delayed for three years before it was completed. The manager in charge was Gary Eyer. He was a friendly and earnest man. All the materials had to go through him first.
It was a project that brought benefits to the village. The local economy was boosted because of this project.
But the building turned into ruins on the day of its handover.
Two people died.
One was a villager named Pascal, and the other was Edgar’s father, Ethan.
Jean was completely stunned.
“How could it be…”
She had never known how Edgar became an orphan. He was already living alone when he went to the Eyer family to ask for her hand in marriage.
Jean slowly clutched her fist. “Mr. Jevin, was it an accident? Or was it man-made?”
Mr. Jevin looked into the distance. He coughed twice, then slowly closed his eyes. “It was an accident. But because only one person was in charge of the materials, there was no way to escape the blame. Perhaps God was the one at fault then?”
Mr. Jevin coughed again as he spoke.
He hunched his body. The pain in his body forced him to stop for a moment.
Jean immediately stepped forward to help him. She patted his back lightly and calmed him down. “Take your time.”
Mr. Jevin’s cough lasted for quite some time before it stopped. His eyes were teary in the dim light as he caught a glimpse of Jean’s face. “I didn’t want to tell you about this because I didn’t want you to live in regret and guilt over the older generation’s deeds. No matter who was in the wrong at that time, it is all in the past!”
The more he spoke, the more disconcerted he became. “Girl, listen to me. It is all in the past now. There are people who paid a painful price for this. Please don’t pursue this matter anymore, okay?”
Jean could not bring herself to refuse Mr. Jevin when she looked at his earnest expression.
Mr. Jevin’s hands shook uncontrollably. “It has been such a long time now. There is really no need to pursue this matter anymore. Don’t trap yourself in hatred forever like the kid from the Royden family.”
As soon as Mr. Jevin finished speaking, he leaned back against his pillow and waved his hand weakly.
“Leave when the road is clear. Don’t ever come back, and don’t look for me anymore.”
Jean took a deep breath. “Mr. Jevin, please tell me one more thing. I promise that I will not bother you anymore again after this.”
Mr. Jevin nodded slowly. “You may speak.”
“Who took these two photos?”
Although there were five people in the photo, someone must have been holding the camera at that time. The person who wasn’t in the photo was definitely the culprit!
Surprised covered Mr. Jevin’s wrinkled face.
“If you don’t want to say who he is, at least tell me his last name.”
Why did the bearded man hate Sam Reece so much?
He did not even hesitate to burn down his own storeroom just to burn Sam’s daughter to ashes!
Mr. Jevin shivered as he grabbed Jean’s hand. He stretched out his trembling fingers, and wrote a word slowly in her palm.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
“I, I was too short-sighted when I was young. I took his bribe. I will feel guilt and shame for the rest of my life. I owe Royden family and your father……”
Jean only left Mr. Jevin’s room after about ten minutes.
She looked at the man at the end of the corridor. The side profile of his face looked so cold under the dim moonlight.
Jean suddenly remembered Susan’s words. Edgar was originally not a cold person. It was because he had experienced unimaginable pain that made him what he was today.
He was indeed cold. Painfully cold.
When he heard the sound of her footsteps, the man turned around. Jean’s head was bowed. She was wiping her tears away. He walked towards her. “Have your questions been answered?”
Jean nodded.
She lowered her head. Mr. Jevin had told her one more thing just now, which Edgar didn’t know. The culprit behind all this.
He had made his last request—she shall not tell Edgar the truth.
If he knew, the Reece family would suffer like the Eyer family.
And everything he did towards the Eyer family will become a permanent scar in his heart.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Edgar frowned hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jean moved away from him.
“It turns out that my father had wronged your family.”
Her soft voice filled the entire corridor. There was cold determination in her eyes as she looked at Edgar once more. “Edgar, I hope that you will never forgive me.”
The man froze in his spot for a long time as he watched Jean walk away.
He wanted to chase after her, but his heart hurt so much that he could not move forward.
The day has finally come.
Jean had discovered the truth. The last secret they withheld from each other had disappeared forever.
