Back to Love: A New Beginning
Chapter 282

Chapter 282:.

James kept telling us stories passionately as he took the occasional sip of his wine. The delicious smell of the hot pot and wine floated into the room.

The old man was in high spirits. He even showed us the old photos he had collected over the years. Perhaps to make me feel included, he patiently told me about the people and the story behind each photo. He picked up a photo and looked at it for a long time. Then, he pointed to someone in the photo and glanced at Aaron.

“Aaron, who is the little girl next to you?”.

Derek and Aaron looked unanimously at the photo. I was sitting across from James, so I couldn’t see her.

“She looks familiar,” he said. Aaron smiled.

“Well, the girl in the photo is sitting right in front of you.”

Understanding crossed James’ face. He looked at me and looked at the photo again.

“Eveline?”

His eyes widened in disbelief as he handed me the photo.

“Eveline, is that you?”

I looked at the photo and realized it was me.

In the photo, I was standing on a large rock while Aaron was standing next to it. I remembered that one of our playmates had taken this photo. But when we grew up, we each went to a different school and eventually lost all contact.

“You insisted on standing on the rock because you refused to admit you were shorter than me.” Aaron smiled at the memory. “You were so stupid and small back then.”

Hearing that, I heard a laugh.

“I wasn’t!” I didn’t want to admit it.

As soon as he mentioned the past, I couldn’t stop talking.

It seemed Derek wasn’t surprised that Aaron and I had known each other since childhood. But he shut up and listened to our conversation.

“That’s why you were refusing to move. Was it all because of little Eveline?” said James suddenly.

I stared at Aaron. He just smiled without denying.

The atmosphere became tense after James spoke. Derek picked up the glass and took a sip of the wine. “This wine tastes good.”

I felt suddenly nervous as I remembered how Aaron had always been nice to me, whether it was when we were kids or now. I lifted the glass and gulped the drink in one gulp.

The old man picked up another photo and kept turning it over, as if he didn’t want to put it down. “Look at this picture,” he said.

Aaron leaned over and smiled, “This was Grandma when she was young.”

James let out a dreamy sigh as he glanced at the photo.

“Yes, your grandmother was a beautiful woman.”

His face softened at the mention of his late wife.

“She was smart, intelligent, and beautiful. Everyone adored her. She was always surrounded by young men. I was afraid she would end up marrying someone else instead of me, so I wrote her poems every day. I was afraid she would forget me.

We rarely had time to see each other. I was always kind to her and never treated her badly because I knew how beautiful she was. Anyone would want to be with her. I was afraid that one little mistake would make her leave me and choose to be with someone else.”

I wasn’t sure if she was thinking too hard, but her words seemed to suggest something.

After that, he went on to talk about his wife and their love story. Their love was strong and loyal despite the inconveniences of transportation and communication. They were loyal to each other. It was an extraordinary love story: they had both lived a fairy tale.

James enjoyed the meal. The four of them emptied the entire bottle of wine. After the meal, the old man went to take a nap. Aaron and I fought over doing the dishes.

In an attempt to end the dispute, Derek said he would do it. We both put the dishes away and left the mess for him to handle. Derek was stunned.

It took him a while to realize that we had tricked him. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as I silently carried the dishes into the kitchen.

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