Back to Love: A New Beginning
Chapter 488

Chapter 488:

It was a cool and happy start to the day. However, just as we were cuddling and reluctant to part, the bed suddenly shook. The cup on the table next to us shook and fell to the floor.

“Earthquake!” shouted Derek and I at the same time.

Just as we jumped to our feet, the intense shaking stopped. We quickly got dressed. The two nannies came out with our two children and some essentials.

“This house should withstand earthquakes, but let’s get to a safer place,” Derek said.

When we left the house, we saw that people were already outside. The ground shook several times at different intervals. The tremors were quite strong outside. However, the house had a solid foundation, so there was no damage.

The news soon spread through the Internet. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Boshaw.

I immediately remembered Kevin, who had gone to Boshaw as a volunteer teacher. So I asked Derek to drive us to Boshaw.

When Charlene left, she had given me Kevin’s exact address. As soon as we arrived in Boshaw, I heard the news that the elementary school in the mountainous area had collapsed.

My knees wobbled and panic gripped my nerves. The mountain roads were narrow and bumpy; traversing the terrain was risky. So we got out of the car and walked along the road. It had rained the night before, so even walking through the mud seemed difficult.

Someone from the village saw me walking in my high heels, so he brought me a pair of slippers. The village headman pointed to the ruins and said it was Boshaw’s elementary school.

A shiver ran down my spine. Rescue teams and villagers were working at the site. Two hours later, Lean joined us. His eyes were lost in the ruins. Moments later, he came to his senses, picked up the shovel and started digging.

Several children had died in the earthquake. When we found Kevin, we saw that he had protected two children. The two children had survived, but he, unfortunately, had lost his life.

My blood ran cold when I saw his body covered in mud and soot. His outstretched hands had been a safe haven for the two children. My eyes grew warm as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Lean hugged Kevin’s body and sobbed like a child.

He no longer bothered to hide his true feelings. Lean was no longer the flighty young man; he was now a child who had lost his father. Although he had been away from Kevin for several years, he still loved his father and shared a strong relationship with him. Kevin always adored him.

As we walked around the place, I saw that Kevin’s bedroom at school had also been drilled. As I walked around the tattered room, my eyes fell on a pile of stuff in one corner. I looked closer and found a tattered diary.

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I bent down, dusted it off and flipped through the pages. My eyes widened when I accidentally saw my name. There the things were piled up next to the ruins. Lean cried and picked up Kevin’s belongings.

I looked around and secretly kept the diary in my bag. The digging process was soon over and Lean finished packing up all of Kevin’s belongings.

We took Kevin’s body back to Sousen and placed it in a funeral parlor. Charlene was on her way back. I knew she would want to see Kevin one last time. Panic and despair had spread throughout the city. The earthquake had scared everyone for the past two days.

The next day I didn’t go to the company. After breakfast, Derek left for work and I went upstairs. I took the day planner out of my bag, walked out onto the balcony, sat down in the chair and quietly opened it. My stomach had been churning with anticipation and trepidation. That’s why I didn’t open the book as soon as I got home. Remembering Kevin’s words, I felt that I had always known something, but was reluctant to say it openly.

People used to vent in their personal journals, so I decided to read it. After reading Kevin’s diary, I sat on the balcony all morning. The sun was shining in the sky, but my body was trembling as if the blood in my veins had gone cold.

At noon, the maid invited me to lunch. I could not move. My mouth went dry. I cleared my throat and said, “You eat first. I don’t want to eat now.”

After sitting for a while, I came out with the newspaper. My heart was racing with restlessness. So, I walked over to my father’s tombstone and knelt before it. My knees hit the hard slate, but I felt no pain because I had gone numb. My body shivered as I felt cold all over. I ran my fingers over the picture of my father on the tombstone. He looked young and handsome. I often saw his smiling face in my dreams. Although I was not born into a rich family, I had a happy childhood. I preferred living with my parents in a small house than in a luxurious house without them. But my life fell apart overnight.

All my life I thought it was an accident and blamed God for being cruel to us. But after reading Kevin’s diary, I realized it was no accident.

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