Back to Love: A New Beginning
Chapter 74

Chapter 74:.

Hearing my barrage of questions, Derek laughed. “You seem to really care about me, Eveline. Have you fallen in love with me?”

I held my breath. When I saw his smiling eyes, I felt my heart beat faster.

Truth be told, I had wanted to ask myself why I cared so much about this affair. It made me wonder if I had really fallen in love with him. a

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him, but I refused to move.

“Come here, Eve. It’s a little hard to talk when we’re far away.” Somehow, his voice sounded like he was amused.

After a moment’s hesitation, I approached him.

At that moment, he threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, grabbed me by the shoulders and made me look him in the eye.

“What did you mean by the message you sent me yesterday?”.

I tried to hide my agitation and stay as calm as possible. “I meant it literally.”

“You’re breaking the rules, Eveline,” he replied.

I stared at him, confused as to what he meant. Seeing my reaction, he explained, “You’ve already convicted me without giving me a fair trial-is that how you’re supposed to handle cases?”

Was he saying I had misunderstood him?

His hands moved from my shoulders to my waist, pulling me closer to him. “Eveline, I’ll tell you the whole truth, but on one condition,” he said.

I put my hands on his chest to keep my distance from him, staring at him. “What’s the condition?”

A mischievous smile appeared on his face. “If I’m guilty of betraying you or something, you can do whatever you want to punish me. But if you are wrong and have misjudged me, I want you to comfort me by any method you wish.”

The complacency on his face made me think that I had really been wrong. I knew that by ‘comfort’ he meant something else, but I didn’t have time to delve into it. I was more eager to know what the truth was.

Since I didn’t say anything, he must have thought I was acquiescing to his condition.

Finally, he let go of me and leaned against the back of the seat. He took out another cigarette, but didn’t light it right away. After looking down, he began fiddling with his lighter.

“Her name is Tina Walker, and the person she’s visiting is my stepbrother, Lean Sullivan. She’s pregnant by him.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “So…you’re just doing your big brother duties, huh? You even took good care of your sister-in-law. You not only bought some things she would need for her pregnancy, but you also accompanied her during her prenatal checkup.”

Sensing my sarcasm, she frowned. “I guess you must have seen us at the hospital. Eveline, I have never been disloyal to you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth right away? If you only accompanied her to her prenatal checkup, you should have told me!”. I argued. I didn’t want to let him off that easy.

Derek gently pinched my cheek. “I just didn’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings. To tell you the truth, I never expected that hiding it would only lead to even worse misunderstandings.”

Even though he said that, I still didn’t understand. “Why do you, of all people, have to take care of your sister-in-law?”

“She’s not my sister-in-law,” he said.

This time, I was stumped.

He finally lit his cigarette, took a puff and continued, “Actually, Lean got Tina pregnant by accident, but the girl is too stubborn. She wanted to be with him and keep the child. Even though he had been sent to prison, she still didn’t want to have an abortion. She is still in school, and she is only eighteen. Because of her pregnancy, she was unable to sit this year’s university entrance exams. Her family is destitute. They are very ashamed of her, so they don’t want to take care of Tina. If I don’t help her, what do you think will happen to her?”.

I finally understood her intentions.

That’s when I realized how wrong I was about him. He wasn’t scum. Derek was certainly caring and fair.

After he explained everything to me, Tina showed up. Her eyes were red, so I deduced that she must have cried inside the prison.

Timmy had already left with the other car. Now Derek and I took the front seats of his car, while Tina sat in the back seat.

At first, neither of us spoke. It was so quiet that it made things awkward between the three of us.

“Eveline, I’m sorry you misunderstood us. Nothing happened between Derek and me. Please believe me,” Tina said, breaking the silence.

The more she explained her side, the more embarrassed I felt. When I remembered that I had followed Derek yesterday as a private detective and had therefore wasted a lot of money in the endeavor, I felt my heart ache. Derek looked at me with a smile, seeming to understand perfectly why I felt embarrassed.

I scratched the back of my neck and said, “Well, what I told you yesterday about what pregnant women should be aware of is true. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Tina could no longer resist the urge to laugh. “I knew it! When I saw you yesterday, I was sure you were a good person.”

The way she smiled made me realize that she was still as innocent as a child. Thinking about her experiences, I felt more sympathy for her.

When we arrived at the gate of the community where she lived, she said goodbye to us before getting out of the car. Afterwards, I watched as she made her way to the community.

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