Chương 30: Eva's Past I

I held Eva and walked towards the ward. It had already been an hour since the old one was dead. Some of his family members had gathered, and I asked their permission to attend the funeral because someone by my side would wish to join.

His body wouldn't be traveled as the old man's last wish was to be buried in the Weery city. They granted his wish and the funeral finished at dawn. I said some kind words to the deceased family. Eva was staring at the buried place from a far distance. She was afraid she would break down into tears if she was nearby.

All attendees scattered and returned back. I reached Eva, held her, and walked out.

Eva was greatly affected so I didn't directly take her to the old house but brought her to the beach a bit far from the port. I gave her a space to cry out loud and let her emotions flow away.

After an hour she stopped crying and watched the ocean silently. She now needs a listener as I presented myself for it.

"Thank you, B for being here with me. The only person I care about is no more in this world, I feel lonely. I don't have the desire to live and move forward with my life."

I had to console her which I wasn't good at but tried to say some kind words," Eva, you have to find a reason however small it could be. Life is full of ups and downs. Never give up."

"I will try B...Umm..would you like to hear about my life?" Eva asked in an unconfident voice.

"Sure" She seemed to be surprised by my reply.

Eva's Narration of her past***

"I was born in the Jones family as the second child. Maybe you already know my name is Elva. Later I changed it to Eva. My family was the first-tier family of Strido City. They were involved in the banking sector. The head of the family was my grandfather who had one son and three daughters.

My two aunts were married out of the city. My father married the daughter of his mentor. My parental family didn't like my mother however hard she tried. My little aunt wasn't married as she was younger; maybe was twelve or thirteen when I was born. I had a big brother who was three years older than me.

I was a very cheerful and easy-going child. Everyone who saw me would like me at first sight. I had a happy family and it should have remained so. I use to think I was loved by everyone.

But when I was about five years old, my little aunt was comatose due to an accident. The environment in the house was tense and heavy. It was said that she had drunk and driven and had an accident when returning back from her friends' gathering.

It was said that her friends have advised her not to drive but she didn't listen to them. She was dead drunk and the speed was very high. Due to her situation, the car was out of control and collided with the railing by the roadside. The impact was very high.

As a result, she turned comatose but the one who was inside the car with her was dead. The one who died was a daughter of a second-tier family in Strido City and was pregnant for three-month. My aunt and the dead women were like an enemy because there was a rumor in the city that the dead woman was pregnant with my aunt's boyfriend.

You know the women's jealousness is limitless. My aunt had grabbed the hand of that woman and brought her to the car using force and drove off. Maybe she also hadn't expected to have an accident.

Maybe being the rich and pampered kid she was used to living as an extravagant person and getting whatever she wanted. Living life was nothing to her. Someone reported the accident to the police and provided the evidence. She was convicted of the crime.

As you know money is everything and the Jones family didn't lack it. So they bought all the evidence, lawyers, and witnesses. They even compensated the dead woman's family. They gave their best effort to clean my aunt's name. The court cleared her case even when she was comatose.

After two months my little aunt gained consciousness. Then the main crisis started. The bank shares fell down, the government rejected bank projects, investments were in loss and the Jones was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy within a week. Someone more powerful than Jonas was behind all those. None of our family members knew who we messed up with. My family only watched but couldn't stop whatever was happening.

Then the next day, some people wearing black suits and carrying guns surrounded Jones' residence. They demanded to give my little aunt alive to them saying she needs to be punished for what she had done. My family without a second thought insisted on not handing her over.

Those strangers then gave us multiple choices in exchange for my aunt's life: one was to hand over my big brother and the second was to transfer the whole property of Jones to them and us to leave Strido City and stay out from the eyes of the public.

How could they hand my brother too as he was the only grandson in the whole household and future heir? My mother cried a lot wrapping my brother in her arms and rejecting the first choice.

For my grandparents and the whole Jones family, the property was earned by their ancestors so how could they hand it over? They weren't able to choose any one of the choices.

Then my grandmother suggested to the people in black that the Jones can't choose any of the options but...they will hand over me together with half the property. First other family members were shocked by the suggestion but later everyone hoped those black suit men would accept the suggestion.

The men in black had been communicating with someone the whole time. The other side accepted the deal and I was abandoned by my family from that day onwards.

I had expected at least my parents would protect me and my mother would react the same way as she did with my brother. But the reality--it broke all of my beliefs. None spoke but I could see their feeling and acceptance in their eyes even if I was a child. I was made a sacrifice for the better future of the Jones.

I was just five years old at that time. How could they abandon me? My grandparents suggested it and my parents accepted…. They didn't even look at me or say a single word of refusal and only cared for my big brother as he was afraid of those people.

I cried a lot and begged my family to protect me but none took a step forward me as the man took me. I had to accept my fate.

Narration continues...