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Chapter20
The search mission went smoothly.
By late morning the next day, the convoy exited the desert, and Eveline and the others boarded a plane
home.
In those days they’d been away, Grandpa Ashford’s condition had worsened. He had held on, just waiting
to see Eveline one last time.
When he learned that Charles Ashford’s remains had finally been buried, he smiled faintly and peacefully
closed his eyes, with Eveline and Martin by his side.
The funeral was handled by the Whitmore family and the members of the rescue team.
Their chatter and presence helped lift some of Eveline’s sorrow.
Goodbyes, it turned out, weren’t as terrifying as she’d imagined.
Because someday, she would see them again.
After the funeral, Eveline and Martin left the cemetery together.
A light drizzle had begun to fall again from the sky. After a long silence, Eveline suddenly turned to Martin
and asked:
“Martin, if one day, we have a child… and I become like my father… what would you do?”
Martin was taken aback. He instinctively squeezed her hand tighter.
But he still thought carefully before replying:
“I’d raise her well. And once she’s grown, I’d-”
Eveline immediately realized what he was about to say and quickly reached out to cover his mouth.
Seeing the look of disapproval on her face, Martin raised both hands in surrender, signaling that he
wouldn’t say another word. Only then did she let him off the hook.
Watching Eveline mutter under her breath, Martin held her hand even more tightly.
She didn’t know he meant every word.
Raising the child–that was his duty as a father.
But dying with her–that was his wish as her lover.
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Still…
He would never allow such a thing to happen.
The hand not holding Eveline slipped into his coat pocket.
Inside was a rescue team badge.
After returning from the desert, Eveline had undergone an evaluation and decided to rejoin the rescue
team.
What she didn’t know was–Martin had secretly applied too.
From now on, he would accompany her on every mission.
Live together. Die together.
From a distance, Adrian stood with a suitcase in hand, watching them quietly.
Only after the couple had walked far away did he step out of the shadows and place a bouquet in front of
Grandpa Ashford’s grave.
There were a thousand things he wanted to say.
But in the end, he placed white roses at the grave, one hand resting on the headstone.
He had wronged Eveline.
And he had also failed Grandpa Ashford, who had loved him like a grandson.
These past days, he had thought over everything, again and again.
If only he had come to his senses sooner… what might have been different?
But there are no “what ifs.”
He had taken her love for granted, lied to her, hurt her–and now he was left with a lifetime of regret.
He deserved it.
The rain grew heavier.
Adrian stood, grabbed his suitcase, and turned to leave.
Eventually, the rain would stop.
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The skies would clear. The world would be bright again.
But the storm in his heart would never pass.
Because once the clouds dispersed, once the light returned, he would be forced to see clearly just how
deeply he had betrayed a love so pure.
And he would remain trapped in that storm–a punishment of his own making, with no redemption in sight.
Time passed quickly.
Thirty years later.
After living abroad for three decades, Adrian finally decided to return to stay.
Martin had a last–minute emergency, so the task of picking Adrian up fell to Eveline–who was walking the
dog when she got the call.
It had rained the night before. She knelt down and wiped the mud off the white puppy’s paws.
This pup was a descendant of Muffin, the dog Adrian and Maria once raised–now four generations
removed.
The puppy nudged her hand with its wet nose, then suddenly broke free and ran off toward a food truck.
Eveline chased after it, only to find the dog wagging its tail at the vendor–a woman in her fifties, plainly
dressed, yet still showing traces of the beauty she once had.
When Eveline saw her face, she froze.
So did the vendor.
They locked eyes for a long time before Eveline finally broke the silence.
“Ms Quinn… It’s been a long time.”
“…Yes. A long time.”
Both women smiled faintly.
After another pause, the woman–Maria–finally whispered:
“I’m sorry. For everything back then.”
Eveline shook her head and gently steered the conversation away.
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Instead, she asked about the dog.
By the time she left, she carried a bag full of snacks.
Thirty years had passed, and time had changed everyone.
The things that once felt so urgent–love and hate, success and failure–meant little in the grand stretch of
a lifetime.
Perhaps that was the point of time itself:
To dissolve absurdity into peace.
After picking Adrian up from the airport, Eveline went straight to her daughter’s engagement venue.
The event was scheduled three days later.
She busied herself with every last detail.
Adrian tried to help, but a lively young voice called out to him:
“Sir! You’re back! I have so much to tell you-”
That one phrase pulled Adrian straight back to that spring thirty years ago.
He looked at the girl who resembled Eveline so closely–and for a brief, surreal moment, he saw Eveline
again, walking toward him in a wedding dress, smiling, calling his name.
He could have lived that moment.
But the girl had already turned to walk away, now standing beside her fiancé, talking about the
engagement.
Martin soon arrived too–nodding politely at Adrian before walking over to help Eveline.
Adrian forced a smile and turned toward the window.
Outside, the sun was shining again, drying the world after the rain.
But the sun in his heart had long since set.
All that remained inside him was a lifetime of damp, unrelenting sorrow.
He would spend the rest of his days repaying the regret of those seven years-
The years he had wasted, the love he had lost.
