“Bella’s uncle?”
Only then did Kevin feel that he really knew too little about Bella. Being married for nearly half a year, he didn’t even know she had an uncle.
“Yes.”
“Good, you tell me everything about Bella, the more detailed the better.”
Armand wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and began to recount all of Bella’s experiences and encounters from childhood to adulthood.
“Twenty-five years ago, Wilson in F City met my sister Selina in a nightclub. At that time Selina was a popular dancer. Wilson fell in love with her at first sight, and crazily chasing her. Selina did not have physical contact with the guests. Wilson learned that she liked lilies, then brought a car of lilies to please her. With his relentless pursuit, Selina finally accepted his love. Wilson concealed the fact that he was married. He said he was a businessman, specializing in contracting construction works, and as soon as F city’s project came to an end, he would immediately marry Selina. Three months later, Selina found herself pregnant. But at that time, Wilson wasn’t in F city. After much deliberation, she packed her bags and arrived in City B. From that moment on, the nightmare began…”
“She never dreamed that Wilson had a family, and his wife had just been pregnant. She couldn’t accept the blow. She made a terrible scene in the Burne-Browns, but Wilson accused that she was not pregnant with his child. Selina wanted to die. Wilson was afraid of getting into a lawsuit, found her in private, asked her to do a paternity test after the birth of the child. He promised to take care of them if the child was his.”
“Seven months later, my sister safely gave birth to a daughter. She began to wait every day for Wilson to visit her and her daughter. But until the child was one month old, Wilson also did not appear. She took the child to the Burne-Browns, but she was humiliated by his original wife Colin and driven out. At that time my sister was disillusioned and wanted to die with the child. Seeing the child’s innocent face, she didn’t bear to do that. After a painful struggle, she no longer had hope for Wilson, but yet expected that he could give monthly alimony for the child…”
“Did he give it?”
Kevin gloomy question.
Armand shook his head, “No, Wilson is rich, but all the money is his wife’s property. So he simply can’t give up a good future for a dancer. He didn’t give my sister alimony, and even threatened my sister if she dared to make trouble, he would find someone to take their lives! She was very unhappy. In the end, she died.”
“Why didn’t your sister turn to the law then?” Alvin was puzzled.
“My sister wasn’t educated. She just looked pretty, had no skills, left the nightclub and lost her income and couldn’t find a job with a child. She even couldn’t afford three meals a day, let alone having money to hire a lawyer.”
“It’s really quite hard.”
Alvin began to sympathize with Bella’s miserable fate, though he was not much better than her.
“I’m the only one in my sister’s family. Our parents died early, so she had to rely on me. My wife has been infertile. We took care of her child and then she went out to find temporary jobs to make money. During the day, she shined shoes for people on the road. At night she went to the open-air stall to wash dishes. She went out early and came back at dusk. My wife saw her so hard, so she kindly reminded me that she could return to the Nightclub, so that she could earn a lot of money, but my sister disagreed. She didn’t want her daughter and know her mother raised her by selling her body.”
“She has worked hard for many years, having poor sleep and poor diet. She no longer looked pretty. She in her twenties looked like she was in her forties. She held on to for five years, and Bella was looked after by my wife. We ran a grocery store and it was quite convenient to take care of the children. My sister was grateful that we helped her in her most difficult time. So she told Bella that when she grew up, she must be good to her aunt and uncle. Then we caused her a lot of trouble, but she never gave up on us.”
“Seven years old, Bella is going to school. Selina worked even harder to earn money for her to go to school. In order not to let her feel inferior, she only ate two meals a day, but let her daughter wear beautiful clothes and eat cute lollipops. Bella was too sensible, and was not willing to let her mother starve. She saved the money and give it to Selina. At a young age, she knew how to share her mother’s hardships, and it was from the year she was seven that she followed her mother to the open-air stalls every night to wash dishes for three years. While other children’s hands were soft and tender, but Bella’s hands …”
Armand couldn’t go on, and shed tears. Kevin was sad. He remembered a night long ago, he led Bella to eat night steak stall. At that time, she looked sad and said she came to this place more often than him.
At that time he did not understand her meaning, but after hearing Armand’s narration, he completely understood, and was very heartbroken. Bella’s childhood was actually so sad.
“Then has your niece never went to see her father?”
Alvin questioned angrily.
“She had been there once, and also the last time. When Bella was eight years old, Selina suffered from bad health, and couldn’t go out to work again. The semester was about to start, Selina then asked Bella to go to her father, hoping that Wilson could give her a sum of money to pay the tuition. Bella arrived at Wilson’s house, had not yet explained the intention of coming, and was driven out by Wilson, and his youngest daughter, Gillian, even threw a steamed bun that was chewed by her dog at my niece, held her heads high and said sarcastically, ‘Beggar, steamed buns have been given to you, get out of here.'”
Kevin took a deep breath, frowned, squeezed the bed guard barrier with one hand and gashed his teeth, “Go on.”
“From then on, no matter how hard she was, Bella stopped going to her father, and we also helped her from time to time. But at that time, the business was not doing well and we were living a hard up life. Bella was ten years old, and Selina was checked for stomach cancer because of her regular irregular diet. That day, Selina came to me, crying sadly. She begged me to take in Bella. I was really bastard, and discussed with my wife. We thought we couldn’t afford a life with a child. So we ruthlessly refused her, let her give the child to Wilson. Selina cried and struggled for a long time, afraid that she suddenly died one day and would scare Bella, so she had to agree to my proposal. ”
“She knew Bella didn’t want to go to that house, but still found a reason to take her there. They sat in front of Wilson’s house, and threatened that if they didn’t take Bella in, they’d sit there until they starved to death, to show all the people how cruel Wilson was. At first, Wilson thought she was just scaring him. But he didn’t expect that Selina had been sitting for two days and two nights. His wife was annoyed, and took rotten eggs to hit them, splashed water on them. But they couldn’t chase Selina away, then alarmed the neighborhood committee. The neighborhood committee found Wilson and persuade him. Wilson was forced to agree to my sister’s request, and took in Bella.”
“She shouldn’t want to stay there, right?”
Kevin asked calmly, but looked sad. Why didn’t he meet Bella at that time? If he met her, he definitely wouldn’t have let her suffer so much.
“Of course, when my sister left, Bella cried so hard. If it wasn’t for her terminal illness, she wasn’t willing to send her daughter here to suffer. She had to live a poorer life, but at least she was happy every day. In order to dispel Bella’s desire to go back with her, she ruthlessly said, ‘If you don’t listen to mommy and stay here, mommy will disappear tomorrow so you won’t be able to find me again.’ So, Bella stayed because of her mother. At the same time, the hellish life also began. Colin and her youngest daughter thought of ways to torture her, while Wilson turned a blind eye and let her be bullied. Finally, Bella couldn’t stand this life, crying and ran home, kneeling in front of my sister, hugging her legs crying, ‘mother, don’t send me away, okay? I’ll try to earn a living. No one in that family likes me. They beat me and scold me all day long. I really can’t stand it, mom, don’t chase me away…”
“My sister was heartbroken to hear such words, but the thought of her deteriorating health once again, she cruelly forced her back. That night, Bella sat alone on the road and cried for the whole night. I have been following her and told her about her mother’s illness. She learned that her mother was terminally ill, suddenly fell on her knees in front of me, hysterical cried and begged me to save her mother. I saw my niece at a young age experience the pain, and agreed. Selina had been cured for two years, but she was more and more serious. I have no money to afford her medical treatment. Bella went to beg her father. Wilson mercilessly refused. When Bella despaired, she ran to the city hall to stop the leader’s car. She did not expect this method was quite useful. Wilson was called to the government and was severely criticized. He was demanded to pay to heal my sister under the pressure. But he hated Selina so much.”