Chapter 28: Rebuilding What Was Burned

Andrew's men left when Gerry suffered a leg injury caused by Collin. They just left, leaving the homes of the residents burned down. Collin rushed over to me as I sat slumped on the ground, crying over the burned-down homes of the residents, including Anthony's and Aunt Rose's, because the fire was spreading quickly.

We are short on manpower and water, and since the phones are inside the house, no one can call the fire department. We're only using a little of the energy we have. And now everything has turned to ashes.

I cried in Collin's arms. What should I do after this? I hurt the hearts of the people who have been kind to me and Collin this month.

Smoke billowed into the air, and the residents could only resign themselves to their fate and sit on the ground in exhaustion. "Everything is flat now," Uncle Ben grumbled.

"Forgive me, Uncle; this is because of me." I spoke softly, admitting that I was the cause of all this. I should have been able to go with them instead of having to sacrifice the villagers.

"No, at least there were no casualties. And our fields are still safe. We can still earn an income and rebuild our burned-down homes." Uncle Ben continued to speak this way even though he regretted what had happened.

"I will repair all the houses. We will work together to rebuild them." Collin spoke casually, saying he would pay for all the damages, as if it were easy to make and spend money.

"Collin, you spent a lot of money when the mafia came yesterday. Let us save on our own to rebuild." And of course, Anthony felt bad.

"I should be the one paying compensation." I bowed my head, but Collin held my hand.

"If it weren't for my carelessness, this place might have remained a secret to us. I shouldn't have contacted anyone else, especially since I thought Kate was really nice, but this time, for some reason, she leaked information to Andrew. So I'll be responsible for everything." This time, Collin's words left Anthony speechless.

"Come on, Anthony, let me rebuild your houses again. You need time to save, and during that time, please think about where you can find shelter and rest at night. Meanwhile, I will send someone to bring the building materials tomorrow morning. We can build it together; it will be much more economical and faster."

Anthony fell silent for a moment, looking at his mother for her opinion, but Aunt Rose remained silent, giving Anthony full authority.

"Alright, I'll accept your help. But we'll still save and pay half the construction costs. Please accept it all, even though we'll be paying it quite late." Collin smiled, patted Anthony on the shoulder, and said that construction would begin tomorrow morning as agreed.

"But maybe those people will come back because they didn't get what they were aiming for." Anthony reminded him of the possibility of them coming back.

"We'll go; we won't burden you anymore. As soon as we provide assistance to rebuild the houses here," Collin interrupted.

"That's not what I meant; I'm not asking you to leave. But if they come back, what can we do?" Anthony asked.

"Maybe we can hide for a while if they come," I said.

"Alright, maybe that can be done."

"Anthony, Aunt Pawn is already very tired. How can we rest until morning?" Aunt Rose reminded Anthony. Aunt Pawn is the oldest woman in our village. Aunt Pawn had to be led out by her children, and now she's exhausted.

"Because it's too dirty and leaves behind smoke here. Let's go to the farm; there's a little clean space there for us to lie down and rest." And Anthony always makes decisions for them. Although it's not comfortable for us to stay here, we're still following them until the process of rebuilding their homes is complete.

In the fields, I saw uncles and aunts lying on the straw, thinking their bodies might itch, which made my heart ache. Not to mention the little children; even though there aren't many of them, it feels so sad to see them experiencing this.

I looked at Collin, who was walking away from us; he was on a phone call with someone. Curious, I went over to him.

"Why are you doing this to us? You know I care deeply about Matilda's existence?" It looks like Collin is calling Kate.

"You're already badly wounded; you almost lost your life because of that widow. I'm grateful you're still alive, but I'm disappointed you still want to stick to her. Do you like that widow?" I could hear Kate's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I like Matilda, and I'm disappointed because you promised to be a friend; you promised to meet us again as friends. Why did you betray us? I thought you were really sincere; that's why I contacted you." Collin openly expressed his disappointment to Kate.

"You still don't understand that I'm doing this because I don't want you to get hurt again. Matilda even threatened your life, so I had no choice but to report it to her husband so they could come back and stop bothering you." Kate's words made Collin very angry.

"Don't interfere in my problems anymore from now on. You and your brother are no different. One of them plotted with Lucy to hurt Matilda, and you plotted with Andrew to help him bring Matilda back. You're so disappointing, Kate!" There was a shout in Collin's words.

"Stop hurting yourself. You'll never get that woman; you need to stay away from her, return her to her husband, and stop planning to help your patient this far."

"Shut your mouth, Kate!"

I saw Collin end his phone call with Kate, and that's when I finally dared to approach him. Collin was a little surprised by my presence, not expecting me to have been eavesdropping all this time.

"Maybe in the end, Kate got annoyed because I was always clinging to you like a parasite. In that accident, I also almost caused you to die. Kate's right, we need to stay away from each other for now." I positioned myself next to Collin.

"What are you talking about? I will get justice for you; I will not give up. At least when you go alone later, you won't feel afraid of being chased again." Collin was still busy with his phone, this time calling someone else to discuss the construction of the village residents' houses. The budget is so large, Collin prepared all the best materials for rebuilding the residents' homes.

When Collin was done with his phone, I spoke again, "Actually, I'm still afraid to go alone. After Andrew's men came earlier, I became so pessimistic. Maybe I'll go back to Andrew someday."

"If you really don't want to go back to that man, let me protect you. Don't talk about separation. Even if I'm only considered a brother, I don't mind. Let's face everything until the end." Collin's words left me stunned and frozen in place.