Chapter 168 My Vow

Chapter 168 My Vow
SEBASTIAN

I entered the room, and everything looked so calm and quiet. It seemed as though I was the only one living here.

Alma...

She must be worried. I didn’t come home last night.

Thank goodness we had gone to visit the maternal home. It was as if the universe had predicted what would happen to that woman. It was so unfortunate how her husband brought his mistress home and threw her out of the house. That was how she ended up at my maternity home.

Thankfully, she was recovering and was finally able to feed her son happily.

I headed upstairs. Then it suddenly occurred to me that I should check on her father and see how he was doing. Perhaps he was asleep.

I gave a gentle knock before pushing the door open.

My heart sank at the sight before me.

Alma was asleep on her father's bed while he sat in his wheelchair, quietly reading a book.

"Oh... sorry for the trouble, sir," I said, gesturing toward Alma.

"She's my daughter, not trouble," he replied coldly.

Okay... that came out wrong.

I rubbed my jaw, unable to respond. This man was incredibly straightforward.

I slowly lowered myself onto the sofa opposite the bed and watched Alma sleep peacefully. She must have really missed her father.

I wondered what their relationship had been like before he fell ill.

Maybe I should ask.

"A lot has happened. Sleeping for over a year is quite baffling, isn't it?" her father's voice interrupted before I could say anything.

I cleared my throat and leaned forward, clasping my hands together with my elbows resting on my knees.

"Not really," I replied.

"Lady Flores is very kind. She paid for my oxygen for an entire year," he added, his eyes still fixed on the book.

I nodded.

After a moment, he closed the book and shifted his full attention to me.

"You mentioned you wanted to talk to me about something. What is it?" he asked calmly.

I exhaled and glanced toward Alma. She was still fast asleep.

"I told Alma about my late friend Jenny and everything that happened to her. She decided to help me seek justice for Jenny," I said quietly. "Then Elijah saw her and said she was Jenny's younger sister. I had never been that shocked before. When I asked Alma whether she had a sister, she said she had no idea. That's when I found out she had been in an accident that caused her to lose her memories."

He let out a long sigh.

"She used to admire Johanna so much because she never failed a single assessment or examination. Johanna always taught her little tricks to study and understand things better. Nina was incredibly attached to her. We were afraid she wouldn't even cope when Johanna eventually left for university."

He paused.

"But everything we had fell apart that day. I still remember how heavily it was raining. Johanna told me she had something to do at school. I didn't ask any questions because she always handled everything herself and valued her privacy. She wasn't like Nina, who told us every little thing. She was healthy... full of life. Then I returned home from work and was told my daughter had died from severe blood loss. They handed me her medical report."

He swallowed hard.

"During her burial, one of the morgue attendants asked whether she had been pregnant and was trying to get rid of the baby."

He wiped away his tears.

"I was so furious that I slapped him. He was accusing my daughter of something she would never do, but I never knew that bastard raped her...."

My chest tightened as I listened. Johanna's face kept flashing through my mind.

"After her burial, Nina stopped talking. She stopped eating. She kept dreaming about Johanna and calling her name in her sleep. Some days, she locked herself in Johanna's room and cried until she had no tears left. She refused to go outside. She also stopped going to school. I became terrified. Her mother quit her job as a nanny so she could spend more time with her. Gradually, we noticed she was beginning to recover. She started talking to us again. But every time she looked at Johanna's usual seat at the dining table, she would stop eating, run to her room, and cry all over again. Our once-happy home slowly lost its light."

He took a deep breath.

"So I quit my job at the manufacturing company and took on shift work instead, just so I could spend more time at home. Eventually, because of our encouragement, she agreed to return to school."

"There, she became the target of several bullies. They were even our neighbors' children who had always been afraid of Johanna. Because she's no more, they started picking on my Nina again. So I reported to the school, and the problem was resolved."

He paused again.

"Just when I thought everything was finally over, my wife and I were having lunch when we received a call from an unknown number. Saying our daughter had been involved in an accident. She had been rushed to the hospital. She was unconscious. Everything around me seemed to stop."

He let out a soft sniff. "Before I could even react, my wife collapsed. I rushed her to the hospital...They told me she had passed away."

His shoulders trembled as sobs escaped him.

My heart ached for everything this family had endured because of Luis.

"I felt like my entire world had ended. Within a single year, I had lost two of the most precious people in my life, while the third was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. I wanted to bury my wife and end my own life. I wanted the pain to stop. But when the doctor told me Nina had finally woken up, something inside me refused to give up. That day happened to be her mother's burial. The thought of telling Nina about her mother's death terrified me. I was afraid the shock would destroy her. But to my surprise, she remembered nothing. Not even her own name. I asked the doctor whether there was any way to prevent her memories from returning. I wanted to carry all that pain alone instead of making her relive it."

He exhaled and wiped his tears. The doctor prescribed some medication. When I brought her home, she became attached to me just as she had once been attached to Johanna. She couldn't bear being away from me. Even at night, she wanted to stay close. I became her entire world."

He smiled bitterly through his tears.

"But one interesting thing...she never forgot those little tricks Johanna taught her to pass her examinations."

He let out a quiet, broken laugh as tears continued rolling down his cheeks.

My chest tightened as I strengthened my previous vow.

I would make sure to take extra good care of both of them.