Chapter 28
After they finished eating, Ronald asked naturally, "Where are you headed next?"
Evelyn wiped her mouth. "I'm planning to go to the cemetery. Visit Grandma and my dad."
"I'll come with you," Ronald said with that same gentle, natural smile from childhood. "Been away for years. Should pay my respects to the elders too."
Evelyn was quiet for a moment, then nodded.
---
At the cemetery, Evelyn placed the flowers she'd brought in front of her grandmother's and father's graves.
Ronald stood behind her.
The headstones looked the same as always.
Evelyn crouched down close to them.
"Grandma, Dad," she began, voice soft. "I came back to see you."
"Mom's doing okay," Evelyn said like she was making casual conversation. "I found an overseas care facility for her."
"The conditions are really good. Once she gets there, she should start getting better."
She paused. "I'm pregnant. A little over eight weeks. The baby's healthy. I'm healthy too."
"Don't worry about me."
Ronald stood a few steps behind her.
He watched that thin figure crouched before the headstone, tenderness and ache rising in his chest.
She always shared good news, never bad. Had been that way since they were kids.
When the neighborhood kids picked on her as a child, she'd come home smiling and tell Grandma it was nothing, that she'd just tripped.
She was the same now.
Pregnant, alone, facing hardships anyone could imagine, yet smiling and saying "I'm fine."
Ronald took a deep breath, stepped forward, and crouched beside the headstone too.
"Grandma, Uncle," he said, voice steady. "It's Ronald. It's been a long time. I came to visit."
He paused, then spoke silently in his heart.
'Evelyn's been through so much. From now on, I'll take care of her. Won't let her carry everything alone. You can rest easy.'
A breeze blew past, brushing against them like the whispered affection of loved ones.
Evelyn froze, her eyes suddenly growing hot.
Ronald noticed Evelyn's pale hands and frowned slightly, then pulled her to her feet.
"Why are your hands so cold?" Without waiting for an answer, he took her hand and wrapped it in his palm.
His hand was large, immediately enveloping her icy fingertips.
"Still the same as when you were little. Your hands get freezing every fall and winter."
With his other hand, he unwound the scarf from his neck and wrapped it around hers without asking, covering her face snugly.
Evelyn was a bit dazed by his actions, instinctively trying to pull her hand back.
"Ron, you don't have to..."
"Don't move." Ronald didn't let go. "Let me warm you up first. That way you won't catch a cold on the way back."
This gesture was exactly the same as when they were kids.
On cold mornings walking to school, when her hands were freezing, he'd hold them like this and tuck them into his pocket.
Back then he'd always duck his head with a smile, saying, "Like a little ice cube."
Evelyn's heart softened. She was about to say something when she caught a figure in her peripheral vision, striding toward them.
A too-familiar figure.
Tall frame, sharp features. Matthew.
Matthew was holding a large bouquet of white chrysanthemums, planning to place them at the grave before leaving. As he approached, he saw exactly this scene.
Evelyn standing in front of the headstone, with a strange man beside her.
That man holding her hand, wrapping his scarf around her neck.
She was looking up at him without pulling away.
The coldness in Matthew's eyes nearly spilled over. His knuckles cracked audibly as his fists clenched.
Evelyn looked up and met his gaze directly.
For that instant, her mind went blank.
What was Matthew doing here?
She instinctively pulled her hand from Ronald's palm, but her body couldn't help shrinking back, retreating behind him.
Matthew saw her movement, his eyes contracting sharply, a stabbing pain shooting through his chest.
She was hiding from him. Worse—hiding behind another man.
Matthew's expression went ice cold.
He thought about his torment these past days.
About her unanswered messages. About his sleepless nights, his guilt, his heartache.
He'd thought she was suffering alone.
But her?
She was here, with another man, holding hands, sharing a scarf.
"Evelyn."
His voice could freeze water.
He strode forward, shoving Ronald aside with enough force to make him stumble back several steps.
Then he yanked Evelyn away from Ronald, pulling her into his own arms.
"What are you doing?!" Evelyn struggled hard.
Matthew didn't let go. He glared at her, fire burning in his eyes.
"Who is he?"
Ronald assessed the man before him.
This man had an intensely possessive attitude toward Evelyn, and Evelyn's eyes were full of panic.
Ronald suddenly understood. This was the baby's father.
But he said nothing, only stepped forward to stand opposite Matthew.
"Let her go."
Matthew narrowed his eyes at the man blocking his path.
Refined, gentle—the type he normally wouldn't spare a second glance.
"Who the hell are you?" Matthew's voice dropped. "Get lost."
Ronald didn't move.
"She doesn't want to go with you," he said. "Can't you see that?"
That sentence completely ignited Matthew's fury.
He released Evelyn and swung a punch.
Ronald took the hit to his shoulder. Matthew's second punch came right after.
Ronald didn't dodge, taking it head-on and blocking with his arm.
But he'd been gentle his whole life—no match for Matthew's ruthless, decisive methods.
After a few exchanges, Ronald had been forced back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Ron!" Evelyn cried out.
She tried to rush forward, but Matthew grabbed her wrist.
"You're protecting him?" Matthew stared at her, anger and hurt mixing in his eyes.
"Who is he? You left me for what, a few days, and you've already found someone else?"
He glanced at Ronald, his tone full of contempt and sarcasm.
"And you picked someone this weak?"
Evelyn froze.
Looking at the fury and mockery in Matthew's eyes, she suddenly felt the absurdity of it all.
He was here questioning her? What right did he have?
Evelyn yanked her hand free and rushed to Ronald's side in a few steps, supporting his arm.
"Ron, are you okay?"
Ronald shook his head, wiped the blood from his mouth, and looked at Matthew with scrutiny and wariness.
Evelyn turned around, standing in front of Ronald, facing Matthew.
Her voice was flat but hiding simmering anger beneath.
"Matthew, have you made enough of a scene?"
Matthew stood there, seeing the anger in her eyes, seeing her undisguised protection of Ronald, and froze.
She thought... he was making a scene?