Chapter 2 Immense Hatred

• Terrified, Evangeline hid in Rosalind's arms.
• “What's wrong, Grandma?” she asked while staring at Emmanuel in fear.
• “I... I'm only here to see Eva...” Emmanuel replied with a trembling voice.
• “You are in no position to visit her! Listen, you and Eva are not related, so get the heck out of here right this instant!” Rosalind then tightened her grip on Evangeline and started yelling, “Help! This man is trying to kidnap my granddaughter!”
• Boohoo... “Stop shouting, Grandma!”
• Evangeline was so scared that she burst out crying in Rosalind's arms.
• She didn't know why, but seeing Emmanuel looking all helpless and lost made her feel like crying.
• Everyone in the marketplace stared at Emmanuel and Freddie after they heard the commotion.
• “Let's go, Boss. Reuniting with your daughter can wait. Let's just get out of here now,” Freddie urged Emmanuel while dragging him away by the arm.
• Reluctant to leave, Emmanuel kept glancing back at Evangeline every few steps he took.
• The two had just left the area when a weary-looking woman dressed in a red sweater came over with a cigarette in hand.
• “What happened, Mom?” she asked worriedly when she saw Evangeline crying in Rosalind's arms.
• Rosalind shook her head profusely and kept quiet.
• Upon shifting her gaze in the direction that Emmanuel went in, Eleanor spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
• She was so shocked that she dropped her cigarette and stood there staring blankly at him.
• However, it wasn't long before her blank expression turned into a fierce one as she exploded with rage.
• “Stop right there, you f*cking monster!” she shouted through clenched teeth.
• “Eleanor!” Realizing that her daughter was losing control over herself, Rosalind quickly hugged her tightly to stop her from going after Emmanuel.
• “Let go of me! I'm going to kill that b*stard for what he did to me!” Eleanor screamed at the top of her lungs while struggling in Rosalind's embrace.
• The vicious look on her face was so terrifying that everyone around them quickly backed away.
• It wasn't until Emmanuel completely disappeared from sight that she slumped against Rosalind's chest in despair and cried her heart out.
• The light in her eyes faded so much that they looked dead.
• It's him! He's the one who ruined my life completely! I went from being a dancer to a crazy woman that everyone looked down on. I had a great life ahead of me, but now, I'm just a useless nobody struggling to make a living in a small company.
• Evangeline walked up to her and sobbed, “Stop crying, Mommy. You're scaring me!”
• Hearing her daughter's voice snapped Eleanor out of her depressed state and brought a bit of light back into her eyes. She quickly pulled Evangeline into her arms as she mumbled, “Oh, Eva... Promise me you'll never leave my side, okay? We'll be together forever!”
• Evangeline's cries still resonated in Emmanuel's ears even after they had left the bustling market, making it impossible for him to calm down.
• Eleanor's screams filled his heart with unimaginable guilt as he felt the immense hatred in her voice.
• After packing things up at the clinic, Freddie gave Emmanuel a guilty look as he asked, “Boss, are you mad at me for stopping you from seeing Eleanor?”
• Emmanuel simply shook his head and puffed away on a cigarette.
• “You wouldn't be able to stop me if I wanted to go see her. I just can't bring myself to face her right now.”
• Freddie let out a huge sigh when he saw the look of guilt on Emmanuel's face.
• “Boss, Eva is all that Eleanor has. It's only natural that she'd assume you're trying to take Eva away when you showed up all of a sudden. Besides, you were the reason she lost everything and had her life turned upside down. You can't really blame her for hating you to the bone.”
• “Yeah, I know.” Emmanuel puffed on his cigarette as he continued, “She has hated me for so many years now. It'd take a lot more than word for her to let go of all that hatred.”
• “Boss, it's definitely going to take a long time for Eleanor to forgive you. Blood is thicker than water, so there's no changing the fact that you're Eva's father. As for Eleanor, she is a kind-hearted person by nature. She's simply consumed by her immense hatred toward you. I'm sure she'll eventually be able to let go of it if you put more effort into solving this.”
• Emmanuel nodded slightly without saying another word. He then stared at the bright blue sky outside the window and went into deep thought.
• The next evening, Eleanor was extremely exhausted as she went to pick her daughter up from Sunshine Elementary School.
• “What? Eva has left?”
• Eleanor lost her cool when she heard what the teacher said.
• “Did a man come to pick her up?” she asked anxiously.
• The teacher was starting to panic. “I-I don't know. Eva told me she saw you outside. There were too many parents around, so I figured you were probably in the crowd and let her out the door. Eva has always been a good kid, and she has never lied to me like this.”
• “You are unbelievable! How dare you call yourself a teacher?” Eleanor yelled at the teacher before storming off.
• Flashbacks of what happened at the market began flooding her mind. Her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would burst out of her chest, and the fear of losing Evangeline sent chills down her spine.
• That b*stard! Did he come to steal Eva from me?
• Standing by the street with tears in her eyes and her fists tightly clenched, Eleanor was trembling all over as she shouted, “You f*cking monster! You have already ruined me. Why must you take Eva away from me? Emmanuel, you f*cking b*stard! Eva is all I have! I'll kill you if you dare take her from me!”
• Meanwhile, Evangeline was standing next to a busy road with a huge plastic bag in hand.
• With her big, shiny eyes, she kept staring at a plastic bottle that a couple had in their hands.
• She looked like a starving person who had just stumbled upon a delicious meal.
• “Hi there, little girl. Do you want this bottle?” the girl asked when she noticed Evangeline staring at her.
• Evangeline kept quiet and simply nodded in response.
• After exchanging glances with her boyfriend, the girl stepped forward to place the bottle of water into Evangeline's bag. “Here, you can have it.”
• “Thank you!” Evangeline said in an adorable voice.
• “My, aren't you a good girl?” the girl exclaimed while patting Evangeline on the head.
• She then retrieved some spare change from her pocket and handed it to Evangeline as she added, “I'm not sure what you want the bottle for, but I'm going to give you a little reward for being such a sweetheart. Here you go.”
• “My mommy told me not to receive money from strangers, so I'll only take the bottle!” Evangeline replied as she grabbed her plastic bag and ran off.
• The couple looked at each other in surprise and watched Evangeline disappear into the crowd before they left.
• At about seven in the evening, Evangeline hauled the huge bag of bottles over to the recycling plant.
• Although it was exhausting, she knew she could get some money by selling those plastic bottles. The thought of being able to reduce her mother's burden put a smile on her face.
• However, the fatigue proved too much for her to handle, and she collapsed on the hood of a BMW parked by the roadside.
• All the bottles fell on the car as well.
• “Whose child is this?” shouted a man weighing over two hundred pounds as he stepped out of the car.
• Evangeline's face went pale instantly as she apologized, “I'm sorry, mister! I didn't mean for this to happen!”
• She even pulled out a handful of coins from her pocket and said, “Here you go, mister. I'll pay for the damages!”
• There wasn't even a scratch on the man's car, but he still got mad when he saw the coins.
• The next thing Evangeline knew, he had slapped her hard across the face.
• “Do you have any idea how much this car is worth? Call your parents and have them come over right this instant! I want them to pay me fifty thousand, or I'll send you to the police station!”