It had already been five days since Sheffield disappeared. Evelyn finally received some information about him, but she was the only one who was informed.
The second she saw Sheffield, Evelyn, who had stayed strong for five days, couldn't help but burst into tears. Her knees began to give up on her so she hold onto the door.
The small hut was filled with a strong smell of blood. Everywhere she looked, there were bloodstains.
On the ground, a man covered in blood was lying on a stack of hay. From where she was standing, she could already see the wounds all over his body.
"Shef..." Evelyn sobbed, his name stuck in her throat.
She walked towards him very slowly. She had been praying for this moment, but seeing him in that way, her heart ached with every heavy step she took.
Before she could clearly see his face, she thought she might be mistaken. A part of her was wishing that it wasn't him. There was no way this wounded, broken man, lying almost lifeless on the ground was her Sheffield.
When Sheffield heard the sound from the door, he moved a little and turned his head, which was also covered with wounds and blood. When he saw that it was the woman he had been missing so much, he smiled with great difficulty. "Ev—"
His throat was dry since he hadn't had any water for days. Blood oozed out his mouth while he tried so hard to smile.
Evelyn covered her mouth with both hands. Even though tears were streaming down her cheeks like torrents of flood, she tried her best not to cry out loud.
He reached out his injured hand to her and said in a hoarse voice, "Eve... I missed you." Throughout this ordeal, there were times when he had thought that he would never see her again. Thank every god in this universe. He was able to take one last look at the woman he loved so deeply.
Evelyn didn't know how she managed to walk up to him. The next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the ground and was holding Sheffield's scarred hand. "Sheffield." She called his name, weeping.
The playful and lively man she saw just a few days ago was now covered with wounds and on the brink of dying. She couldn't comprehend the situation at all. 'How did everything become this messed up?' Evelyn thought to herself.
Bearing all the pain, Sheffield pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to Evelyn. "Eve, I...love you." He was afraid that if he didn't tell her now, he wouldn't have a chance to do so in the future.
He loved her with all his heart. To him, there was no doubts about her. Evelyn was more important than his life.
Evelyn lowered her head to look at his hand. It was a ring, sparkling all its glory on top of his wounded hand. Mounted in the middle of the ring was a red diamond the size of a pigeon egg, surrounded by a lot of small colorless diamonds.
The red diamond was very different from the ruby. The former was rarer and more expensive.
Natural red diamonds were the most mysterious diamonds in the world of gemstones. Unlike other well-known precious stones, the natural red diamonds were very rare to find right now. They were rarely seen in the diamond market, and even a lot of senior jewelers could not find them!
It was difficult to find a red diamond that was more than one carat, but the ring that Sheffield was giving her had a red diamond of at least five carats!
At present, the red diamond was sold at the market price of several million per carat. Moreover, the colorless diamonds inlaid in the ring were D-level diamonds with perfect cutting. This diamond ring was really rare. One could easily see how much it was worth.
It was priceless.
It was a true token and testimonial of how much Sheffield loved her. At any cost, he would try his best to give her all the best things that this world had to offer.
Upon closer look, the diamond ring was stained with his blood. The red diamond and even the colorless ones around it were tainted with a dark tinge of red. The blood had dried up on the stones.
Evelyn gripped his hand with the diamond ring tightly, crying out loud.
She had never experienced such extreme pain. They said she was a jinx. She didn't believe them until that moment when she had the man she loved the most in her arms. Even Sheffield was affected by her bad luck.
"Don't cry..." He held her hand tightly and consoled her lovingly.
"Evelyn, don't cry. It pains my heart whenever you cry."
With that, Evelyn tried to hold back her tears. "I know, I know. I won't cry."
"Good girl," Sheffield happily said.
Biting her lower lip, she said in a soft voice, "Sheffield, you'll be fine!"
"I hope so." He didn't want to die. He hadn't formally proposed to her yet. There was still so much he wanted to do with her. They were still going to get married and travel the world. They were still going to have children together who would play with Gwyn. He still had a lot of plans for them. It couldn't end this way.
"Didn't you say that once I met my Mr. Right, he would never leave me? You can't go back on your words, Sheffield. You can't leave me!" Her one true love was Sheffield. He could never leave her. She would never be able to take it.
Not wanting to see her sad face, he sighed and joked, "Evelyn, I always thought that I would die from having excessive sex with you. Damn it! That would have been a better way to go than dying in this neglected hut. What a pity!"
Evelyn didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At that moment, however, it looked like she was doing both. "Don't talk about such nonsense! Don't say you're dying. I'm taking you to the hospital right now. You won't die!"
While she was about to get up and ask for help, Sheffield grabbed her arm. "Evelyn, don't go. I feel like I'm dying... Stay with me for this last moment of my life, please?"
He didn't want to die that way, but he also knew that it wouldn't be long. Even before Evelyn found him, he found himself slipping in and out of consciousness.
'What? The last moment of his life?' When Evelyn had comprehended his words, she instantly sobbed. "The last moment of your life? How can you say that? No! You'll get through this! Trust me. I just need to—"
"I will try my best to live..." Sheffield softly said. For Evelyn, for their bright future, he would try his best to survive.
All of a sudden, Evelyn thought of something very important. Regardless of Carlos' warning, she decided to tell Sheffield the truth. "Sheffield, we actually have a child."
'A child?' Sheffield's eyes widened in shock. All of a sudden, a small figure flashed through his mind. Could it be...?
Knowing who he was thinking of, Evelyn nodded with tears on her face. She confessed with the utmost sincerity, "Gwyn is your child. She's our child."
"Really? Is this true? Are you only saying this because I'm dying?" He was so excited that his eyes lit up.
"It's true. She's our daughter. I won't lie to you especially at a time like this."
'Gwyn is my daughter?' Sheffield spat out a mouthful of blood. "Eve, I hate you!"
And with those last words, he fell into a coma.
A few minutes later, five luxury cars came carrying a dozen people. They picked up the wounded man who had fainted because of too much excitement. Immediately, they all left the small village of Van City.
A week later, Evelyn took Gwyn to the hospital as usual. The man lying in the bed was stable, but he hadn't woken up yet.
After putting the little girl on the floor, Evelyn took out a lollipop and unwrapped it. "Have some. Mommy is going to wipe Daddy's face."
Gwyn took the lollipop and put it in her mouth.
When Evelyn went into the bathroom, the little girl climbed on top of the bed. She crawled very closely to Sheffield whose eyes were still closed. She then took out the lollipop filled with saliva from her mouth and put it on his mouth. "Candies, eat candies," she said.
Soon enough, Sheffield's lips and chin were covered with saliva and the sticky candy.
When Evelyn came out of the bathroom, she saw Gwyn lying beside Sheffield while still licking the lollipop in her mouth. Then, she took it out and placed it on Sheffield's lips again. "One lick for you, one lick for me."
Evelyn was amused. Instead of scolding her daughter, she just reminded the little girl. "Gwyn, you can't share a lollipop with others, especially when someone like your dad right here is sleeping."
Gwyn looked at her mom and protested, "But if Dad eats enough candies, he'll soon wake up."
"Fine, as long as you're happy." Gwyn had changed a lot since she found out that Sheffield was her father. Although she was still hesitant with meeting strangers, she had improved a lot compared to several months ago.
Wiping off the saliva and the sticky sugar on the corners of his lips, Evelyn said softly, "If you don't wake up soon, your daughter will soon beat you."
Just as soon as she was finished speaking, a loud slapping sound was heard in the room. It was so loud, it actually resounded in all corners of the room.
Evelyn was so stunned, she looked at the little girl in utter disbelief. The girl didn't seem to know that she just did something wrong. She lifted her little hand and gave her dad another slap in the face.