Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Chapter 238 Childhood

As soon as the rainy season hit, the rain started pouring out of nowhere. It was sunny one minute, and then right after school let out, it just started dumping rain.

I was biking to the intersection, and when the light turned green, I headed in the opposite direction from home. After a few turns and passing Sunshine Elementary, the rain got even heavier, so I picked up the pace.

At the next intersection, I spotted someone familiar-Emily. She was hurrying along, using her backpack as a makeshift umbrella since she didn't have one. Suddenly, a group of boys blocked her path.

One of them said, "Hey, why are you in such a rush?"

Emily kept her head down, looking a bit scared, and tried to dodge around them. But they weren't having it and pulled her back. In the scuffle, her backpack fell into a puddle.

"Trying to run away? You don't have any family to care about you. Come hang with us," one of the boys taunted.

Emily picked up her backpack and said, "I'm not going."

One of the boys grabbed her hair, saying, "Don't be ungrateful."

As they were dragging her away, I pedaled hard and skidded to a stop in front of them, blocking their path.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" I leaned on my bike handle, giving them a lazy look.

"Ethan," one of the boys exclaimed.

They recognized me. It looked like they went to the same middle school. Most kids at school knew me. I wasn't one to start trouble, but I sure wasn't afraid of it. They stuck out their tongues, and one scratched his nose, saying, "Ethan, we were just messing around with her. We're heading home now."

With that, they took off. Emily stood there, head down, her toes wiggling in her wet sandals.

"Thanks," she said softly.

She was always so timid; I'd noticed that a while ago. Just like now, she thanked me but couldn't bring herself to look up. I stared at her face. She was small and thin, looking a bit underfed. But her long, fluttering eyelashes were the most striking feature. I found myself wanting to see the eyes behind those lashes, but Emily wouldn't look up.

rain's getting worse. Let me take you home,"

and put her backpack back over her

place is just up ahead. I'll

her backpack over her head. I trailed behind on my bike, watching her until she disappeared into Broadway

I saw her from a distance, she was always keeping her head down, looking timid. Now, two years later, she still got picked on, but there

the rain came and there was no umbrella, Emily couldn't just stand there and cry; she had to keep moving. She kept wiping her eyes as she ran. Was she crying? Those boys must have really upset her. I wanted to

different. The best comfort for her would have been to bring Victor back to life and wake her mom up. But that was impossible; what was

Not far ahead, I saw my cousin. He was also carrying a backpack and riding a bike. My cousin, Jason, had just

said, "Just wandering

and said, "You really have a good mood, wandering around on a rainy

until we parted ways at an intersection, and I kept going. Passing a mall, my eyes unconsciously looked towards the entrance. My fingers tightened on the brake, and I stopped. The man walking out of the mall was my father, Victor, and the woman beside him was probably his mistress, Linda. She was carrying shopping bags in one hand and holding a boy's hand in the other. The boy had a backpack, probably just picked

when they got into the car, Victor didn't notice me standing in the rain. Even if he did, he probably

was one of the few who did. However, the number of times I had

got the chance to ride in it because she was always in poor health and rarely went out.

time there, staying in the dormitory, so it wasn't unusual

coming out of the farmers' market with groceries. She was carrying bags in one hand and holding an umbrella in the other, coughing so hard her back was bent. Seeing her like that, and

up

worse. How about

to see me and quickly tilted the

you to always carry an umbrella, but you didn't listen.

she scolded me, there wasn't a hint of harshness; every word was filled with

but she had a chronic cough all year round, and years of medication hadn't helped. Victor used to show some concern at first, but later he got annoyed by

were quite rudimentary, and he hadn't bought a car yet. Cindy was worried that Victor wouldn't eat

to deliver a meal to Victor, but he wasn't at the factory. She waited in the snow for a long time, and the meal got cold, but Victor never returned. The workers

a high fever and a cough. That was when her chronic cough started, and it never got

the umbrella

don't mind getting wet, but