Bang! The bullet seemed to graze past the top of Rachel’s head. She then heard Justin’s familiar voice speak from above her. Even though the situation was dire, he still spoke in calm, fluent Italian as he communicated with the two men. Soon, she was helped to her feet. “It’s fine now.”
It was only when she saw Justin’s face that she regained some sense of security. It made her clutch tightly to his arm. The strangers walked back out again. This time, though, they were not as wary of her. They even looked apologetic.
Whatever Justin told them, it was enough to make them pull open the gates and welcome them into the villa. However, Rachel instinctively took a step back.
“Don’t be scared,” said Justin. “They mean you no harm. They only fired at you because they thought you were a thief. As an apology, they would like to invite us into their home.”
“It’s fine,” she hurriedly denied. She was still frightened by the experience. As he understood her fear, Justin then explained the situation to the men. The two men made gestures of apology at her and did not push her to head in.
She only felt safe when the men were inside the house and had locked the door behind them. She then took a deep breath, but nearly choked on air.
“I was terrified.” She was so afraid that she even forgot to breathe. As for Justin, there was an unpleasant look on his face. He was also terrified for her life. If he had arrived a second later, things might have been really bad.
“Oh, so you do know fear. Did you not think this might have happened when you came out all alone in the middle of the night?”
“There was no signal in the building, and I have an urgent email to send.” “Which is more important; your life or the email?” She was stunned and her fingers trembled. ‘I’m sorry. I nearly got you killed as well.”
If he had not been there, she would have died That shot had barely missed her. Seeing the pale look on her face, he forced himself to calm down. “Do not do this ever again. This is not our home. It is not safe at night.”
In response, she hung her head like a guilty kid and hummed in response. “Do you still need to send the email?”
She looked up, startled. He sighed. “You took a huge risk just to find somewhere with good reception. Now that you are safe, why are you not sending the email?” It was only then that she snapped back to her senses and sent her email.
The two then walked back to their bed-and- breakfast. Although there were not many streetlights along the road, the moon was sol bright that when it reflected off the snowy ground, illuminating their path ahead.
“You have a lot of guts to wander so far all alone. What if something happened?” “Were you following me the entire time?”
He paused. “Yes.” Although she had expected that answer, she was still surprised. It was a cold night, and she had been walking for about two miles in her search. Even though he had been following her the entire time, she heard nothing.
If she had not been in trouble, she would never have known that he had been following her this whole time.
“Thank you.” “No need for thanks. Just pay attention and take care of yourself next time.”
“Okay,” she replied. Then, they went quiet. They were never talkative people in the first place. Even though they had been through a lot, they would never have spoken another word to each other if not for the kid that they were tied to.
If Gloria and Victor had not gotten together, Justin and Rachel would not have gone on at trip together either. At that thought, she found herself conflicted on how to feel about it.
Just as they were arriving back at their bed- and-breakfast, Justin said in an urging manner, “We’re here. Hurry back inside. We don’t want you to catch a cold.” She turned and looked at him. “If I am ever stuck in the same situation, please do not do that again.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You owe me nothing,” she continued. “Even if you did, we are even now. Charlotte made sure of that. So, please do not do things just for my sake. It is all in the past.”
She had hated him for years, but she learned to be rational about it. Everything that happened back then was destiny. Fate had decided her eight-year-old self would meet him when he was kidnapped. There was no avoiding that disaster.
“I’ve thought things through, Justin. Six years ago, even if I never met you, even if you never developed a grudge against the Hudson family, even if I did not marry you by accident, Jefferey would still sell me off for profits. He would abandon me after squeezing every last drop he could out of me. It had only seemed like everything started because of you, but frankly speaking, it was all because I was weak. I just accepted what was thrown at me.”
One’s personality was the biggest determiner in one’s life. “Rae.” He clenched his fists tight and frowned. “No matter what, you are Charlotte’s father,” she said, forcing a smile to her face. “We can’t be total strangers, so let us leave the past in the past.”
In their silence, the eternal ice that had hung around them gradually melted. The emotions they felt about their past seemed to have calmed down.
Even though they knew those emotions would never disappear and linger on as wounds forever, they knew that pain could be put aside. No matter how much they suffered, they accepted it.
“Thank you.” Those words softly lingered in the air after he spoke. “It is what I should do,” she said, looking into his eyes.
Justin would forever be Charlotte’s father. If he kept trying to make amends for the past, Charlotte would not grow up a happy child. Now that they had talked it out, they felt much. better about the situation. “Let us head in. It is cold,” she said..
“Yes.” However, he soon stopped in his tracks. She had already stepped into the building, but when she saw that he was still standing outside, she turned around and poked her head out in confusion, finding him frozen at the doorway.
“Why aren’t you coming in?” He frowned and held out his hand; a few snowflakes landed on it. “It’s snowing.”
“Is that not normal?” She did not understand why he commented on it. “The weather forecast did say it was going to snow tonight. It should be over by tomorrow morning.” “Something is off about this weather.”
He turned to look at the mountain in the distance. It was covered by a thick fog of dark clouds that seemed like they would swallow the moon whole. A moment ago, the sky was clear with the moon shining bright. Now, there were so many dark clouds in the air that it almost felt suffocating.
The time before a normal snowstorm should not look so gloomy and threatening. He remembered seeing something like this before. It happened ten years ago in Zurich. Immediately after, an extremely severe blizzard happened.
Hence, a blizzard was coming.
