Chapter 303
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William recalled that at the time of lils accident, Cordelia and I had also been vacationing on the island.
Although he didn’t think it was possible, he instinctively asked anyway.
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I had assumed that William’s intimidating presence on the way he was because he was angry at me for not answering his question.
I never expected him to suddenly ask such a thing.
Although I didn’t know why, my first instinct was to admit that I had saved someone while I was on the island.
But before I could say anything, his phone rang.
It seemed like an urgent call. After answering it, he hurriedly told me he would send someone else to pick me up before leaving in his car.
Feeling bad for troubling him when he was so busy, I sent him a message. I told him that he didn’t need to send anyone and that I would call my own driver instead.
William didn’t reply to my text.
Instead, Noah called. “Emi , there’s an emergency at home. I have to leave for a while . Wait for me , I’ll be right back. ” he said. With that, he hung up.
www
He and William were probably dealing with the same situation. Something serious must have happened to their family since they both left so urgently.
I instinctively tried calling them to ask if there was anything I could do to help, but their lines were busy.
Realizing that I neither had the power nor the status to be of much help to William, the best thing I could do was not disturb them further. So, I stopped calling.
Afterward, I headed to the hospital to visit Mr. Holland.
Although I had proven that our relationship was nothing more than that of a mentor and his student, he was still deeply hurt by the betrayal of two of the students he had been most proud of. It had crushed his spirit, leaving him exhausted and drained as he slowly recovered.
When I arrived, he was staring out the window, lost in thoughts.
The food on his table remained untouched.
Shaun had plotted against us, but he had his reasons. After the kind–hearted Mr. Holland learned about Shaun’s sister’s tragic experiences, he didn’t blame him for what he had done.
But Lyle had truly broken his heart. From his first year of university to his PhD this year, Mr. Holland had mentored him for a long nine years. He had given Lyle everything he could.
And yet, just because he was jealous and wanted to destroy me, he had hurt the mentor who had cared for him so deeply.
Noticing that the oatmeal in the insulated container was still warm, I poured a bowl and brought it to Mr. Holland, urging him to eat so he could recover faster.
He looked at me, his eyes reddening. “Emi… why did Lyle…”
Lyle’s betrayal had made him question everything, even life. He simply couldn’t understand how someone he had t genuinely could do something so cruel.
ed so
Kind–hearted people could never understand how others could be so wicked, capable of doing something so wrong.
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“ Could it be that I wasn’t careful enough with him? ” he asked. “ That I spoke too harshly? Was I really biased without realizing it? Is that why he … ”
Kind–hearted people also tend to blame themselves , no matter what happens.
He wondered if he had been too biased or had done something wrong. Otherwise, why would a student he had nurtured for so many years turn out like this ?
What he didn’t realize was that wicked people wouldn’t need a reason to do wrong.
“Mr. Holland , please don’t punish yourself for his mistakes,” I said “You’ve never done anything wrong. You have so many students , and none of them turned out like him. That means the problem wasn’t you–it was all him.”
I continued, “There are so many people in this world, and you have so many students. It’s completely normal to have a few bad ones. This is definitely not your fault!”
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