The teary-eyed Sherry replied, “Mm-hmm, I believe you. I knew you wouldn't leave me. Wait, Yan, what happened
to you? Why can't you move?”
Yannick let out a wry smile. “Sherry, I'm fine. Don't worry about me.”
Zeke interrupted their conversation, “Enough. Sherry, let me ask you, do you remember what happened right
before you died?”
Zeke's question sent a shiver down her spine. “Before I died... Before I died... Right, d-didn't I drown in the river?
What in the world happened? Tell me...”
Zeke comforted her at once, “There, there, Sherry. Don't be afraid. Calm down and tell me in detail what you saw
at the brink of death.”
Falling into deep thought, Sherry related to Zeke, “I remember I was doing my laundry by the river before
everything went dark. By the time I could see again, I was ten miles downstream. However, before I realized what
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtwas happening, a large pair of hands suddenly pushed me into the river. Regardless of how desperately I struggled,
the hand maintained its grip on me, preventing me from reaching the surface. Before I knew it, I was already
unconscious.”
Zeke asked, “Sherry, do you want to know who pushed you into the water?”
Sherry frantically responded, “Who?”
Zeke looked in Yannick's direction.
Sherry clarified in disbelief, “Are you saying that it was... Yan?”
Zeke nodded.
“That's impossible.” Sherry was filled with skepticism. “Yan would never hurt me. Never. Are you trying to sow
discord between both of us? It's not going to happen.”
Zeke remarked, “Yannick, are you really not going to confess to Sherry? I think she deserves to know the truth.”
Sherry looked at Yannick. “Yan, ignore him. I'll never believe that you would ever hurt me.”
Yet, Yannick—wearing a guilty expression—replied, “Sherry, I'm sorry. It's true that I was the one who pushed you
into the water. However, you have to trust me when I tell you that I meant you no harm.”
“What?” Sherry was dumbfounded. “Yan, what did you just say? W-Were you trying to drown me when you shoved
me into the river?”
Yannick frantically explained, “Sherry, listen to me; I wasn't planning to drown you. I'm telling you the truth.”
“B*stard!”
There was no way a young girl like Sherry could bear the idea that the love of her life was trying to murder her.
Uncontrollable tears gushed out of her eyes.
Yannick confessed, “Sherry, at this stage, there's no point in me hiding the truth any further. I really wasn't trying to
take your life. I just wanted you to fall into suspended animation to fool your parents into thinking you were dead.
Once you were buried, I would come back for you. We would then elope and spend the rest of our lives together. If
not for that, I wouldn't be here and end up being captured by them.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmPeering into Yannick's eyes, Sherry asked, “Is what you say really true?”
“I swear that if any part of what I told you were a lie, I would be struck by lightning and die a miserable death.”
Sherry finally relented. “Fine, Yan, I believe you. But why did you need to fake your death? What's wrong with
spending the rest of our lives in the village?”
Yannick replied awkwardly, “It's a long story, Sherry. There are things that I can't bring myself to tell you.”
Zeke interjected, “All right now, Sherry, you should head home. I have something to discuss with Yannick in private.
This is between us and has nothing to do with you. Thus, you had better stay out of it.”
All of a sudden, the teary-eyed Sherry dropped to her knees.
“Mr. Williams, c-can I ask you for a favor?”
It was obvious to Zeke that Sherry was about to plead for mercy on Yannick's behalf.
Thus, he nodded. “Go on.”
“Mr. Williams, I'm aware that you have come to our village to look for Yannick and Yoshua. Even though I've no idea
what they have done to you, I hope that you can spare their lives. If they owe you money, you can rest assured that
I'll pay you back regardless of what it takes. If it's about something else, my family is willing to spend our lives in
your service to repay that debt.”