Try Begging - Chapter 136.2
The third option, she boarded the train again to her brother.
“In difficult issues, sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one.”
He thought back to the woman’s sly voice and smirked. Right, maybe she was just tired of being followed.
As the tavern door swung open, the raucous noise burst into the quiet night.
A group of drunken men stumbled out, heading towards the outskirts of the village into the farmland area. Among them, a man in his late twenties occasionally glanced back while his companions continued to discuss the day’s boxing match.
Someone was following them about twenty meters back. It could be a coincidence, but he had reasons to believe they were being followed.
Walking alone at such a late hour in this remote village was unusual for a young woman. Although it was too dark to see clearly, only the silhouette was visible. However, the woman’s gait did not exhibit the typical anxiety of women walking alone at night.
‘…The military or Blanchard?’
The group dispersed at a crossroads one by one. The last companion who had walked alongside him waved goodbye in front of a rundown building.
“Have a good Christmas, Charlie.”
“You too.”
He returned the Christmas greetings and continued along the dark dirt road. He rubbed his frozen nose with his gloved hand as he turned the corner toward the farm entrance.
“Joe.”
Someone called him by his real name, not his alias.
“…Grace?”
Joe turned around in surprise. Who would have thought the woman following him was his sister? How could she be here in the East when she was supposed to be on a mission in the West?
“When did you come without a new…?”
“Tell me.”
Grace quickly approached him. The clouds covering the moon behind her made it difficult to see his sister’s face even from a step away, but her serious tone was clear.
“…What?”
“Everything you know. Without leaving anything out. Without lies.”
This was what Joe had been anticipating.
Finally, it had come.
This was Joe’s first reaction when facing his sister, demanding the truth. It was going to be a long story. Instead of having this conversation in the cold and dark, he suggested going inside, though his sister was insistent.
Reluctantly, he led her to an isolated shed. He lit an oil lamp on the table with a match and sat down on an old wooden chair.
“You sit too…”
His gaze, which was moving upward, paused the moment it brushed across Grace’s belly.
“My goodness, what’s happened to you? Is it Jimmy’s child? When did you get married without saying anything? I’m quite upset. Wait. Did you come here alone? A pregnant woman wandering alone on this cold night? Oh, this won’t do. Let’s go home right now. Have you eaten dinner?”
Joe, who was completely unaware of the situation, tried to make sense of it on his own and stood up, attempting to take Grace with him.
“We can talk about this later.”
She sat her older brother back down and took a seat opposite him.
“I have something else I want to ask.”
Knowing his sister’s stubbornness, Joe gave in and nodded. Grace took a deep breath with a determined face, then sighed and asked.
“Am I really Father’s biological child?”
You already know, and you’re asking.
Joe opened his mouth, which had been firmly shut. Still, the answer didn’t come easily. He had anticipated this day and rehearsed it in his mind countless times, yet when the moment arrived, words failed to leave his tongue.
“Please, just tell me the truth.”
He eventually shook his head with difficulty. His younger sister’s face immediately looked as if she was struggling to hold back tears.
“…Your real father is someone else.”
‘…So, Winston’s words were true after all.’
Grace swallowed her tears and faintly nodded her head.
“I don’t know who he is either. I’m sorry.”
I already knew that.
But she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“Do you know how I… ended up being born?”
She still couldn’t believe Winston’s words about her being the product of some dirty seduction. When she asked, her brother’s face from across only grew even more pained.
“This kind of story is hard even for me when I’m drunk, let alone you sober…”
He buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply before standing up.
“I can’t bring myself to say it. You should hear it from Mother.”
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