Chapter 539: The Ill-fated Mark Xavier
Raina scoffed sarcastically, "Heaven never meddles in things like this. The good always die young, while the wicked always seem to live longer and better than anyone else."
"Heaven is blind. Have you all heard? Someone from my family’s village drowned not long ago. He was only in his forties. After dinner, he went to the pond to gather snails, but he didn’t come home for hours. His family went out to look for him and found half a bucket of snails on the bank, but he was nowhere to be seen. They knew immediately that something was wrong. By the time they pulled him from the water, he was already gone," Fiona Rhodes said with a sigh. Her family was from Rosillia Village.
"I heard the man who died was the family’s main breadwinner. He was devoted to his parents, good to his wife and kids, easygoing, and kind-hearted. Everyone’s saying Heaven must be blind," Raina added regretfully.
Clearspring Township only had a few villages, so when something big happened, word would spread throughout the entire township within three days. Everyone had already heard about this.
Juliana Rhodes heaved a heavy sigh, saying regretfully, "He was such a good person. He was my cousin, actually. He’d never done a single thing to feel guilty about in his life. Who would’ve thought a perfectly fine person would be gone just like that? The pond isn’t even deep, and my cousin knew how to swim. He’d go gather snails at this time every year—been doing it since he was a kid without a single incident. It’s just so bizarre."
"That’s just fate. When it’s your time to go, you can’t escape it. Your cousin’s time was up. He’s moved on to a better place," Raina comforted her.
Juliana Rhodes sighed again, still unable to accept it. She said with hatred in her voice, "The ones who should die don’t, and the ones who shouldn’t, do. Heaven is a real piece of work."
"Why couldn’t that bitch have died instead!"
Phoebe Huxley cursed through gritted teeth. She truly wished she could hear news of Phoenix Golding’s death tomorrow. She would absolutely set off ten thousand firecrackers to celebrate.
Tang Xiaonan’s heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered. It was about Mark Xavier. She hadn’t been able to recall it for the past few days, but now it finally came to her. It was indeed a major event—
Mark Xavier was dead.
Drowned in a pond.
’But in the book, the author never mentioned Mark Xavier’s name, only his older sister, Kelley Xavier. That’s because Kelley was the top scorer of the 1979 college entrance exam, the only star student from Vessaria to get into Aethelgard University. And she was a girl, no less. She also took the exam in the same year as Howard Thorne.’
’But Howard Thorne had failed spectacularly, so the author had dedicated some space to describing this girl. Kelley Xavier was also mentioned again later in the story, because not only was she a star student, but she also became a famous author, and eventually an award-winning screenwriter and producer. She even started her own media company and turned her life story into a period drama that became a smash hit that year. She also collaborated with Jacqueline Spann and Clayton Xavier, which is why she was mentioned again later on.’
’The part Tang Xiaonan remembered most vividly was when Kelley Xavier mentioned her younger brother during an interview with a reporter. Even after so many years, Kelley still couldn’t face that past, because her opportunity to study had been bought with her brother’s life.’
’Kelley Xavier had said that in her final year of high school, her father, instigated by her stepmother, tried to force her to drop out and get married. The man was of poor character—a compulsive gambler with a messy private life. Even when she threatened to kill herself, her father wouldn’t change his mind, and her clansmen wouldn’t support her either. At that time, she was all alone and utterly desperate.’
’But her younger brother ran to her and promised he would make sure his sister could go to school. Kelley said that at the time, she thought he was just making childish boasts and didn’t take it to heart. But a few days later, her brother jumped into the pond. He even left a letter written in blood, saying that if they didn’t let his sister go to school, he would come back as a ghost to haunt their stepmother and father.’