Chapter 1530 Spring Festival (Part Three)
"Thank you, Mark," Kevin said a bit indifferently. After taking the food from Mark, he continued, "Happy
New Year to you too! Have you eaten yet?" The man smiled and nodded. Earlier today, Mrs. Xu had
asked Kevin to have dinner with her family this evening. But as he was on duty, he couldn''t leave his
post without permission, and had to kindly reject her offer.
"I''ve already eaten. That''s all yours." Just as he was about to leave, Mark turned to add, "They''re going
to get cold so you should eat them as soon as you can." Although the dumplings were in a thermal
container, the weather was very cold this time of the year. Kevin appreciated the simple reminder.
"All right." During this time, the canteen at the army base often served dumplings. Before he got
married, Kevin used to have them in the canteen with the other soldiers. This year, however, he wasn''t
in the mood as it reminded him of his reality.
But he wasn''t the only one suffering. While he missed Leena terribly, thetter also experienced an
intense longing for her husband.
She had been to different countries these days, enjoying differentndscapes and eating at local
restaurants. It was easy to keep herself distracted in the day. During the dead of night, however, she
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was harassed with thoughts of her husband all at once.
As it was the Spring Festival, she made dumplings for herself even when she didn''t have the appetite.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to eat some of her cooking. If she were by his side at this
moment, they were probably feeding each other dumplings.
Soon, the journey would be over. And when that happened, what would she do then? When would she
stop missing him? The idea of never seeing Kevin again tortured her.
Taking out her cell phone, she looked at Kevin''s photo. Whenever she moved to a new city, she would
preupy herself with activities as many as she could. Otherwise, Kevin''s face would cross her mind,
and that made it difficult for her to stop herself from buying a ticket to go back to him.
As it was currently daytime where she was, that meant it was night back in the city where Kevin was.
Curious, she wondered what Kevin was doing right now. Was he having dinner with his family or the
soldiers at the moment? Or was he alone like she was? Or, did he already fall in love with another
woman? Unable to breathe, Leena wished it never crossed her thoughts.
The longer she was away from Kevin, the more she missed him. Unfazed by it at this point, she knew
she was being followed by some people these days, probably by the men who were sent by Edward''s
father. Time and again, Leena wondered if Jonathan would ever spill her whereabouts to Kevin. And if
he did, she thought, ''Will he fly to me one day?''
During the Spring Festival, the streets in S City were lively. Kevin, however, stayed in the army base
every day to avoid it altogether. When Duke asked him to have a meal together, however, he had a
hard time giving an answer. In fear of meeting anyone rted to Leena, Kevin eventually turned him
down in a nice way. The encounter would simply drive him crazy.
"Really? Are you sure you don''t want to join us?" asked Duke, disappointed. There was only silence.
"Dad wants to talk to you," he insisted. This was the first time he ever treated Kevin nicely, and he was
rejected. This made Duke feel somewhat ufortable.
"I''m not avable today," said Kevin casually. "How about tomorrow?" Before Duke could answer, he
spoke again, "Don''t worry about dad. I''ll apologize to him tomorrow." Given that Kevin took the initiative
to take all the duties during the Spring Festival, the other soldiers were free to go home and reunite
with their families. Other people assumed he was doing it for them. In reality, Kevin felt like he was
doing it more for himself.
"All right then. I''ll see you tomorrow." Duke couldn''t conceal his long face and thought, ''You think you''re
the only one who''s busy?'' He shook his head and red at nothing in particr, thinking, ''I''ve been
busy myself too, taking care of my pregnant wife whileforting my father who misses his daughter. I
miss Leena so much too, that ungrateful woman!'' He was fuming, and the thoughts didn''t stop there. ''I
took good care of her for so many years, but then she left me for a man and didn''t even give a call or
message.''
On the other end of the line, Kevin spoke again and brought Duke out of his deep thoughts, "Sure.
Please let dad know how sorry I am that I can''t make it," The conversation was making him
ufortable, and he wondered if it was because he had been too busy to have an actual long talk
with anyone these days. With that thought in mind, he rubbed his aching eyes.
"Okay. Bye." Duke hung up, and stared at the phone for a bit. His sister had been away for more than
two months now. He worried about her health and if she lost weight.
"Is Kevin not joining us tonight?" Belinda noticed Duke''s gloomy face. After having invited Kevin to join
them several times, everyone began to worry about him as his response was always the same. If he
wasn''t on duty, he would reason that he was exhausted. Did he really have a lot on his te? With
everything happeningtely, Belinda was beginning to be worried about Kevin''s health. As everyone
was focused on Leena''s disappearance, it seemed that they overlooked the Major General''s well-
being.
"Hmm," said Duke pensively, "he said he''ll drop by tomorrow." Then shrugging, he said, "I don''t know
why he''s been so busytely." Usually calm and indifferent, Duke didn''t allow other people to get to
him. He didn''t care enough to be affected by them. But because of Belinda, he became a caring
husband and a good father-to-be.
"We should cut him some ck," said Belinda. "Kevin took all the duties during Spring festival." She
rubbed Duke''s arm gently. "He must just be really tired, that''s all." Then she moved her hand from his
arm to her belly, stroking it affectionately. As days went by, the baby got naughtier and naughtier. When
the firecrackers were crackling, the baby bashed and kicked about in Belinda''s belly. She didn''t know
whether to cry orugh, thinking, ''This baby must be so naughty in the future!''
"He deserves it!" snapped Duke. "He''s such an idiot for taking all the duties during the Spring Festival!"
With his sister gone because of that man, he couldn''t stand hearing his wife put in a good word for him.
Duke resented it very much.
"Baby," cooed Belinda at her belly, "look how naive your daddy is!" Duke looked at her. "You mustn''t be
as naughty as he is, okay?" she continued in a serious manner. The father of the unborn child merely
gawked at his beautiful wife.
"Are you sure you want to speak ill of me to my child?" asked Duke through gritted teeth. Because of
her pregnancy, he felt like he was a bachelor all over again, and this frustrated him.
"So now you''re ashamed of yourself?" challenged Belinda. Her husband scowled. "Look!" She made
him look at her. "Why did Kevin take all of the work he could get?" she asked, but Duke wasn''t listening
anymore. "Because Leena left, and he''s sad and dejected." Then Belinda rested a loving hand on
Duke''s cheek. "Instead of mocking him, we should beforting him. That''s all I''m saying." If she had
been in Kevin''s shoes, she''d already have gone mental. Thus, Belinda somehow understood what the
man was going through. If anyone came home to nothing but a divorce agreement, it was
understandable for him to break into pieces. It had been more than two months since Leena''s
disappearance, and instead of a meltdown, Kevin chose to drown himself in his work. The man,
refusing to copse, was being more resilient and stronger than anyone could in his situation.