Lana Evans cried so bitterly it was as if her heart were being torn apart. In the past, if Sam Evans heard Lana Evans cry like this, he would have been heartbroken and anxious.
But now, seeing Lana Evans's feigned tears, Sam Evans felt nothing but coldness.
"Lana, are you really sick? Haven't you been perfectly fine these past few days?" Sam Evans grabbed Lana Evans's arm, looked seriously into her eyes, and said to his daughter, "Lana, I care about you deeply. You can't joke about this sort of thing or try to scare me."
Lana Evans's gaze flickered for a moment. She lowered her head, avoiding Sam Evans's eyes, and cried, squinting, "Dad, how could I joke about something like this? Don't you believe me? I've never lied to you since I was little! Are you going to abandon me just because I'm sick?"
Lana Evans put on a pitiful expression, looking as if she were a little girl abandoned by her father.
"Lana, let me ask you again—are you truly not lying to me?" Sam Evans took a deep breath, his eyes full of disappointment. He silently hoped that Lana was just confused for a moment and decided to give her another chance.
Unfortunately, Lana Evans felt guilty and kept her head down, missing the look of disappointment on Sam Evans's face.
"Dad, I'm really seriously ill. I need a lot of silver for treatment. If I don't have the money and those medicines, I'll die. Dad, can you really bear to watch me die?" Lana Evans cried.
Sam Evans took a deep breath, looked at Lana Evans with a complicated expression, then slowly pried her arm off and walked toward the door.
Seeing that Sam Evans was about to leave, Lana Evans panicked. "Dad, where are you going? Are you really going to abandon your daughter? Do you not care if I live or die?"
Sam Evans turned back and gave a bleak smile. "Lana, you're sick. I'll find a way to treat your illness right away."
Hearing this, Lana Evans thought Sam Evans was going to borrow money and medicine. She was overjoyed, thinking this way of getting money was just too easy. From now on, she could treat Sam Evans as her money tree; whenever she needed money, she would cry in front of him and get as much silver as she wanted.
"Dad, make sure you come back soon!" Lana Evans urged.
Sam Evans turned back and gave Lana Evans a long, deep look, then dragged his lame body and slowly walked out of the courtyard.
Standing outside the courtyard, Sam Evans looked around at the bleak winter, feeling the biting north wind. The cold wind chilled him to the bone, but the chill in his heart was even worse than the chill on his body.
In the end, Sam Evans understood: Lana Evans was no longer the obedient daughter she once was.
She had changed, and there was no way to save her anymore.
Sam Evans wrapped his clothes tightly around himself and left the courtyard he now found disgusting, step by step.
The world was vast, but where was his home? During this New Year, every family was celebrating reunion, but only now did Sam Evans realize he no longer had a home.
Sam Evans left the courtyard and wandered aimlessly in the street. A servant from the building opposite spotted him and rushed back to report to Arthur Evans.
Arthur Evans was already prepared, knowing that Sam Evans would not be able to withstand this blow. As soon as he heard the news, he immediately went out with Mrs. Charlotte Evans to look for him.
They found Sam Evans alone in a shabby little tavern, drinking himself drunk.
Arthur Evans paid for the drinks, then he and the servant, Little Si, helped the drunken Sam Evans onto the carriage and took him home.