Esper Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 616 Raising Rudy

"Now to my next question… what happened to Jessica? How did she die?" Rudy asked calmly but with a serious look on his face.

"Before I answer that, there is still more to my first answer." After a brief pause, Rebecca placed the diary back on the table and said, "It was still hard for to understand everything even though a month had already passed.

I didn't read the diary nor talk about it to anyone, not even Elena. But when I was curious enough to open and read the first chapter of the diary, I… read it and the contents written inside were so ridiculous that I felt stupid for taking it seriously.

I did the very thing the shadow had told not to; I ignored it, and I had to pay for it. There were signs, and yet I didn't pay attention to them.

One night, I had just put you to bed, and Jessica was sleeping beside you; I was taking a bath, and you suddenly started crying, so I quickly wrapped a towel around and rushed to my room.

There… I saw the sa shadow… holding you in its arms and looking at the doorway, seemingly waiting for to arrive. I was obviously scared, but I was more worried about you, so I called it out and asked what it was doing.

I didn't get any response from the shadow, but the atmosphere around got cold. My body was wet as I was taking a bath, and the cold atmosphere made it impossible for to stand in the sa room.

My body had frozen, quite literally. I couldn't even move my finger, and I could feel my heartbeat getting slower and quieter. My vision had turned blurry, and I could barely see anything. Only my tongue and ears were functioning.

Then, I heard the shadow say, 'You have failed!'

It didn't say anything else, but I sohow knew why the shadow was there— it was there to take you away from , and I didn't want that.

However… what could I do?" Rebecca shook her head and said, "Nothing. I was just a twelve-year-old girl who had just adopted a newborn baby. If the shadow wanted, it could have killed Jessica and at any ti, but it didn't.

It gave so many signs and chances to do better, but I failed the test and… I failed miserably. I had lost you once, and I didn't want to lose you again. I also knew that if the shadow took you, I wouldn't be able to raise you, and we would never et again because the future would be changed.

If that future was changed, then maybe you would never return to the past to take care of Jessica and . A simple thought of it was scary, and it stabbed my heart with a thousand needles.

So I looked at the shadow and said, 'Give one more chance, and I will not fail you.'

When I said that, the air around got even colder, and I eventually passed out. When I opened my eyes, I imdiately glanced at the bed and found you sleeping beside Jessica.

Since that day, I have tried my best to raise you and sacrificed everything. You were the most important thing to in the world, and that still hasn't changed.

Actually, I…" Rebecca chuckled softly and continued, "I never planned to raise you as my son; I wanted to raise you as a brother, but… I guess I was more attached to you as a mother and you as a son.

A few months passed by, and you started reacting to every single thing. You would cry when I moved away from you, get angry when I didn't pay attention to you, and smile when you saw smile.

Well, I guess that's what most kids do with their mothers. But maybe you were a little different. For so reason, you seed… mature to . Perhaps, that's because I have seen and known your adult form?

As even more ti passed, you started speaking a few words. You started pulling Jessica's hair. You even started biting our fingers when we would poke your soft chubby cheeks."

She said with a distant smile on her face.

"..." Rudy didn't know what to say or how to feel about Rebecca's view of Rudy. He didn't want to ruin the beautiful relationship they already had. Thus, he kept his mouth shut to think more about it.

"Now to your second question; What happened to Jessica, and how did she die? If you want a short answer, then the best and the most straightforward answer would be— I don't know.

And I know you want to know the long answer, so I will explain in detail."

"Please do."

"As you grew up, you beca more attached to Jessica than . You would want to play with her more than . You would always ask where Jessica was- whenever she was at school or wasn't around.

You would want to sleep by Jessica's side instead of mine— even though you always slept in between us. You would only eat your food when Jessica fed you. I will be honest and say I was extrely jealous of her.

My envy for Jessica grew day by day, but I didn't hate her. I loved her just as before, perhaps even more— seeing how beautiful she was becoming." She chuckled wryly.

"A few years passed, and you have grown enough to do everything on your own. You could eat on your own, you could even bath on your own— even though you were only three years old.

At that ti, you started to avoid both Jessica and , and we didn't know why. You began to act grumpy and run away whenever we tried to talk to you. And it wasn't a normal type of avoiding; you were trying your best to not speak or look at us.

That was a crazy phase, not going to lie. But that phase didn't last long, and you eventually started speaking to us and acted as if everything was normal despite us sulking at you for treating us like that."

She let out a soft chuckle as she recalled the events with a distant smile on her face.