Beyond the Divorce

My dad hung his head low. Since he returned yesterday, his spirits seemed deflated, and he appeared burdened with heavy thoughts. It made me feel very uneasy.

I understood his emotions. After all, this was connected to everything from his past. Most importantly, it revealed the fact that they weren't my biological parents. I knew they wouldn't want to lose me, their only daughter. I was their everything.

At this moment, I fully understood why my mom had sighed when they sold the house in the small town. She must have been worried they would be left with nothing and felt a sense of insecurity.

But I never expected this to happen so quickly.

When Atlas saw how depressed my dad was, he calmly reassured him. "Don't worry too much about it, Dad. Letting him go back was part of my strategy to buy time. Many clues are connected to him. We let him go as part of the long game." My dad remained silent. The notebook seemed to be the key to unlocking this conversation.

We waited for what seemed like forever before my mom finally came downstairs with heavy and tentative steps.

She approached my dad cautiously and handed him the notebook. Her lips quivered as she called his name gently. "...George!"

took the notebook. He gently

turn back time, I would wish none of this had happened, that it was all just a

began to accelerate as I looked at my mom standing next to my dad. At that moment, I noticed how much she

close, getting her to sit beside me. As I

I couldn't miss the opportunity to find out everything, even if it might seem cruel. But I believed they also needed to face this reality. I felt my mom's

filled with sorrow. "I was from Norton. I grew up in the mountains. We were very poor, but my parents' love was strong, and my childhood was

child from our village and pushed him onto a tree before being swept away by the torrential mudflow. My mom watched in horror as my dad was submerged

as he talked, his voice choking with

that night, she ran out in a frenzy while nobody was watching,

net died. The loose earth on the hillside slid down, causing a tree to fall and strike her in the back of the head. She lost her life right then

that, I couldn't hold back

me, and I buried my