Beyond the Divorce

My dad lowered his head and said, "But we were truly at our wits' end. She was trying every possible way to escape. However, we can't bear to let her go because she's still so young. "Also, since she's too clever, we're afraid of her exposing our whereabouts. We know full well that once the people from Navi's group find our trail, it's game over for both of us."

"She also depended on us during these two years of escape, much like our daughter did before. She got away once, and it took us two whole days to track her down. It was really difficult to get her back because she was huddled with other beggars." I felt shivers running down my spine as I listened to my dad's story.

"We were at our wits' end, and after hearing people say that hypnosis can erase memories, we made up our minds. To prevent her from running away, we could only find a hypnotist to seal her memories. After that, she became much more obedient. She never mentioned finding her friend again!"

"The friend she was looking for is me!" Atlas held me tightly and said to my parents, "So I've been tormenting her for eighteen years!"

Tears welled up in my eyes as I nestled into Atlas's embrace.

My dad also hung his head, full of guilt.

Until we went to Bibury, we felt powerless and just wanted to settle down.

"And then?"

I used my last bit of wealth to secure this position. Given the situation at the time, she could only

to take me out, I might not even know what I'd become today. You are my parents." She took her hand from her face and looked at me with frightened leyes, and she asked, "When did you

what

from my childhood? From that day on, I knew that you weren't my biological

We didn't mean to erase your memories, it was to stay alive!

anymore!" I wiped away my tears and patted her on

asked, "So how did

down back then, my classmate's uncle."

said, "I mean later,