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!"

My dad didn't respond. Instead, he took the notebook. He gently caressed it like a treasure before passing it to Atlas.

"Take it and use it to save someone!" His tone was firm. "If I could turn back time, I would wish none of this had happened, that it was all just a nightmare! It's been over twenty years... It's time to put an end to this!"

My heart began to accelerate as I looked at my mom standing next to my dad. At that moment, I noticed how much she had aged, her expression filled with profound sorrow.NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.

"Mom!" I got up and pulled her close, getting her to sit beside me. As I held her hand, I felt how cold it was.

"Dad, why did you contact Navi?" I broke the silence, looking at my father's heavy expression. Since things had reached this point, 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 hand trembling incessantly as I said that.

"It started when I was very young." My dad looked up at me, his eyes 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 warm and beautiful.

"But fate is unpredictable. When I

was ten, there was a flash flood. My father tried to save a 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 in the mud, and she couldn't accept it. She cried and rushed over, but the villagers stopped her."

He seemed to age as he talked, his voice choking with emotions.

"After crying herself unconscious several times that night, she ran out in a frenzy while nobody was watching, desperately digging

through the mud where my dad 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 and there."

When I heard that, I couldn't hold back my tears.

Atlas quickly embraced me, and I buried my face in his chest.

My dad's voice became hoarse with suppressed tears. "I became an orphan. I was ten years old that year."

Another ten-year-old!

What a tragic age it was.

At this moment, I suddenly felt fortunate. Perhaps losing those memories of a miserable childhood was a kind of liberation.

My mom kept trying to wipe her tears away.

My dad continued, "But my dad was a hero in that incident, a brave hero. The flash flood destroyed the entire village overnight, and the surviving villagers took care of me. After all, my dad had died trying to save someone.

"But life was difficult for everyone

after the disaster. I was left with

nothing and had to rely on others for support. About half a year after the disaster, the authorities took me out of the mountains and sent me to an orphanage. After all, my dad had died saving someone. I was a hero's son. I was given extra attention, of course, and I vowed to study hard. That was also something my

parents had always taught me when they were alive."