Even though it had been twenty years, my dad appeared utterly mired in the shame of that moment as he spoke. It was clear how deeply the experiences of that period had impacted him and affected his self-esteem.


    "I lost my mind back then. I tried to drive Moira away, yelling at her and smashing things. But she still took care of me until my injuries healed, even though it exhausted all her savings. I couldn''t afford the high medical expenses and had to leave the hospital even though I hadn''t fully recovered," my dad said. My mom covered her face beside me, her shoulders shaking uncontrobly.


    "Moira was afraid I would be traumatized when I returned to school, or that I would be depressed and have suicidal thoughts because I hadn''t fully recovered. She took me back to her house. Moira was by my side the entire month, taking painstaking care of me," my dad continued.


    "After I got beat up, that wealthy girl never got in touch with me again. I don''t know if she just thought it was a game or if it was because of threats from her family. That rtionship ended without even giving me a chance to say goodbye," he sighed, shaking his head with a bitter smile. "That''s reality. But your mother has always supported me, and listened to mein about my problems while providing me with silent constion."


    I reached out and hugged my mom, greatly admiring her patience and kindness.


    With tears running down her cheeks, my mother said, "I couldn''t let go. I once lost someone I loved because of negligence. When I saw how he was after I saved him, I was afraid. I was afraid that if I ignored him, he might lose his life. After all, he was still so young!"


    "What happened?" I asked curiously. I wanted to know what my mom was thinking at that time. I believed she acted out of kindness, but what else had made my mom so determined to do that, if not love?


    My mother gave me a pained look as she spoke, saying, "Back then, I went to Nocturnia with my mother. Our family was the envy of many as we had afortable life.


    "My mother had a severe


    hemorrhage when she gave birth to


    me, so her uterus was removed. That meant my dad lost the chance to have a son, which he regretted He couldn''t ept that, so he raised me as a son. He had high hopes for me and decided to send me to Nocturnia to study with my mom. But..."


    Her lips trembled uncontrobly. "But... after we left the country for more than a year, my dad had another woman. When my mother learned about that, she couldn''t epit. She went crazy and called him every day. My dad, who had no conscience, cut off our financial support and stopped sending us money.


    "After that, my mother started drinking heavily and became


    depressed. The two of us relied on each other for survival as I struggled in a foreign country for my


    education. I urged her to cheerine


    and vowed to make that man regret what he did, but my mother was still depressed. One day, when I came home from work, I found that she... hadmitted suicide by taking poison."


    I clenched my fists tightly. I didn''t understand how fathers like that could exist.


    My mom''s story sounded like Beatrice''s story. No wonder they had no other rtives in that small town.


    She continued, "My mother died in a foreignnd, and I was left with nothing. I had to work while studying, and I couldn''t take it easy at all. I knew what the consequences would be if I stopped. I had almost no friends at that time since I was just rushing between school and work.


    "When I saw your father being beaten half to death, I thought of my deceased mother. So I took him to the hospital. I always thought that if he died here, his family would be as heartbroken as I was. I didn''t think too much about it at that moment. All I knew was he would die if I didn''t save him!"N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    "Maybe without you, I would really be dead!" My dad said seriously.


    My mom looked at me. "But when he woke up, his emotions were the same as my mother''s at that time. I didn''t dare let go. I was afraid that if I turned around and left, he would disappear forever. He was so young.


    "Maybe I was just feelingpassionate. When he told meter he was an orphan, I felt even more that we were two kindred spirits in exile. There was no way I was letting go of him after that."