Beyond the Divorce by Third Blossom

My father listened to my question and shook his head slightly. "I don't know the details. I was locked in the basement of the base, which had two levels, and I was on the bottom floor.

"I only had contact with two people. One was a woman named Taya, who was responsible for bringing me food. The other was Navi's right-hand man, lerak. He was a sly character, and he was always smiling. Whenever he let Taya in to bring me food, he would leave immediately, and I never saw anyone else."

"lerak?" I repeated. "How did I miss him when I was there? I've never seen him."

"He's cunning and treacherous. Many of Navi's strategies were reportedly his ideas, which made him Navi's strategist. He looks harmless on the outside, but he's rotten to the core."

My father's expression turned sour as he spoke about lerak.

I searched my memory, but couldn't recall ever seeing him.

My father continued, "Loak used to take care of me. They didn't keep a close watch on me at the time. Only Loak and another young man dealt with me.

"The other guy was despicable and often resorted to violence, but Loak was different. Whenever those thugs harassed me, he would step in to stop them. Sometimes, he even got beaten up for interfering."

As my father recounted these past events, my heart ached.

"You've suffered so much, Dad," I said, my voice trembling.

He squeezed my hand gently and comforted me softly. "Don't worry. It's all in the past now. I finally have my children with me, and you guys brought me back."

I sighed, feeling helpless and nodding silently.

Ava touched my father's hand quietly, perhaps finding it the strangest hand she'd ever seen.

My father looked at her lovingly and smiled.

I asked, "What happened afterward?"

My father continued, "As time went on, we started to communicate. He was kind. Later, he told me that his parents had both been killed by Navi, and he mentioned having a sister who was also there, working as Navi's servant. "Then, one day, he suddenly disappeared. I thought something had happened to him. From then on, I was sent to the basement and never let out again."

"How long were you kept in the basement?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. There was no sunlight in the basement, so I had no way to tell day from night." My father shook his head. "But it felt like a long time."

อน:

"Atlas never gave up on you. He did everything to find you over the years, believing that you were still alive. It's been almost half a year since he brought Loak and his sister back. We only found out about you when Clark was arrested. That was when Atlas made a detailed rescue plan."

Ava stayed silent, snuggling in my arms. She watched her grandfather and was unusually quiet.

"That was how it was. One day, when Taya brought me food, she secretly slipped me a note with three words written crookedly on it. 'I'll rescue you.' At the time, I didn't understand what it meant or who would rescue me, and those were agonizing days. But I never had a chance to talk to Taya. lerak was always cautious and never gave us a chance to be alone."

"He sneaked in to find you himself. Otherwise, we would have been helpless," I told my father.

"I had to play dumb, ignore

everything, and act as if I knew nothing. I was afraid of implicating the kid, who was just a little girl Everyone in that base had a story. It seemed peaceful, but it was filled with bloodshed."

"And then?" I asked eagerly.

"Not long after, Navi's adopted daughter came to see me, accompanied by lerak. She stared at me for a long time before asking me questions in a mocking tone. She asked if I missed home and my daughter." "Stella again? She's been by Celine's side all along, using my name to impersonate me. How infuriating!" I said angrily.