Chapter 0498
“Because of that, I specifically asked our mentor about it. He told me there was no connection between us, and the familiarity I felt toward you might just be because you reminded me of a family or a friend.
“At the time, I believed every word he said. After all, he claimed to have saved my life. To me, he was everything, and I trusted him completely. If it hadn’t been for Claude’s assassination attempt, I don’t think I would have ever regained my memories.”
“You recovered your memory because of Claude?” Suzy asked, stunned.
“Yes. About a year ago, he suddenly sent someone to kill me…” Simon recalled the incident, his expression darkening. “He’s always known who I really am. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said what he did when he pushed me off the cliff…
“‘You’ll never reunite with Suzy in this lifetime.“”
Suzy was at a loss for words, her fists clenched tightly, nails pressing painfully into her palms.
“I trusted him completely. Even when I doubted Charlotte, I never questioned him. And yet, from the very beginning, all hè ever did was lie to me.”
Until now, Suzy hadn’t felt much hatred toward Claude. But at this moment, even though he was already dead, she wished she could dig him out of his grave and destroy him all over again.
He had known her parents and brother were alive all along, but he never said a word, letting her stay separated from them for over twenty years.
The more she thought about it, the more her anger burned.
Turning to Simon, she asked, “And then? Who saved you?”
“No one,” Simon said with a bitter laugh. “It was sheer luck I survived.”
He continued, “Not only did I survive, but the impact from hitting my head on the rocks restored the memories they had taken from me. It turns out I didn’t lose my memory naturally. They had hypnotized me, deliberately erasing my past so they could turn me into their puppet.
“When everything came rushing back, I finally understood why our mentor always insisted I wear a mask and forbade me from ever taking it off, especially in front of you.
“He told me my family had been slaughtered by enemies, that those enemies were ruthless and still searching for me. If they found out I was alive, it wouldn’t just mean my death–it would endanger the entire organization.”
+25 BONUS
Chapter 0498
“I couldn’t risk putting others in danger because of my identity, so for all those years, I followed his orders. Not once did I dare remove the mask,” Simon said, his voice heavy with regret.
“It was because he was afraid we would recognize each other!” Suzy’s tears flowed even harder. “Twenty years, Brother. We were in the same place for twenty years. We didn’t see each other often, but we crossed paths so many times, and I never realized you were my brother!”
Simon nodded, his voice laced with pain. “If I had regained my memory earlier, you wouldn’t have had to bear all of this alone. I can only imagine how exhausting it must have been, carrying all that hate on your shoulders.”
Suzy shook her head, sobbing. “Then why didn’t you come find me after you remembered? It’s been over a year! You didn’t come back, and even now, you didn’t want to acknowledge me. Why?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to come back–it’s that I couldn’t,” Simon said with a bitter smile. “I had to stay here… to save Dad.”
“You know Dad is alive?” Suzy asked, her tear–streaked face frozen in shock.
“Wait, you know too?” Simon’s expression turned sharp. “How did you find out? Who told you?”
“I found it in Claude’s journal,” Suzy replied. “But you said you’re trying to save Dad… Does that mean he’s here? In this country?”
“Yes,” Simon confirmed with a solemn nod.
Questions swirled in Suzy’s mind. “Simon, what’s going on? What’s the connection between you and Evangeline?”
+25 BONUS
Chapter 0499
