Chapter 2Mom’s Affair Clues Were Just Records of My Foolishness

In the middle of the night, I was woken by a sudden chill.

Mom was pulling back my covers, trying to drag me out of my warm bed.

“Hurry up, don’t drag your feet.”

Her voice was very low, but it held an undeniable command.

I asked groggily:

“Mom, where are we going?”

“No questions, just do what I tell you!”

She roughly shoved a thin jacket on me, and dragged me out of the house.

The hallway was pitch black in the dead of night; cold wind seeped in through the window cracks, and I shivered uncontrollably.

Mom took me to the small garden downstairs, and pressed me onto a cold stone bench.

“You stay right here, don’t go anywhere, understand?”

Her tone was irritable, and she kept checking her phone.

The light from her phone screen illuminated her face; I saw she was texting someone, a sweet smile playing on her lips.

“Mom, I’m cold.”

I whispered.

“Suck it up!”

She snapped impatiently,

“If you dare wander off, you’ll regret it when I get back!”

After saying that, she grabbed her bag and hurried towards the curb at the edge of the complex.

A black sedan was already waiting there; the door opened, and I saw the profile of the man from earlier today.

Mom got into the car, and it quickly disappeared into the night.

Leaving me alone, in the empty garden, surrounded by endless darkness and cold.

I don’t know how long I sat there, my hands and feet were numb with cold.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, Dad’s anxious shouts came from not far away.

“Iris! Iris!”

I jolted awake. It was Dad!

Just as I was about to respond, Mom’s figure suddenly rushed out from the other side.

She clapped a hand over my mouth, whispering a vicious warning into my ear:

“Shut up! If you dare make a sound, I’ll beat you to death!”

She pulled me behind a large tree, holding me tightly.

Dad was shining a flashlight, anxiously searching the garden.

“This child, why is she sleepwalking again…”

His voice was full of worry.

It wasn’t until Dad’s figure disappeared into the stairwell that Mom finally let go of me.

She pulled me, walking quickly towards home.

“Later, if your dad asks, just say you were sleepwalking, and you ran downstairs and fell asleep. Understand?”

I nodded, my teeth chattering from the cold.

Back home, Dad was pacing anxiously.

Seeing us, he lunged forward.

“Where have you been? Iris, are you okay?”

Mom immediately switched to a tearful facade, as if about to cry.

“I woke up in the middle of the night to find the child gone, I was so scared I nearly went crazy!”

“It took me ages to find her downstairs; this child, she’d fallen asleep leaning on a stone bench, her body ice cold.”

She said, pushing me in front of Dad.

“Arthur, quickly look, what should we do? Her sleepwalking is getting worse and worse.”

Dad touched my icy hand, and, heartbroken, picked me up.

“It’s okay, Dad’s here.”

I buried my face in his warm embrace, savoring this fleeting sense of safety.

But Mom’s next words plunged me back into hell.

“No, this behavior *has* to be stopped!”

She looked at me, her gaze icy cold,

“I think she just needs a good thrashing, teach her a lesson, see if she still dares to wander off in the middle of the night!”

Dad frowned.

“She didn’t do it on purpose…”

“It’s because you indulge her like this that she’s getting worse!”

Mom screamed,

“She scared us so badly today, what if she actually got lost one day!”

“I’m going to beat some sense into her today!”

She snatched me from my dad’s arms and threw me to the ground.

Then, she grabbed the feather duster from the corner and lashed at me, striking wildly.