“What’s going on?” I asked anxiously.
Upon hearing that my father was in trouble, my heart started pounding loudly.
Auntie Violet scratched her messy scalp and said, “I don’t know either. I just went to the store to buy rice and saw your father take a knife from inside and leave. I asked him what he needed the knife for, but he didn’t even look at me and just left in a huff.”
“He left to buy a knife?” I didn’t see my father come home, let alone a knife.
What could he possibly need the knife for?
“Your father is usually the type to greet everyone he meets in the street. He wouldn’t act like this today,” Auntie Violet continued.
“Do you know if there’s anyone my father has had a disagreement with recently?” I asked urgently.
This matter was no small thing; it could even lead to violence.
Auntie Violet shook her head. “Your father is such an easy–going person. Who wouldn’t like him in the neighborhood? I can’t imagine him having any conflicts, and besides, he doesn’t like to hold grudges.”
I agreed with Auntie Violet’s assessment.
My father had always been easy–going and wouldn’t get angry or upset over trivial matters.
“Which direction did my father go? Did you see?” I inquired.
The less I knew about the reason for my father’s buying the knife, the more anxious I became.
“That direction!” Auntie Violet pointed ahead. “It should be towards the small train station!”
“The small train station?”
This was a small town where it wasn’t convenient to take high–speed trains or airplanes, so people usually took regular trains for long–distance travel.
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Chapter 52
Was my father planning to go on a long trip?
I entrusted Auntie Violet to look after Karina and hurriedly chased after my father.
While chasing after him, I called him on the phone.
The call connected.
“Dad, why aren’t you coming home?” I asked as calmly as possible, trying not to reveal any
suspicions.
“Dad has something urgent to attend to and won’t be coming home tonight. You and Karina can sleep in the back room; the beds are made, and there are new blankets,” Dad said on the other end of the
line.
“What urgent matter do you have to attend to that you have to rush like this?” I asked while walking.
Dad didn’t specify, “Be good, rest well. Dad will be back tomorrow.”
I knew I wouldn’t get any more information from him. I was also afraid that he might take a train and leave, so I had no choice but to hang up the phone.
I stopped a passing taxi and rushed to the small train station.
On the deserted stone stairs outside the train station, I saw Dad’s figure.
He sat there with a hunched back, holding a cigarette in his hand, smoking sullenly.
Beside him, a small trash bag was filled with cigarette butts.
Although my father was a shoemaker, he had always been particular and had never smoked before, let alone looked so desolate.
I noticed a small black bag next to him; it should be the knife Auntie Violet mentioned.
I hurried over and asked, “Dad, why did you come here?”
When Dad saw me, he was momentarily stunned. He awkwardly hid the black bag, threw away the cigarette, and rubbed his hands. “Why did you come here? Didn’t I tell you and Karina to rest?”
“If you don’t go back, how can we rest?” I said, glancing at him and then at the small train station.
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Chapter 52
“Where are you planning to go?”
Dad kept his head down and didn’t answer.
I approached him and reached into his pocket, taking out an old wallet and pulling out a train ticket.
The destination on the ticket was none other than Aquoria City.
“Aquoria City, the city where Calix’s family is located!”
“Dad, are you… planning to go to the Quinn family’s house?” I suddenly remembered the expression on Dad’s face when Karina said she could cook, and I understood something.
My thoughts were guessed, and Dad pressed his lips tightly.
“Dad, what are you planning to do? You’re not going to kill Calix, are you?”
Even I myself was startled by what I said.
“Dad just wants to ask them how they’ve been treating you!” Dad said gloomily, his eyes turning slightly red.
He looked at me with deep concern and said, “My once chubby daughter, married into their family, has become so thin!”
Originally, he only thought I had lost a lot of weight. It was not until Karina mentioned the delicious food that he realized Quinn’s family might not have treated his daughter well.
For these years, he didn’t visit Quinn’s house or contact me, all to let me live more comfortably there and not be bullied by others.
Dad’s concern was like a silent sword stabbing my heart, dull and painful.
I burst into tears.
I held onto Dad, saying, “Dad, don’t go. There’s something I haven’t told you. I… divorced Calix.”
“Divorced…?” Dad was momentarily stunned.
This news was too unexpected.
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Chapter 52
I nodded and said, “I’m sorry, Dad. I should have listened to your advice and not gone to find Calix
or marry him.”
At first, Dad disagreed with this marriage and tried to stop it.
In the end, he couldn’t resist my insistence and sent his beloved daughter to the Quinn family.
The marriage not only left me physically and mentally exhausted but also caused Dad to suffer.
I felt an indescribable sense of guilt.
I held onto Dad, apologizing tearfully.
Dad hugged me with concern, using his calloused hands to gently stroke my hair, just like when I was little. “My precious daughter, don’t cry. Divorce is not a bad thing. As long as you are safe and sound, that’s all I care about.”
He even visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, from the first day I married into the Quinn family, he could tell from their attitude that my life would not be easy.
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