After thinking over and over again, Karin finally decides to call home.
She tremblingly dials the familiar number, and the call is quickly answered. When she hears the long-
lost and familiar voice, her eyes are wet...
"Hello?"
"Hello, who is it? Why don't you speak?"
"Hello, hello, are you listening?"
Jane on the other end of the phone speaks a few times but there is no responding. She suddenly stops
speaking, ponders for a moment, and asks in a trembling voice, "Is it Karin?"
Karin can't help it anymore, and cries hard, "Mom, it's me..."
Six years, six years later, Jane is heartbroken and speechless when she hears her daughter's voice
again. For a while, only the cry of the other end is heard.
"Sorry, I haven't called you for so long, sorry mom..."
Karin cries and apologizes. Jane’s tears are quickly rolling down. It will be lying if she says she doesn’t
blame her daughter. Even if her father doesn’t forgive her, how could she not call her at all for five
years. If her father is cruel, she feels that her daughter is even crueler than her dad.
"How are you?"
Jane doesn’t blame her. Instead, she is more concerned about whether her daughter live well.
Karin closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and replies, "I'm doing great. I'm already married."
"Do you have children..."
"I have a daughter."
She tries her best to answer her mother's question in a very happy tone, no matter how painful she is,
she can't show any of it.
"Remember what your dad said?"
"Yes...”
"Then when are you going to come back?"
Karin's hand holding the phone begins to tremble, and the thing she worries the most finally comes,
"Mom, my husband is very busy at work, can it be just me and my child going back?"
"Then wait until he is not busy and come back together. It's been a few years. It's time for us to meet
him."
"He is very busy every day, the company can't run without him, can I just take my daughter home?"
There is no sound on the phone, she waits nervously for her mother to speak, but she doesn’t expect
that the phone is picked up by her father.
"No matter how busy you are, you have to come back together. Is it more important to make money
than to meet your wife's family?"
"Dad..."
Karin covers her mouth, and her tears fall again. How long has it been? It's been a long time since she
heard her father's voice last time. It has been such a long time that she can't even distinguish between
reality and dream.
"Can’t you come back, really?" Mike pauses, "Forget it, since it is not convenient for you, then I will visit
you with your mother."
"Don't—"
In panic, she refuses without even thinking about it. If her parents know that she is no longer in Zurich,
the consequences would be unimaginable.
"What's the matter with you?"
Mike seems to be aware that something is wrong, and asks in confusion, "You don’t want to come back
and don’t want us to visit, what happened?"
"No, nothing happened, I'm having a good life, and I'm very happy..."
"I have to see it with my own eyes. Either it is you coming back with them, or me and your mother
visiting you, make a choice."
She has no other choice, even if she died, she could not let her mother know that she is completely on
the same road as her grandmother’s. The daughter of an illegitimate daughter has given birth to
another illegitimate daughter. Her mother won’t be able to take it...
"Well, we’ll go back."
Mike breathes a sigh of relief, "When will you be back?"
"I have to discuss with him first and call you back when it’s confirmed."
"Good."
After hanging up the phone, Karin falls on the bed and cries loudly. She doesn’t want to deceive her
parents over and over again. But it is her fate that forces her into such a desperate situation. She
doesn’t want to hurt her parents, so she can only live a chaotic life where she has to tell a new lie to
cover the old one.
In the evening, she struggles for a long time and calls William.
In the past five years, she has only called him only twice. The first time because she was isolated and
helpless when she gave birth to Esme, and the second time, it is now, because she is really desperate.
The phone is answered, and she says lightly, "If you are free, let's meet at Uegashima Coffee."
In the cafe, William is there on time.
They face each other. Karin lowers her head and doesn’t speak, William speaks first, "Is there anything
I can help?"
Even if she hasn’t said anything, he can tell from her expression that she is so stubborn and would
never take the initiative to ask him out unless she has to.
"I want you to accompany me to London."
William is taken aback, and says knowingly, "Meet your parents, right?"
"Yep."
Karin slowly raises her eyes, tells him about the appointment she has made with his father, and
stresses, "If you feel embarrassed, you can refuse, and I will think of another way."
"What else can you think of? Does anyone know you and Troy better than me?"
William is telling the truth. No one knows better about her and Troy’s past. This is why she has no
choice but to choose him. If she finds a random man to come home with her, she will not be able to
face her sharp parents. It is impossible for her to tell everything between she and Troy to another
person in the shortest time.
Most importantly, she doesn’t have the courage to recall her love life again.
Therefore, the man in front of her is the most suitable candidate. He has strong adaptability and she is
confident that he can deal with careful parents.
"I am also responsible for your helplessness, so no matter what, I will help you."
"Thank you."
"When will you leave?"
"The night after tomorrow."
"At night? Why do you want to leave at night?"
"My ex-boyfriend knows Troy. His home is not far from mine. If we go back during the day, we will be
seen through. So we will go back at night. After you meet my parents, I will find a reason to let you go."
William thinks for a while, "We don't have to leave at night, we can go back during the day and wait till
night to go to your home."
"That will also do."
Now she has found the fake husband, and the next step is to talk with her daughter.
Karin pulls her daughter in her arms at night and asks tactfully, "Do you want to meet grandma and
grandpa?"
Esme stares at her with her big eyes, and nods heavily, "Yes, can I meet them?"
"I will take you to meet them the day after tomorrow."
"Really? That's great, I’m so happy..."
Esme jumps up excitedly, and shouts as she jumps, "In addition to my mother, I will have other family
members."
Karin has already told her daughter about her grandparents before. At that time, it was because her
daughter asked her for the first time, why other children in the kindergarten had so many people in the
family, but she only had her mom.
At that time, she almost shed tears, but she held it back. She never cries in front of her daughter, no
matter how sad she is.
It's not that she is strong. A woman who has worked hard to raise a child is always tired, Especially
when her daughter’s health is not good since little. She gets sick often. Every time she is sick, her heart
hurts like being cut by a knife. She cries so hard secretly, but in front of her daughter, she smiles
lightheartedly. This is what a mother is like, who only wants to make her daughter happy and not sad.
The answer she gave to her daughter back then was, "Because your mother is disobedient, so grandpa
and grandma would not let me go home."
She will never forget the way her daughter hugged her and comforted her, "My mother is the best. No
matter how bad Esme is, you won't drive me out..."
For many times, she admits that her daughter is really sensible. Although she is naughty sometimes,
compared to children of the same age, sometimes her mind is hard to guess even she is her mother.
"Esme, but you have to promise mom one thing."
"What is it?"
"We will go with Uncle William, when you see grandpa and grandmother, you have to call him dad and
say that we have always lived together, in Zurich, not Edinburgh."
"Zurich? Where is Zurich?"
Esme scratches her head suspiciously.
"It's a country, where I live before."
"Okay, I get it."
Karin is sad again. She looks at her daughter's face, "Why don’t you ask why mom wants you to be like
this?"
"The teacher says that children only need to listen to adults."
"Good girl."
She hugs her daughter distressedly. Sometimes she is so sensible, which makes her feel guilty. She
never asks who her father is. Once Karin wanted to ask her why she was not curious about why others
all have a father, but she doesn’t. But she held it back, fearing that if she really said it, and Esme got
curious, she wouldn’t know how to answer.
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