Chapter 14：Tears (1/2)

[Music Recommendation: ”In Silence” by Janet Suhh (It's Okay Not To Be Okay OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

So it was all because of those people—and those scammers worked for them! They probably thought we were so small we wouldn't be able to fight back so it was easy for them to bully us and do whatever they wanted! That's why dad had no choice but to invest in that losing business that eventually caused our whole family's finances to go down! It was all because of them!

Rage took over me. My face furrowed and my hands clenched so hard I almost cut my palms with my nails. My eyes teared up but I did my best to stop them from falling. I was so frustrated… but I needed to calm down. There was still something I'm curious about.

Given the fact about those despicable corporate giants, and our business going bankrupt… still, why? Why did dad decide to leave us back then? If we became poor, that should be fine as long as we're together, right? We could still help each other and rebuild from scratch. He didn't need to leave us, right?

Then, a sudden thought came to me.

”You said it will be over soon,” I said, staring at him intently. All my rage was gone, replaced with fear instead. ”And you said they 'persuaded' you… What exactly do you mean by that?”

My dad's eyes widened. His lips trembled, and I could see him sweating profusely. There was something else he wasn't telling me. He didn't think that I'd be able to understand the situation with such depth. But even if he refused to tell me, I was wise enough to guess.

Knowing dad would comply with their requests no matter how absurd it was, there was only one thing that would put them at risk…

It was dad himself—he was the greatest risk!

If ever dad's mind changed and wanted to deal with things legally, it would take a hit on their name being the corporate giant they were. It would be a huge scandal. With their massive connection, they would obviously win the trial but public opinion was one thing that would be hard to manipulate even if they controlled the media. There would also be a possibility of them getting investigated by the government. Once it reaches the ears of their foreign investors or their international alliances, they would then lose their credibility for being unable to clean such a simple mess, and eventually losing money and investors in the process.

Given all those facts, even if it was only a very small probability for them, as corporate giants, they wouldn't take the unnecessary risk.

And what was the easiest way of eliminating a risk? Cutting it from its roots!

And in the case of my dad… cutting him from the world.

”Sniff… sniff… sniff…” I sobbed hard. What once were tiny tears falling from my eyes became a continuous stream.

All those years I hated my dad… because I thought the reason he left us was simply irresponsibility. But in truth, he did it to protect us. He kept everything a secret from us and went away quietly so they wouldn't suspect us and target us. And the reason why he didn't visit me on my deathbed was because… he was no longer there. He was already gone!

Those people silenced him!

He died all alone!

He died being hated by the family he protected!

All because of them!