Chapter 13: Behind the Secrets

The first ray of morning sunlight slipped through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating the quiet room. Chen Shanyi sat up in bed, rubbing her sore eyes. The dream from last night still lingered in her mind, those fragmented memories seeming as distant as the stars, yet close enough to haunt her. She recalled Siska's words, and a complex emotion rose within her—confusion mixed with unease.

The conversation from last night felt like an impassable chasm. Every word Siska spoke had struck her heart like a hammer, preventing her from finding peace. She knew she had to confront the buried past, no matter how painful it would make her.

She walked over to the window and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. The view outside remained beautiful and serene, the distant mountains and forests seeming to breathe in unison with the world, in stark contrast to the turmoil within her. She sighed deeply, turning toward the table, and picked up the book she had received from Siska.

The book was worn, its cover yellowed with age, yet each page carried a part of her history. She ran her fingers lightly over the pages, the words seeming to blur before her eyes, but her mind was flooded with fragmented images—her first meeting with Siska, their love, and the details she could no longer recall.

Suddenly, she stopped. At the bottom of one page, there was a line of small text, nearly covered in dust, yet she could still make it out. The words made her heart skip a beat, and her lips trembled as she read aloud: "The truth has changed. You can never return to the past."

The words seemed to carry some hidden meaning, making her heart race. She quickly flipped to the page, but the content had become entirely blurred, as though some force was erasing the past. Her finger paused on the paper, and the feeling of panic inside her intensified.

"What does this mean?" she murmured under her breath, her voice laced with a mix of anger and helplessness. It was as if she could feel some secret power controlling everything, stripping her of her memories and her choices.

Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. She quickly turned around to see Siska standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on his face. Though his smile was always deep and captivating, at that moment, Chen Shanyi felt an undeniable sense of unfamiliarity. Her heartbeat quickened, her gaze on him filled with complexity.

"Shanyi, you didn't rest well last night," Siska said softly, his voice like a warm spring flowing into her heart. Despite this, there was a hint of something elusive in his eyes, a depth she couldn't quite grasp. "I know you're troubled by your lost memories, but you must understand that what I said last night was not without reason."

Chen Shanyi gripped the book tightly in her hands, remaining silent for a moment before finally speaking. "You say my memory loss has a reason, right?" Her voice was calm, but every word carried an undeniable firmness. "Then what exactly did I lose? Were the fragments you made me recall just to make me suffer even more?"

Siska's gaze deepened, as if he were struggling with whether or not to reveal more of the buried truth. "Shanyi, you never truly lost everything. I know, this is all too cruel, too heavy for you," he said, pausing as if weighing whether to let her in on more secrets. "What you've lost is far more important than you realize. You must understand, this is not just about us—it's about the entire world."

Chen Shanyi frowned, a sense of unease growing within her. "You always say 'the whole world.' What does that even mean? What are you hiding?"

Siska stepped closer to her, his gaze becoming even more tender, yet the mystery and depth in his eyes grew stronger. "Shanyi, sometimes the truth is not as simple as we imagine. The reason behind your memory loss was not coincidental. You once made a choice, a choice that changed your life and our destinies."

"A choice?" Chen Shanyi's heart jolted, her hands trembling slightly, clearly shaken by the word. "What choice did I make? What was that choice about?"

Siska lowered his head, silent for a long time, as if sorting through his thoughts. "It was about your fate and mine. It was about whether you would bear a responsibility that you could never escape." His voice was low and slow, laden with an unspoken weight. "When you chose to love me, you chose to bear the cost of everything."

Chen Shanyi's heart sank like a stone, the pain and confusion in her chest almost suffocating her. She knew that there were immense secrets hidden in Siska's words, secrets that felt like an invisible knife, constantly threatening her future.

"So what should I do?" she asked, her voice breaking as if the words were being torn from her.

Siska slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with deep concern. "You must face the truths you've been avoiding, Shanyi. You need to make a choice. Your fate has already been swept into this irreversible vortex."

A flicker of despair crossed Chen Shanyi's eyes, but a deep sense of determination surged within her. She knew, with unyielding clarity, that she could no longer run from this. Her future and Siska's past were irrevocably intertwined. No matter what, she had to confront the truth she had never truly understood.