Chapter 21: Choices in the Mist

Chen Shanyi stood by the window, gazing at the dense skyscrapers of the city. Siska's words kept echoing in her mind. She knew that the conspiracy behind all of this was far more complex than she had imagined. And she herself seemed no longer an outsider.

"You were once the most important person to me, and I, too, was your deepest concern." Siska's words were like a sharp blade, stabbing into her heart. Every time she closed her eyes, the scenes from the past would quietly surface, pulling her in and making it impossible to escape.

But all of that had been erased. The parts of her memory where she had once known and understood Siska had become a vague image, swallowed by smoke, growing ever more distant.

Her gaze shifted to the notebook on the table. The words before her seemed to dance in her eyes, each one telling a truth she had never known. She had flipped through that file countless times. Each time, she found more clues, but could never piece together the full picture.

"You can't escape all of this." Siska's words rang in her ears again, carrying an irresistible force.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number—Liu Chang's.

After a few rings, Liu Chang's voice came through, tired yet familiar: "Shanyi, what's up?"

"Chang Ge, I... I need to talk to you about something." Chen Shanyi's voice was low, laced with unease.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if Liu Chang had sensed the odd tone in her words. "What's happened? You don't sound quite right."

Chen Shanyi didn't answer immediately. Instead, she walked over to the bookshelf, picking up an old book she had never read before. The cover had yellowed with age, and the corners were slightly worn, making it look very old. She gently opened the first page, and the words inside seemed to tell a long-forgotten story, but she wasn't sure what it was about.

"Chang Ge," she finally spoke, "I need to know, have I ever been... controlled?"

The silence on the other end made her heart race. She waited for a long time, and Liu Chang finally spoke, his voice slow and heavy: "Shanyi, the question you're asking... have you forgotten that you already know the answer?"

"Know what?" Chen Shanyi's heart sank, and the world before her seemed to crumble in an instant.

"You once told me that there was a blank space in your memory." Liu Chang's tone grew grave. "But you never asked why. Only now do I realize you might have already sensed something."

Her hand trembled slightly, and the phone nearly slipped from her grasp. She bit her lip, trying to steady herself. "That blank... do you know what it is?"

Liu Chang paused, as if struggling with whether to continue. "Shanyi, I know it's hard to accept this fact, but you were once part of an experiment. What you remember is only what was allowed. What was not allowed to be remembered has been erased."

A heavy weight seemed to press down on Chen Shanyi's chest, making it difficult to breathe. She lowered her head, staring at the book. The pages felt like blank memories, and a powerful sense of fear surged within her.

"You don't need to ask any more questions, Shanyi." Liu Chang's voice grew quieter. "I just hope you take care of yourself and make a decision soon."

"Decision?" She murmured, "What decision?"

"The only decision you can make now is whether to go deeper." Liu Chang's voice was filled with deep resignation. "If you don't want to know the truth, forget everything. But if you want to uncover the truth behind all this, you must be ready to face all the pain and consequences."

The silence on the other end nearly suffocated her. Chen Shanyi closed her eyes, and Siska's image kept flashing in her mind. The details she had never remembered, the fragments that had been erased, made her feel trapped in an intense inner conflict.

She stood in front of her desk, feeling as though everything had become so illusory, so out of reach.

At that moment, her phone screen lit up again. The number displayed was an unfamiliar international number. She hesitated for a second, then decided to pick up.

"Shanyi, it's me." The voice on the other end was familiar yet distant—Siska.

Her heart raced again, and her body tensed unconsciously.

"What do you want from me?" she asked in a low voice, filled with suppressed anger and helplessness.

"You already know part of the truth," Siska's voice remained calm, "Now, it's time for you to know everything. You are no longer the manipulated one; you are a key figure. Only you can uncover all the truth."

"Uncover?" Chen Shanyi's voice turned cold as ice. "What do you want me to do?"

"You have two paths to choose from," Siska said softly, "One is to continue living in the world you know now, ignoring the truths you don't want to face; the other is to walk into the darkness, search for the memories you've lost, and understand the truth behind all of this."

Chen Shanyi clenched her phone tightly, her heart full of struggle and doubt. Never before had she so desperately wanted to know the truth, but she was also afraid—afraid that uncovering everything might mean she could never return to the way things were.

"I…" she whispered, "I want to know everything."

There was a long silence on the other end before Siska finally said, "You've made your choice, then. Be ready to face the consequences you never expected."

The call ended. Chen Shanyi stared at the blank screen of her phone, her emotions growing more complicated. She knew that there was no turning back now; everything that came next would determine her fate.