Chapter 7

On countless nights of despair, I desperately comforted myself that this might be a form of release for my mother.

But life was unpredictable. I never expected my only sister would leave me so soon.

The passionate and free life I once envisioned was now reduced to just me, alone and abandoned...

14

"What did you say? Your mother had mental issues?"

My father, who had been silent until now, finally showed some reaction.

"How do you know about your mother's condition? For all these years, I haven't been able to find any news about her."

I took out a photo of my mother and me that I always carried with me.

"Because I am Shannon, the child who grew up with only a mother and no father. I had to squeeze into a small, windowless storage room with my mother for over 10 years, enduring all sorts of discrimination and disdain. The daughter of someone living at the bottom of society has no place to be buried when she dies, let alone any way to find out news about her."

I