Once upon a time, when Eric was young, the family was not so deserted. Although his parents were still very busy, they would not have been missing for more than ten years as they are now. On holidays, they might also take the young Eric out for a trip, just like any normal family.

That was the time when Eric felt the most affection so far.

Although there were still absurdly few visitors at home during that period, only one person often visited. Eric still vaguely remembered that he was a man in his thirties, who liked to smoke a choking cigarette, and often said that this cigarette could help refresh himself. Eric remembered that guy had a sense of humor, and when he talked, he was like talking on stand-up comedy. His father seemed to have mentioned that guy was a colleague of his own and was also his best friend.

Eric can't remember the details about this man, but after so many years, he still remembers that only one thing. It was also the last time he saw this man and his parents.

One day when he was three years old, the doorbell at home was buzzing like crazy. After his father opened the door, he appeared at the door panting like the man who had just finished the marathon. His sweat was like running in a torrential rain.

"It wakes up, Doctor!" The man's face was as pale as paper due to lack of oxygen, but it was clearly filled with irresistible excitement. "We have moved it to a safe place, and I'm here to pick you up!"

Eric didn't know what they were referring to, but he remembered that his father and mother seemed very excited. The two hurriedly followed the man and never came back again.

Most people think that a person's memory when he was three is very vague. After so many years, it must be very difficult to extract anything valuable from the intermittent image, but Eric did not. He remembered most of the things that began when he came to this world.

"His name is Matt Augustine." Eric spoke, and he and Kelly Samir were sitting on the train to California. "It was him who called my father away, and they never came back since then. I checked his residence, I knew his address in California, but I never went to find him."

"Why?"

Eric pondered for a while, his eyes turned to the train window, and plants flashed through the small window like slides.

"My parents have emphasized in their letters that they should not try to find them. They will come back when they are done." He said softly, "Although I don't believe it very much, my intuition tells me that if I really go deeper, I will definitely be involved in a whole new world, and I may have to say goodbye to my hard-earned ordinary life."

He smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I have been lying to myself by the guise of my father urging me to 'focus on life' in the letter, but that's just self-paralyzing. I should have known it long ago...I can't live so ordinary all the time..."

Kelly looked at him with a complicated look and said nothing.

Matt Augustine's residence is not difficult to find. It is a duplex villa outside California. The black iron doors on the outside are already rusty and look a little old. The garden is overgrown with weeds, and the highest one is enough to reach the waist. A strong wind blows through the yard, and the rustling sound is like an accordion piece.

"It looks like he is gone." Kelly frowned, as if she didn't like the weird aura emitted by this old villa.

"No, the newspaper box is still in use, and the newspaper has not been taken away today." Eric said, "There are still people living."

The black iron gate lock was broken, and Eric pushed open the "creaking" iron gate hard. The two of them walked through the path between the weeds and came to the door of the villa.

Eric rang the doorbell for more than two minutes before the door finally opened slowly.

The man who appeared behind the door had a messy hair like a chicken coop and was wearing a sloppy pajama. Although the man's face was full of traces of time, Eric recognized him at a glance - Matt Augustine.

“Mr. Augustine…”

Eric had just spoken and couldn't even say a complete sentence. However, the man's face changed drastically as if he had seen a ghost, and he was about to close the door in a hurry. Eric quickly looked and reached into the crack of the door and tried his best to pull the door panel to prevent him from closing.

"Mr. Augustine! I am Eric Charlotte, the son of Padric Charlotte!" When Eric shouted, he noticed Augustine's surprised expression, and the strength from the door seemed to have become smaller.

Seeing the other party's shake, he raised his voice and continued to ask, "What happened that night fifteen years ago? Where did my dad and my mom go? You know, right??"

Augustine seemed to have hesitation in her eyes, but at the same time she seemed to be filled with deep fear.

He grabbed Eric's hand suddenly, walked forward, and said loudly in a vicious tone: "Don't bother me!"

But then Eric heard him whisper in a voice that only he could hear: "Come here alone tonight."

Eric was stunned. When he was distracted, Augustine slammed the door and then the sound of chain locking the door came from inside.

Neither Eric nor Kelly noticed that outside the street, a woman was sitting in a black Rolls-Royce driver's seat, one hand on the steering wheel and the other was listening to the phone.

"Yes...he found Dr. Augustine...well, so far, as it is calculated." She said, "...yes, she's with her...well, I'll keep an eye on it."

Dr. Augustine stood in front of the villa window and watched Eric and Kelly leave the villa, and sat on the ground as if his bones were removed.

He hugged his head with both hands and inserted his ten fingers deep into his messy black hair, which was already mixed with a lot of silver hair. For a man in his forties, he really looked a little too old.

"Your son is here, Dr. Charlotte." He murmured to himself in a trembling voice, "Maybe I will die, but...but I have to tell him the truth. This is the only one I can compensate you...My friend. I'm sorry..."

The sloppy middle-aged man held his head in pain, his body twitching, as if crying.
Chapter completed!