The man sat wearily on the sofa and looked upstairs. The girl upstairs stood calmly, her hollow eyes gazing into the distance but unable to find a focal point. Like a sailboat torn by storms, drifting aimlessly, damaged and defeated.

"My sister, that year, suffered some injuries."

"For all these years, in order to survive, I've done many evil things, my hands stained with blood. But I still want her to be safe and carefree."

A thought exploded in my mind, two faces overlapped in my memory. I looked up again at the upstairs, and the old lady followed my gaze, suddenly frozen in place.

Her lips opened and closed, eventually turning into wordless tears flowing down. "Tuan Tuan."

The girl upstairs trembled as if shocked by electricity, then frantically searched for the source of the voice, continuously calling for her mother.

The man woke up from his despair, only to fall into a deeper silence.

The old lady hobbled up the stairs and the two of them tightly embraced, crying uncontrollably.

The man's eyes remained silent, and I sensed something strange in him.

"Why couldn't it be today?"

Before the man could speak, several gunshots rang out like thunderbolts in the air. Until the man was dragged into the car and taken away, he didn't utter a word.

After giving a simple confession, I was released.

"Who took you away? Tell Mom, Mom will go and hold him accountable." After this incident, the woman was no longer timid.

But the girl hesitated and asked, "Is Dad okay?"

"Your father remarried and had two younger brothers and sisters for you." The old lady sighed. "If it weren't for that miserable..."

"It's Dad." The girl's voice trembled. "Dad sold us."

"After you left, he went gambling again and lost a lot of money. So he used us as collateral with Scar. Later, he turned the tables, but Scar wouldn't let him go, so Dad took the money and left."

In a deathly silence, the old lady looked at me helplessly, full of questions, full of disbelief.

"If you don't believe, go and ask."