''It is because I feel guilty and unworthy of her forgiveness that I want to leave her with no pain''

''That is not true. What you are doing is going to cause her even more pain. What you are doing is going to make her feel guilty for not being a worthy daughter. There is no need for forgiveness as long as what you did was justifiable, right?''

​​

Solace looked at him and asked, ''what do you mean?''

''All these years, you were harsh towards Natalie because you were protecting her, right?''

''Mr. Sun, I don't understand what you are talking about'' Solace feigned innocence.

''Since you are pretending not to know what I am talking about, then I am going to be frank with you. You treated Natalie badly all these years not because you didn't love her but because you were protecting her. You treated her badly and caused her to leave because you wanted her far away from the Song family… particularly Daniel Song. You made plans for my brother to find her at the right moment because you knew that as long as she was with the Sun family, Daniel Song would never be able to get his hands on her''

Solace looked at Mikael as he spoke. Her hands under the table quivered and she clasped them tightly.

''But, the question… why is Daniel Song even interested in Natalie to the point of obsession? Why does Daniel Song monitor everything and even news that has to do with Natalie? You, Daniel Song and Oswald Jun, Natalie's father have a history together. As to what that connection is, the only people that know are you, Daniel Song and maybe even Natalie''

''Who told you all these? What makes you think that my late ex-husband and my current husband has a connection?''

''What do you think?'' Mikael asked back.

''Did you investigate my past?''

Mikael chuckled. ''You look flustered and scared right now, Miss Ash. As if you are hiding something huge''

''I thought you called me out for lunch but since it is an interrogatory lunch, I have to take my leave'' Solace said and stood up.

''Wait! Why didn't you go to the police when Natalie was kidnapped by your husband and stepdaughter? You knew they were the ones behind it, but you kept quiet and watched her stay hidden for a whole year. Aren't you curious about what they did to her for that whole year? Natalie came back a total mess. Didn't you care about her deteriorating mental state? She literally lived on medication. Didn't that hurt your conscience?''

Solace sighed and turned to face him. ''What do you want from me, Mikael Sun?''

''The truth. I want the truth''

''The truth?'' Solace chuckled. 'The truth that you want to uncover is like a time bomb waiting to explode and the first person to get hurt will be Natalie, my daughter… your wife. Do you think the truth is that easy to uncover? Listen, I have endured so much all these years just so Natalie would never know the kind of past she had and the kind of person her father was and I am not going to let all that effort go to waste just because of your momentary curiosity''

''This is not a momentary curiosity. This is something that needs to be brought to light. Do you think you are saint if you choose to keep everything to yourself? No, the world isn't going to celebrate you for it. At most, you will just be someone who abandoned her daughter for a rich man and to Natalie, you will be the woman you left her for a man when she was just little. So I wonder for whose safety are you doing all this for?''

Solace looked at Mikael with an annoyed gaze. She sat back and took the wine glass and drunk all of it before speaking.

''For whose safety? Mikael Sun, let me tell you. I love Natalie more than anyone does in this world. Whatever I did up to this point was to protect her. Even if I had to use the cruellest way, I still did it because I loved her. even if that made her see me as a bad mother, and even if that meant I will never get to be forgiven so don't sit there and wash all of that away because you don't love her any less than I do. You have no idea what I went through. You have no idea what I had to go through. You have no idea what happened to me and why I did what I did. Don't be so quick to judge me, Mikael Sun and for the record, I do not regret doing what I did because if I went back I would do the same thing all over again if it guaranteed my daughter's life and safety. I sacrificed a lot of things''

''My apologies, I went too far with my words''

''No need to apologise'' Solace calmed down and started talking again.

''Natalie was a special kid from the moment she was born. Having a rare blood group that no one in our families had, it was difficult for her. Especially when she was sick. We had to use conventional means to make sure that she didn't run out of blood because that meant she was going to end up being anaemic.

Oswald and I did everything possible to make sure that she was always safe and healthy. We didn't want to risk it; we couldn't risk it. at an early age, I stopped working and became a stay at home mom because I couldn't let my daughter out of the house.

Natalie was already reading by the time she was two years old. Sounds unreal but it is the truth. She was an intelligent kid. The doctors said she had an IQ of about 175, that was a lot higher for a kid her age. A lot of people became curious about her so we had to change cities. We moved to city X and that was how we met Daniel Song.

My husband and I didn't want much. We just wanted our girl to live a simply life and be like every other girl her age. We didn't want the world to burden her with things that didn't matter much. We just wanted her to be 2 years.

Oswald decided to quit his job at the Research Institute to focus on finding ways to lower her IQ. He did a lot of things but it didn't help. She was just outsmarting us for her age.

Someone introduced us to Daniel Song. He was also a Pharmaceutical Researcher. He agreed to help my husband but he also wanted my husband to allow him to use Natalie's intelligence in testing for a drug or even an AI that could exhibit the same characteristics and intelligence that Natalie had.

Of course, he didn't tell my husband the whole truth and my husband didn't also tell him the entire truth. I thing that he didn't trust Daniel Song fully, so even though he was working with him, he was skeptical about him.

They worked together anyways, but he started becoming a little too much interested in Natalie. He wanted to meet her, have a chat with her. My husband refused and broke off their original agreement.

Daniel Song was at lost. He started setting a trap and my family fell right where he wanted us. In order to save him and Natalie, I had to marry him and also gain custody of Natalie. He wanted to gain custody of Natalie through me but I never gave him that chance.

But, still… there was little I could do because I was powerless. I gave the custody of Natalie to her father when he came out of prison later on. The rest you already know''

''So, what you mean is that Daniel Song is obsessed with Natalie because of her high IQ?''

''To be more precise, he wants everything in her. Her brain and her rare blood. Daniel Song is evil. He wants to drain every single blood in Natalie and is also looking for a way to transfer her intelligence into an AI. He won't stop until he takes care of everyone protecting Natalie. First, her father, Thomas and you are likely the next''

''You knew he was the one behind my brother's plane crash?''

''I know, but I don't have any evidence to back my claims. He cleans after himself so well''

''Do one thing, tell Natalie about your illness. She deserves to know and that too from you. she doesn't hate you. She always talked about you, she misses you''

''I don't want to make her any sadder than she already is''

''What will hurt her is watching her mother die. Her pain will be a little lesser if you let her know about it. Natalie remembers what happened to her five years ago. She wants to destroy Daniel Song''

''It's that why she accepted to work with Song Group? This is dangerous, Mikael. Daniel is more dangerous than you think''

''I know, but she has you there. You will protect her''

''Yes, I will''

''The food has become cold. I will tell them to bring us something else''