Alice's Dilemma

"You..." Yan Yang's voice carried a hint of heaviness. "Have you... completely forgotten that you have a daughter?"

"A daughter?" Alice frowned deeply, her eyes filled with genuine confusion and a trace of offended impatience. "Where would I get a daughter? Kid, did you really mistake me for someone else?"

"Since you managed to sneak in without anyone noticing, I assume you can get out as well. Leave now, before you get yourself into trouble!"

Her tone was resolute, without the slightest hint of pretense.

Yan Yang quickly calculated the timeline of her disappearance and tested, "Have you... completely lost all memories from more than ten years ago, or even earlier? Do you only remember the past decade, or perhaps an even shorter period?"

Alice's expression changed instantly, her vigilance stabbing toward Yan Yang like tangible icicles. "Very few people know about that! How exactly did you find out?"

"Because I know who you originally were!" Yan Yang met her gaze. "You shouldn't be trapped here! Your daughter, Xiao Ai, is still alive. She's been waiting for you to come home!"

Alice fell into brief silence.

A moment later, she slowly shook her head, a nearly stubborn detachment in her eyes. "I admit... there's a long stretch of my memories that seems to have been completely erased. But... so what? I don't want them back. As I am now, here... I'm living very well."

She looked around the cold laboratory, her tone strangely calm. "Being with so many children who need guidance, this sense of responsibility and fulfillment is far greater than some... vague, intangible 'daughter.' I like my life here. I won't go with you."

Yan Yang's heart churned.

Could an amnesiac truly resist reclaiming their past so fiercely?

He keenly sensed the evasion in her words. "I never