For a top-secret government research project, I spent 5 years stationed in a remote desert facility. Everyone thought I was dead. My mother-in-law wanted to declare me legally dead and pressure my husband to remarry. My daughter's classmates bullied her, calling her an unwanted child with no mother. ... Just then, the research project achieved ultimate success. I appeared at a global press conference. And in front of the entire world, I gave a message to my family: I'm coming home. 1 Thousands of miles of barren land, yellow sand filling the sky. No one would ever imagine that in such a desolate place, there was a highly classified laboratory. After five grueling years, my colleagues and I finally completed our ultimate research project. This was an era-defining scientific breakthrough. Now, we just had to wait three days for the final test results, and we could finally go home. When the time came, we would announce this achievement to the world. I flashed a tired smile and took out my phone, seeing a few more missed calls pop up on the screen. If I scrolled down, I would find tens of thousands of missed calls. All from the exact same person—my husband. This project was strictly top-secret. My family and friends had absolutely no idea where I was. They didn't even know if I was dead or alive. After I "disappeared," my husband, Ryan, went crazy looking for me. He had called me tens of thousands of times. I wasn't allowed any contact with the outside world. But I never changed my phone number. His daily missed calls had become the motivation that kept me going. In three more days, I could finally answer his call. And tell him. I'm here. I've always been here. 2 Back in the breakroom, I immediately opened the baby monitor app on my phone. On the screen, a beautiful, porcelain-doll-like little girl blinked her big, watery eyes and said pitifully: "Daddy, Lily has a Parent-Teacher event in three days. I want Mommy to go for me, can she?" Ryan's voice was heavy with exhaustion: "Mommy went... on a business trip far, far away... Daddy will go for you." Lily's voice was full of grievance, and she started crying as she spoke: "Daddy is lying. Lily is five years old this year, but I've never even seen Mommy. "Does Lily not have a Mommy at all...?" "Be good, Mommy is just very busy with work. Maybe... she'll be back in a little while." "How long is a little while? I want Mommy right now, can I have her?" Lily held onto Ryan's hand and asked carefully: "All the kids at school have moms. I'm the only one who doesn't. They say I'm an unwanted kid that nobody loves. "Their moms pick them up after school, make them delicious food, and knit them pretty sweaters. "Daddy, Lily really, really wants a Mommy too. "I promise, I'll listen to Mommy and won't make her mad..." Lily was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath. And all of this, I could only watch through the camera, unable to do a single thing. Five years ago. Just days after giving birth to Lily, I was called away on an emergency mission to this desert lab. I had watched Lily grow up through a camera lens. Even just hugging my own daughter had become an impossible luxury. My heart clenched in pain, as if it was soaking in saltwater, bitterly agonizing. 3 Lily tightly held onto Ryan's hand, refusing to let go. Her thin wrist slipped out from her sleeve, revealing a patch of skin covered in purple bruises. My heart suddenly seized. "What happened here? Did someone at school bully you?" Ryan had also noticed the bruises on Lily's arm. But this time, Lily stopped talking. "Tell Daddy, who bullied you?" Lily just cried, refusing to speak. Ryan was about to grab his phone to call her homeroom teacher. Lily panicked: "Don't call the teacher! Daddy, it was... it was the other kids. They said I'm a wild kid with no mom, and they all bullied me. "They pinch me. It hurts. But... when other kids get hurt, their moms comfort them. I don't have a mom, so I just keep it to myself." A surge of fury ignited in my chest. I couldn't believe that kindergarteners already knew how to isolate and bully others. Looking at Lily's tiny body and the bruises on her skin, my heart felt like it was being sliced open. Ryan's face tensed up as he frantically and clumsily applied ointment to her bruises. Right before she fell asleep, Lily asked in a small voice: "Daddy, can you ask Mommy to come back sooner? Please? If I have a Mommy, I won't be an unwanted kid anymore, and the other kids won't bully me. I really, really want a friend. "They all say my Mommy is in prison. Is that true? "Is Mommy not coming back because I'm not good enough? "Tell Mommy to come back, Daddy. I promise I'll be good, I promise I'll be so good..." With a teardrop hanging from the corner of her eye, Lily drifted into a deep sleep. 4 Hearing those pure, innocent words, a tidal wave of guilt drowned me. Lily was at the prime age of growing up, yet I couldn't be by her side. I looked at Ryan on the screen. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he hurried to the living room to answer it. It was my mother-in-law calling again. Just like always, she nagged from the other end of the line: "Ryan, why are you still dragging that burden around? I found a great girl from a good family for you. She's perfect in every way, and she's never been married. You need to go meet her." My mother-in-law had a loud, grating voice, constantly pushing Ryan to go on blind dates. "Mom, I'll say this one more time. Lily is my daughter, not a burden." Ryan frowned, unhappy with her words. Seeing this, his mother immediately changed her tune: "Okay, okay, okay, it's my fault. I shouldn't have called the little girl that. "But let's talk about my daughter-in-law. Can we talk about her?" Ryan was silent. Seeing an opening, she continued: "She disappeared for five years. God knows where she's fooling around having a good time. Has she thought about this family for even a second?" Ryan's brows furrowed deeply, and his mother scoffed: "Don't be in such a rush to argue with me. Am I wrong? If someone dies, there's a death certificate, right? Even if she went to prison, the police would notify us! But she's not dead, and she's not in jail. She just vanished without leaving a single word. "Fooling around outside, abandoning this family. "Because of this mess, the neighbors, relatives, and friends have been gossiping non-stop. At my age, she's made me lose all my dignity..." "Mom, if you keep talking about Clara like this, I'm hanging up," Ryan flared up, his voice revealing his exhaustion. "I've been looking for her all these years. Maybe she ran into some trouble... Maybe she'll come back one day. "Stop thinking the worst of her." His mother wiped her tears (or so she sounded): "I'm thinking the worst of her? "Ryan, who am I playing the bad guy for? Look at yourself. For the past five years, you've been playing both mom and dad. You work full-time and take care of the kid. The stray dogs on the street have a better life than you. "As a wife, has she fulfilled even half of her duties? "Look at Lily. The people who know the truth say she has a mom who left right after she was born. Those who don't? Don't they just call her a feral child? "Listen to me. Find someone new, declare her mother legally dead. From now on, you'll have someone to support you, and Lily will have someone to love her. Isn't that better?" My mother-in-law knew Lily was her son's weak spot. She reasoned in circles, playing the family card masterfully. Ryan finally sighed: "I'll think about it." Seeing he didn't flat-out refuse, she eagerly emphasized: "The day after tomorrow, remember to clean up a bit... Don't forget." 5 Ryan sat in the living room with the lights off. The moonlight fell on his back, making him look exceptionally lonely. He pulled out our wedding photo from a drawer and stared at it for a long time. His face glistened with tears. "Where exactly did you go? I need you, and Lily misses you so much. "I'm so, so tired. I can barely hold on anymore. "Clara, don't be so cruel... come back." He murmured to himself in a low voice. The washing machine in the bathroom beeped urgently. He wiped his face and hurried to take the clothes out to hang them up. Then, he boiled a simple bowl of plain noodles. He ate it by himself, not even willing to add an egg to it. After scarfing down his dinner, he opened his daughter's backpack and checked her homework, word by word. Reading his daughter's diary, seeing that childish handwriting expressing how much she missed the mother she'd never met, my tears and Ryan's fell at the exact same time. He worked until the early hours of the morning before finally falling into a deep sleep. Watching Ryan completely exhausted, mumbling in his sleep, my heart broke. If I could, I would comfort him, stay by his side, and tell him I was coming home right away. I turned off the phone. Without realizing it, my face was also covered in cold tears. It had been five years. Every time I saw Ryan and Lily, my heart was torn between family and professional duty. They had suffered too much injustice because of me. Lily, Hubby, just wait for me a little longer. In three more days, I'll be home. Three days from now, I will personally attend Lily's Parent-Teacher event. I will tell everyone that Lily has a mother. 6 The project was in its wrap-up phase, just two days from completion. Five years of work was done, and I suddenly had free time. So, unconsciously, I found myself checking the home cameras. "Clara, watching your daughter again?" The lab director, Dr. Harris, walked by and smiled as he greeted me. I didn't try to hide it, openly letting him look at the little girl on the screen—my daughter, Lily. Since I was using the dedicated military network, this was tacitly allowed by the director. Using this network to view the cameras wouldn't leave any trace. Two days passed quickly, and my heart suddenly grew tense. Tomorrow was the day the test results would come out, and it was also the day of Lily's Parent-Teacher event. Right now. She was sitting obediently at the dining table, chewing on her spoon, looking at Ryan with big, hopeful eyes: "Daddy, Mrs. Davis said tomorrow is the Parent-Teacher event." Ryan's expression paused, then he took two bites of his food: "Yeah, I know. Daddy will go for you." Lily bit her lip: "But, Mrs. Davis said it's best if mommies go..." "It's the same if I go." Ryan avoided Lily's gaze and patted her head. In the past, when he said this, Lily would just obediently stay quiet. But today's situation was clearly different from what Ryan expected. "Daddy, all the other kids have their mommies going. I'm the only exception. They're going to call me a weirdo, a wild kid without a mom. They're definitely going to make fun of me..." Through the monitor, I could instantly see Lily's sensitive heart. Her personality was very much like mine when I was little. Stubborn and sensitive. This was evident from how she hid the fact that she was being bullied. If this kind of personality wasn't properly guided and comforted, it could easily turn into paranoia and low self-esteem. Not to mention, Lily was currently in a crucial developmental stage that shapes character. Ryan paused for a long time, his face full of bitterness. Just as he was about to say something, my mother-in-law called: "...How about I go to Lily's Parent-Teacher event?" My mother-in-law volunteering was a surprise to Ryan. On the other end of the line, she continued: "I'll go to the event for Lily. Don't worry about it, just clean yourself up and go on that blind date." As soon as she finished speaking, Ryan instinctively declined: "Mom, forget it. You're getting older, it's not convenient. It's better if I take Lily." Hearing this, she got anxious: "Ryan, what is wrong with you? Didn't you promise you would go?" ... My mother-in-law and Ryan argued back and forth, refusing to yield. Just then. Lily's tiny voice broke the stalemate: "Daddy, Mrs. Davis said tomorrow at the event, parents and kids have to perform a show together..." Hearing this, Ryan seized the opportunity: "Mom, you heard her. Tomorrow requires parents to perform with the kids. "Lily is shy, it's better if I take her for the performance. Plus, you don't know how to do those trendy modern shows..." Helpless, his mother had to agree: "Fine, then hurry up and go to the date right after the event is over..." 7 Watching the monitor. My feelings were a bit complicated. To say I wasn't bothered at all by Ryan going on a blind date would be impossible. But even so, what could I do? I was the one who disappeared for five years. I was the one who left my husband and daughter behind. I was the one who made them suffer so much injustice. A person is judged by their actions, not their thoughts; if judged by thoughts, there would be no saints. Ryan had waited for me for five years. I knew that. Him agreeing now was just to appease his mother. I put down my phone, stood up, and went to the director's office. "Clara, let's hear it. What's up?" "Dr. Harris, once the results are out tomorrow, we should be able to contact the outside world, right?" The director nodded: "Of course." "Tomorrow, if the experiment is successful, can I be the first to call my family?" I explained, "Tomorrow is my daughter's Parent-Teacher event at school. I've failed as a mother all these years. I want to be there for her as soon as possible." The director understood what I meant. He looked at me in surprise and asked: "Clara, aren't you going to attend tomorrow's press conference?" He advised me with a hint of regret: "Think about it. You lived in this desert incognito for five years. How much did you suffer? How much effort did you put in? For a single test, you'd work for days on end, grabbing a few bites of cold food in between, eating only one or two meals a day. You were a fresh, vibrant young woman when you got here. Look at how exhausted you look now. "Tomorrow you deserve to tell the whole world how much you sacrificed for this project." I remained silent for a moment: "Dr. Harris, thank you for your support and mentorship. But for me, no matter how many awards I get, no matter how much glory, nothing is as important as seeing my daughter's smile." I missed her one-month celebration, her first birthday, her fifth birthday, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, family dinner... Other kids had perfect families, parents to celebrate their birthdays, buying them pretty clothes... But my Lily, she had nothing. I had missed a full five years. But from this day forward, I didn't want to miss another second. Now, having done my duty to my country, it was time to fulfill my duty as a mother. I wanted to be by her side every single day for the rest of her life. The director didn't push any further. As a veteran scientist, he understood my sacrifice. "Dr. Harris, is it possible for the organization to arrange a vehicle to take me back tomorrow?" I hesitated for a moment before asking. This desert was extremely remote; there was basically no transportation nearby. Hearing this, the director waved his hand: "You said tomorrow is your daughter's Parent-Teacher event? "We won't arrange a car. I'll contact logistics and clear a helicopter to fly you there. "Leave early, so you can make it in time for the event." I hurriedly thanked my boss. He reached out and patted my shoulder: "Don't worry, the organization won't let down any of its researchers. You've had it too hard these past five years. Whatever you need in the future, just ask. If we can accommodate it, we absolutely will."
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