Chapter 1255


    When he saw that face, Michael felt his heart jump into his throat. As he stared nkly at that face that


    until now only existed in his deepest memories, it was as if he had forgotten to breathe or speak.


    “Who are you—” He took a few steps back in fear. When he spoke, his voice sounded shaky and he


    could feel his teeth chatter. In addition to that, his entire body was trembling from the overwhelming


    emotions.


    ‘Theo’ didn’t speak, nor did he even bat an eyelid. Instead, he was just staring nkly ahead. If not for


    the heaving in his chest and the asional blinks, he would have been mistaken for a statue.


    This is my father, Theo Fletcher?


    A person whom he believed to have been dead for almost forty years, was sitting right before him


    without even the slightest sign of old age?


    “No, you’re not my father!” Michael couldn’t ept it at all and slowly backed away.


    His mother had taken her own life because she loved him, and yet he was still alive?


    Michael didn’t remember much about his father. He was a soldier, while Elizabeth Murray was a


    celebrity. At that time, their rtionship had to be kept private. Not only did the Fletcher Family


    disapprove of them, but Elizabeth was also at the peak of her career which did not allow her to marry


    and have children either.


    What was more, they did not even have a marriage certificate.


    Since Theo was always away, they hardly met each other. In fact, they spent more time away from


    each other than together. Naturally, Michael was never close to his father.


    Those days, there were countless famous and powerful people pursuing Elizabeth—people who were


    much more powerful than Theo. Despite that, she only had eyes for him. Even though there were many


    obstacles she had to ovee when she was with him, she persisted for years, hoping for a miracle.


    That year, he took an important assignment out of town. He made a promise to her that they would get


    married once he returned.


    She had waited for an entire year, only to receive news of his death.


    When Tanya came to her pregnant, it was thest straw for Elizabeth who was already overwhelmed


    with despair, and she took her own life.


    Yet, here he was!


    Although everything seemed like a dream, Michael realized that this was reality, and a rather absurd


    one at that.


    Finally epting this fact, he held the fence as he took a seat.


    “Ha—” He looked at Theo and suddenly let out a menacing and mockingugh, which gradually


    became louder until he started tough hysterically.


    When he could no longer continue, he realized that his face was already covered in tears.


    He had wanted to cry, but for some reason, his cries turned intoughter as soon as it left his mouth.


    Why would something so preposterous happen to him?


    After letting go of his emotions, Michael became numb. Then, he went to sit next to Theo without a


    word. After a long pause, he said softly, “Dad.”


    “Hmm,” Theo responded.


    Then, the both of them sat there like two sculptures with the exact same posture and demeanor, staring


    nkly at the snow.


    Meanwhile, everyone else stood at a distance and did not bother them.


    Markmented and sighed. He was over the moon when he learned that his son was still alive, but he


    couldn’t help but want to cry as well.


    “It was cryonics.” Joel came over, holding his son in his arms as he exined to everyone about what


    had happened.


    “Thirty years ago, Uncle Theo was seriously wounded on the frontlines of the southwest drug war. My


    father, who was themander of the backup reinforcements, found Uncle Theo, but he didn’t look like


    he was going to make it. Certainly, the best ce for a soldier to die is on the battlefield, and Uncle


    Theo fulfilled his life duty as a soldier when he died there. Back then, my father wanted to cryogenically


    preserve Uncle Theo and bring him back to Bayside City so that Old Master Fletcher could see him one


    last time. But unexpectedly, when he learnt about Uncle Theo’s sacrifice, his sickness got worse and


    he was admitted to the hospital. When my father came back, he never brought it up in fear of shocking


    him again. He thought of thawing him and letting him go in peace. But at that time, Uncle Theo’s heart


    was still beating. If he were to be thawed, he would certainly die. As such, my father hesitated. He


    couldn’t do it, so he swept it under the rug and secretly kept Uncle Theo under cryogenic sleep. Old


    Master Fletcher and I never knew about it untilst year. It was only when my father was on his dying


    bed did he reveal it to me.”


    Joel’s father was Mark’s eldest son and had achievements that surpassed Theo’s. After the passing of


    the Fletcher’s family head, Joel’s father had stepped up, lived up to the expectations of everyone and


    outperformed his contemporaries to be the new family head of Fletcher Family.


    Before his father revealed this secret to him, only a handful of people knew about it. Although many


    people had heard that Theo was put under cryogenic sleep but couldn’t be saved in the end, not many


    knew that the Fletcher Family had been secretly keeping him.


    That year, Joel’s father reluctantly announced the news of Theo’s death, organized a funeral and sent


    him to the ancestral grave. At the same time, he couldn’t bear thawing him. He was in a dilemma and


    couldn’t make a decision, so he ended up keeping this secret for thirty years!


    “As soon as I learned about this, I found Uncle Theo’s preserved body. After making a few calls, I found


    a hospital abroad that had a 30% chance of saving him. Then, I spoke to Grandpa and got his


    permission to send Uncle Theo over. Seventy-two hours of surgeryter…”


    He trailed off and looked out the window at Michael and Theo who were still sitting together like a


    couple of statues—speechless and motionless.


    Then, he continued speaking to everyone, who all had their hair standing on end. “Although Uncle


    Theo survived, he couldn’t ept the fact that he was cryogenically preserved for more than thirty


    years, and that Elizabeth had taken her own life for him. He hadn’t spoken a word since and even


    psychologists couldn’t get him to speak.”


    When he finished, everyone fell silent.


    At that moment, Sophia looked at Theo’s silhouette and saw the sadness and destion in him.


    It must have been such a huge blow to him that he woke up after thirty years and realized the world


    had changed, and that his lover had died!


    She thought that if she was in the same situation, she would choose not to be preserved either and


    spend herst days with her family and everyone she loved.


    No one would know what they would wake up to after being cryogenically preserved.


    It was one thing to be preserved for a day or two just to buy some time to be saved like how Albert was


    saved. However, it was another to wake up and realize that thirty years had passed like Theo did. If she


    was in his shoes, she would definitely have had a breakdown.


    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    Aliens might havee to earth and humans might have been extinct when one woke up!


    Perhaps, everyone she once loved would all be gone, and no one in the world would know her. To the


    world, she would have been like someone who had died for many years, and there would be no ce


    for her in society.


    What would be the point of living, then?


    Indeed, Theo was alive, but it didn’t make a difference to him.


    Everyone had thought he was dead, including himself. His household registry was gone, and his lover


    hadmitted suicide for him. The world no longer had a ce for him and his… lover. To him, every


    second of living was nothing but torture!