Ch. Ch 20 Don’t come back Ch 20

“If we had gone there… if we had gone… 

“Maybe she wouldn’t have wanted to leave…” 

Axel remained silent. 

As he reached the bedroom door, Ryker’s agonized shout followed him: 

“Stop pretending! Axel, how long has it been since you’ve truly cared about Ember?!” 

Axel stopped in his tracks. 

His movements became extremely sluggish. After a long moment, he turned back to look at Ryker with vacant eyes: 

“What about you? Did you ever care?” 

The anger and grief on Ryker’s face froze in an instant. 

Slowly, he crouched down, covering his face as his shoulders shook. 

They were the same. 

Neither was innocent; neither could escape blame. 

Heavy snow had fallen continuously in North City for days. 

Deep into the night, thick snow blanketed the streets. 

Axel forgot even to put on his coat as he left home to find Professor Zhang. 

The professor’s voice was resigned: “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. 

“For this classified research, apart from those directly involved, 

“No outsider knows the specific location or progress of the research. 

“I only escorted Ember and the others to South City and had a final meal with them. 

“After that, when they departed for the research institute, I no longer had the right to follow. 

“The actual location of the institute is almost certainly not in South 

City.”