Chapter 2

There was a popular saying on the Internet that Hannah agreed with. "A day passes when you close your eyes and open them again after a night's sleep. A lifetime passes when you close your eyes one day and never open them again." But to say that 15 years had passed after she'd closed her eyes and opened them again, she didn't think that made sense. Anyone who heard about this would think it was far-fetched. "Are you and Alex pulling a prank on me? You're even pretending to cry. I have to say your makeup does make you look much older…" Hannah found that Joseph's grip tightened on her as she spoke. "You're going to break my waist!" She pinched him—it was a habit she'd developed when they were dating, and it stuck even after marriage. "Sorry, Anna." Joseph hurriedly loosened his hold on her. She harrumphed and reached for his hands, wanting to pry them away. Then, something felt wrong to her, and she looked down. Her expression shifted. "Why are you injured?" His right knuckles were bleeding and swollen in several spots. She dragged him out of the bathroom to look for a first-aid kit. There was normally one stored in each hotel room. Joseph followed her closely, never once taking his eyes off her. She asked, "What were you thinking? Weren't you fine when trying to strangle me? You…" Hannah paused. Something didn't add up. If Joseph had only been acting as part of a prank, he wouldn't have been so rough. She tapped his phone, which had been placed on the coffee table. The screen lit up to show the date—it was 15 years from the time she remembered! "Anna, where have you been over the years?" Joseph asked. After the plane crash 15 years ago, 123 passengers had gone missing. The plane's black box had been found washed adrift on an island, and many of the missing passengers' bodies had been found by the shore. On the one hand, Joseph wanted to find Hannah. On the other hand, he was afraid of finding her. Being able to see her alive before him now was something he'd dreamed of countless times. Hannah didn't hear Joseph's question. She was too engrossed in her astonishment. "15 years? How can that be? Doesn't that mean Alex is 21 now? And Penny and Nicky…" Her head shot up, and her gaze was stubborn. "Give Alex a video call now—I want to see what he looks like. Call him, Jojo!" If this was reality, where had the past 15 years gone? She would only believe this was true when she saw her eldest son, Alexander Quill, as a grownup. Joseph quickly appeased her when he saw how agitated she was. "Okay, okay. I'll call him right now." He gave Alexander a video call. The phone rang for a long time before someone answered. "What do you want?" The young man's cold voice and the black screen suddenly made Hannah calm down. This couldn't be her darling Alexander. The Alexander she knew and loved had always been a gentle and warm child who'd treated her and Joseph with love. Even after growing up a little, he'd been a light-hearted and optimistic child. How could he be so cold and aloof now? "Alex? Is that you, Alex?" Hannah took the phone and turned it to face her. There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. Then, a light was flipped on, and the screen turned bright. Hannah was stunned when she saw Alexander's face. As his mother, she could definitely tell the young man was him. He was a grownup version of the child in her memories—he hadn't changed much over the years. He snorted. "You can go ahead and be with whichever stupid woman you want, but don't let her show her face before me! And don't try to be a copycat!" Then, he hung up. Hannah was baffled. Had Alexander told her off? Her motherly instincts kicked in, chasing her confusion away. She slammed the phone on the table and downed the glass of water beside it. Then, she snapped, "Tell me what's happened!" Where had her adorable little boy gone to? Why was he now as prickly as a hedgehog? Joseph lowered his gaze and hunched his shoulders, looking woeful. His gaze was sorrowful and resigned. "I searched the world for you after you went missing, so I didn't have time to care about the children. They've also misunderstood some things about me. I'm sorry, Anna." Hannah pursed her lips. He knew very well she would fall for his pitiful act every time. It was a trick he'd mastered even when pursuing her! Now that she thought about it, the fact that she'd been missing for 15 years meant her children had gone without a mother, and Joseph had lost his wife for that long. It was no wonder their family was in tatters. She felt horrible. It was as if the heavens had pulled a terrible joke on her. "I don't know what happened, Jojo. Something went wrong with the plane, and we crashed into the ocean. I tried to get out of the aircraft, but too many people were around. I couldn't get anywhere, and the water choked me…" Hannah genuinely had no idea what had happened. Even now, she was still frazzled. "I was in the bathtub when I opened my eyes. Then, you tried to strangle me. It really hurt, you know." She sniffled in Joseph's embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her forehead to his pulse point, feeling a little more secure when she sensed the pulsing of his blood. Her actions were natural and instinctive. Hannah's reliance on Joseph was something that had already been embedded in her soul. "Don't be scared, Anna. I'm here; I'll protect you…" Joseph patted her back while subtly lighting some incense on the bedside table. Tendrils of smoke rose from it, blurring their figures. "How could I have traveled 15 years in the future after just closing and opening my eyes? My brain is a mess right now. And look at how fierce Alex was—he must've been so sad over the years. What about Penny and Nicky? They lost me at such a young age…" Hannah slowly drifted out of consciousness as she smelled the sandalwood incense. Her words turned into a murmur, and she fell asleep. Joseph dialed a number once he was sure Hannah was fast asleep. "Tell Dr. Jones to come here right now." After hanging up, he grabbed his laptop from the bedside table and tapped on it, pulling up the hotel's surveillance footage. He rewound the footage to after he'd left the hotel room. As he did this, he kept his right arm firmly wrapped around Hannah. … Alexander's room was in a mess. He was far from the aloof young man he'd been during the video call. His mind had gone blank when he'd seen Hannah's face on the screen. Then, upon realizing the truth, a wave of disgust had washed over him. Had Joseph finally lost his mind and decided to get a substitute for Hannah after all? Furious, Alexander had trashed his room. Anyone who knew him knew that Hannah was taboo to him. No one could so much as mention or hint at her. Once something had to do with Hannah, Alexander would turn into a raging lion. The swaying overhead light finally gave in to gravity and crashed to the floor, sending the room into darkness. Alexander curled up on the couch as he clutched a necklace Hannah had given to him for his sixth birthday—she'd made it herself. It was the only source of warmth in his life now, and he held it tightly. The softest sob rang out in the darkness, breaking the silence. It sounded as helpless and lost as an injured little animal would be. Alexander missed Hannah terribly. After a long while, his eyes flew open. He couldn't allow a replica to use Hannah as an excuse to get her way!