Larry's arms were wrapped around me so tightly that I could barely breathe.
My mother's panicked voice came from beside me. "Hey! Let go of my daughter!"
She pulled at Larry with all her might, but she couldn't move him an inch.
The director hurried forward as well. "Mr. Lockwood, you've made a mistake! This isn't the Quincy from our orphanage..."
Larry lifted his head sharply, his bloodshot eyes fixed firmly on me, his voice hoarse yet resolute. "She is my Quincy! I could never mistake her."
His gaze was like a scorching branding iron, searing enough to make my heart tremble.
Those fragmented memories began to surge again...
The cramped rental apartment, the cold stare during arguments, the sleeves rolled up as he cooked dumplings for me in the apartment's kitchen, me collapsed in
