: An Overheard Conversation

3

Strangely enough, my in-laws' house in the dream was identical to their house now. The only difference was that in reality, the three of us didn't live there.

"Lina's back! You finally remembered your old grandma! Mrs. Lowe, get my dear granddaughter her favorite Osmanthus Cakes!"

Watching the heartwarming scene between grandmother and granddaughter, my mind couldn't help but drift back to the dream.

Mrs. Shepherd in my dream was nothing like the kind, gentle woman she was now. In the dream, her face was cold as she ordered the house staff to shove me and the infant Lina out the door. Mrs. Lowe kept muttering things like, "Some country bumpkin thought she could marry up!" I vividly remember how vicious Mrs. Lowe looked in the dream, just like the Needle Matron, as if she wanted to tear my daughter and me limb from limb.

I shook my head, as if that could cast out the images from the dream.

I looked at my daughter, her eyes crinkling with a smile as she ate her Osmanthus Cakes, and silently mocked myself for being so paranoid.

"You know, I think Lina will be ready for competitions soon. Her piano skills are already on par with mine," Mrs. Shepherd said, sitting down next to me to chat.

Her words surprised me. Mrs. Shepherd had been quite an accomplished pianist in her youth; I never expected my daughter to have such a talent for it.

When I got home, I excitedly shared the good news with my husband. He froze for a moment when he heard, and his gaze toward our daughter was complicated before he finally started praising her.

'He must be just as shocked by our daughter's talent as I am,' I thought.

That night, I had the dream again. In it, Lina was standing on an awards stage, her eyes scanning the audience, searching for someone. In the end, she just looked up at the ceiling, a lonely expression on her face. Yet, for some reason, I knew with absolute certainty that she was fighting back tears.

I didn't know if the person she was looking for ever showed up. I guessed she desperately wanted to share her joy with someone important to her.

In the following days, after a few heart-to-hearts with my best friend, I stopped overthinking the dream, even though it kept recurring. I just started treating it like a movie that hadn't reached its conclusion yet.

As the old saying goes, dreams are the opposite of reality. Overthinking it wouldn't help. Living in the moment was my motto.

One day, my low blood sugar acted up, so I left work early to go home and rest.

No one was in the living room. I collapsed onto the sofa, and a wave of exhaustion hit me. I was out almost instantly. In the haze of sleep, I heard the voices of my husband and daughter talking.

"Lina, this time next week, you have to stick close to your mom... car..." Their voices were too muffled for me to hear clearly.

"You... piano... much better than a beginner's level..."

"But I want... to enter the competition sooner, I want Mom to see... me accept the award on stage..."

Their voices grew fainter as they went upstairs.

I lifted my head and looked toward the stairs, just in time to see my husband leading our daughter up by the hand.

The sofa I was on was facing away from them, so neither of them had noticed me.

As I watched their figures disappear around the corner, their words echoed in my mind.

Doesn't Lina have school next week? Why would my husband tell her to stick with me instead of going to school?

Or maybe Lina was starting to resist going to school? If that was the case, she would definitely need some guidance. I wasn't as busy as my husband, so it would make sense for me to look after her.

'I'll just ask him about it later,' I thought.

: The Strange Dream

4

Once the drowsiness faded, I stood up and walked toward the bathroom.

When I came out after washing my face, I happened to see my daughter standing outside the door with a slightly unnatural expression. "Mom, you... when did you get back?"

"Honey, are you off work this early today?" my husband, Quinn Shepherd, asked casually. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our daughter sigh in relief.

"My hypoglycemia acted up, so I thought I'd come home and rest for a bit."

"Hurry and eat, Mom! You'll feel better after you eat!" My words worried the father-daughter pair, and they both urged me to eat quickly to regain my energy.

Toward the end of the meal, my husband, who normally adhered to the principle of not speaking while eating, finally spoke up.

"Honey, the company is handling an acquisition project next week, so I'll probably be getting home very late. It just so happens the nanny's son is getting married, so I gave her the week off. That means you'll have to take care of Lina by yourself next week."

Hearing my husband, a look of realization dawned on me. "I was just about to ask you about that. It's perfect, since I'm not that busy right now anyway."

As I lay in bed that night, I suddenly remembered. 'We still haven't discussed the piano competition!'

I glanced at the empty space beside me. 'I'll just wait until his acquisition project wraps up to talk about it.'

Drowsiness washed over me, and as soon as I lay down, I fell into a deep sleep.

I had that dream again, but it was a little different this time. In the dream, Quinn Shepherd was kneeling before 'my' grave, his face etched with sorrow. A young woman with a cold, indifferent expression stood beside him. On closer inspection, her features strongly resembled Lina's. 'A grown-up Lina would probably look just like that,' I thought.

"Dad! You're too late! I call you Dad not because I have any affection left for you, but because I feel Mom was treated so unfairly! Where were you all those years...?"

My heart felt as if it had been viciously stung. I wanted to go and comfort the woman, who was stubbornly tilting her head back to keep her tears from falling, but my hand passed right through her body. I couldn't touch her.

The man kneeling on the ground said nothing, only wept in silence. He reached out, wanting to stroke the photo on the gravestone, but the young woman stopped him. "Don't you touch Mom! You're not worthy! Do you have any idea how hard it was for her to raise me all by herself? Do you know how many scornful looks she had to endure? You don't know any of it! She waited a full ten years for you..."

The man on the ground stared blankly at the smiling face on the tombstone, so heartbroken he couldn't utter a single word.

The scene shifted, and a wealthy woman appeared before 'me'—it was my mother-in-law, Mrs. Shepherd. Haughty and imperious, she said, "Don't think I don't know you seduced my son, hoping to use your child to marry into our family. We would never allow someone of your sort to enter our home."

After she finished speaking, she was led away by someone supporting her arm. I couldn't get a clear look at the person with her, but I could tell from their figure that it was a woman.

'I' was restrained by servants and shoved out the door, a tiny baby wailing in 'my' arms.

I jolted awake the moment 'I' collapsed on the ground. My back was drenched in sweat.

The scenes in the dream were too bizarre, yet everything felt so real.

I was lost in thought.