Chapter 1136

After placing the letter in Victor’s hands, Sophie had slowly risen to her feet and begun walking steadily toward the rolling waves, each deliberate step bringing her closer to the end she craved.

Victor had dropped to his knees right there on the sand, his voice breaking apart as he desperately pleaded with her, “I understand that the agony of your illness is almost impossible to bear, that living this way feels like endless torture. But please—I’m begging you to think about your mother, imprisoned and suffering in the Griffiths family’s dungeons! Think about Cole, who has been waiting all these years for you to finally come home! They’re your family. Don’t give up now. Please hold on—for them. Endure this pain a little longer, until the miracle you’ve stopped believing in finally finds you.”

His raw, emotional appeal had struck exactly where Sophie was most vulnerable. The reminder of her mother and her son was the only thing powerful enough to reach through her despair, and she immediately abandoned her plan to surrender herself to the sea. Her mother was enduring unimaginable suffering in a dark prison cell—locked away by Maxine’s cruelty, sacrificing everything just to keep Sophie safe. Her son, still just a child, had already grown up without knowing a mother’s love and protection. How could she possibly destroy their last fragile thread of hope by giving up now?

Sophie had stood there on the windswept shore and broken down completely, her grief pouring out in raw, uncontrollable sobs. But when her tears finally dried, she…

She discovered she had found the strength to keep fighting—to continue living despite everything. Choosing to survive meant declaring all-out war against her Psychephrenia every single day. Like a patient battling a terminal disease with no guaranteed cure, she understood her time might be severely limited, but she held onto each precious day with stubborn determination, clinging to the faint possibility of a miracle.

Sophie had decided to establish a new life in Podgend, a rough town on the very edge of the lawless, dangerous region known as Delta. Because of Delta’s reputation, Podgend had become a natural gathering place for society’s misfits and outcasts, making it the ideal location for someone “different” like her to conceal her true identity and quietly build an existence.

And so Sophie and Victor had made Podgend their permanent home. Together, they developed a harsh but necessary system for managing her condition. Whenever Sophie sensed the warning signs that an episode was approaching, she would have Victor physically lock her inside their basement. He would slide the massive iron bolt firmly into place and walk away, leaving her completely alone, no matter how violently she thrashed against the door or how desperately she screamed for release—forcing her to endure the terrifying storm raging in her mind without any human contact.

Discover fresh tales on gα?ησν?sо

By the time Victor reached this part of the tale, his eyes were bloodshot and glistening, his voice breaking under the weight of memories too heavy to carry. “All these years,” he said, forcing the words out through a tight throat, “she’s been battling this disease through nothing but pure force of will. Always trying to master it, or at least find some way to live alongside it without destroying herself. Every single episode takes a terrible toll on her body and spirit… It’s a kind of suffering that I don’t have adequate words to properly describe.”

“Sophie’s will was made of steel. She endured every episode and survived them all, though each one left her covered in new scars and blood. And even…” Victor’s voice broke, turning into a faint whisper. “She learned how to live with the illness, but the cost was beyond belief. She broke every finger, her legs, her ribs—everything. She even ruined her own face.” When he finished, his words gave way to choking sobs.

.

.

.