CHAPTER 310: CHAPTER 310: I HAD NO CHOICE

"Your mother? She’s your mother?" Chen Wen looked at Ye Ningwan in shock.

Ye Ningwan said angrily, "I heard from Chen Tan that your father passed away early, and you and your mother depended on each other. I thought you should understand the feelings between a mother and child well. But as a doctor, you violated medical ethics, using your abilities to make a woman lose her memory, forget her husband and child. If your mother knew you did this, I wonder what she would think."

Chen Wen lowered his head in guilt, murmuring, "This is something I can never forgive myself for, but at the time, I had no choice. I worked hard to study and earn money, hoping one day to make a name for myself, allowing my mother to live well and returning the favor to those who helped me. But... in my third year, I got scammed. Not only did I lose the tuition I managed to save painstakingly, but I also incurred a debt of 100,000 in usurious loans."

"100,000? How come I didn’t know about this? Did my parents know?" Chen Tan asked, surprised.

Chen Wen shook his head, "How could I dare to tell them? Uncle and Aunt had already sacrificed a lot for me. If I told them and let them help me, would I still be human? In those circumstances, 100,000 was an astronomical sum I dared not even think about. At that time, I even thought of ending my life. It was then that Mr. Wan saved me, not only repaying my debt but also willing to support my studies. However, in return, he needed me to do something for him."

"You were only a senior college student, not yet a renowned psychologist. Why did he find you?" Ye Ningwan asked, puzzled.

Chen Wen gave a bitter smile, "Because of a paper. I wrote a thesis then, initially about a woman who experienced psychological trauma due to childhood violence. No matter what, she couldn’t forget her tragic past and eventually couldn’t escape the shadow in adulthood, leading to suicide. At the time, I theorized that if hypnosis could erase a person’s memory, she might forget those painful things. Wouldn’t that prevent her from committing suicide? He found me after reading the paper. He wanted me to erase someone’s memory and replace it with new thoughts. I told him it was almost impossible, that I couldn’t do it. But the conditions he offered were too tempting. For someone like me then, it was a golden opportunity. If successful, I would gain both fame and fortune. So, I agreed."

"So, for the following year, you didn’t return home," Chen Tan said.

Chen Wen nodded.

"Wait, what year was that?" Ye Ningwan asked.

Chen Wen answered truthfully.

Ye Ningwan’s face turned pale.

That year, she was only five years old, with one year left until her parents’ car accident.

In other words, while her family of three was living happily.

Someone was already secretly plotting to destroy her family, kill her father, and take away her mother.

Ye Ningwan felt a chill all over her body.

Previously, she suspected something suspicious about her parents’ car accident and thought Mrs. Lin was terrifying enough.

She had no idea there was someone even more terrifying than her.

Zhan Hanjue also looked grim, extending his arms to embrace the slightly trembling Ye Ningwan.

His heart ached immensely.

"I spent a year concentrating on research and finally succeeded. Mr. Wan had me on standby and gave me a lot of money that year. I didn’t know who he wanted me to hypnotize, and I didn’t think much about it. Over a year later, I saw... saw Mrs. Wan locked in the basement, delirious. Only then did I realize what Mr. Wan wanted me to do. To erase her memory, I needed to know what her memories were. She had her husband, her daughter, and a happy family. Erasing the memory of someone like that is very difficult because those memories are something she would never want to forget. Hypnosis is most effective when the subject is willing to cooperate, requiring joint effort from both sides."

"How did you make her forget then?" Ye Ningwan asked.

Chen Wen trembled slightly, clenching his fists, as if recalling the event caused him unbearable pain and guilt.

"I told her that her husband was already dead and her daughter, too. She completely broke down, her psychological defenses collapsed. It was only because of this that I could easily break through her defenses and let her accept the new identity I assigned her."

A slap resounded.

Ye Ningwan broke free from Zhan Hanjue, rushed to Chen Wen, and slapped him hard in the face.

Chen Wen’s face was knocked to the side, but he said nothing.

He deserved it, to be slapped by her daughter was what he deserved.

Chen Tan frowned deeply, saying painfully, "Cousin, to think you would extinguish your humanity for fame and profit."

"I know I was wrong," Chen Wen said in agony, "But in that situation, what choice did I have? My life was in Wan Yufeng’s hands, and if I didn’t do as he said, I would be done for. It’s not just about the money; my mother and your family’s safety would be in danger. What could I do? I could only listen to him. After I completed these tasks, he gave me money to go abroad, promising fame and wealth. But since then, we never contacted each other again. I often visited your house in the past; do you know why I stopped going? It was to prevent implicating you."

"You’re lying," Zhan Hanjue said, "You told Chen Tan over the phone that you were soon flying to Philadelphia. Isn’t it to meet Wan Yufeng? You said you haven’t seen him since, but you’re lying even now."

"I’m not lying," Chen Wen argued, "I really haven’t seen Wan Yufeng these past ten years. This time to Philadelphia, yes, he asked me to go, but I don’t know what it’s about. He said lately, Mrs. Wan seemed suspicious and kept having dreams, so he wanted me to reinforce her memory. I didn’t want to, but... I have more now and don’t want to lose it, so I had to follow his arrangements."

"You’re saying my mother remembered things from before?" Ye Ningwan asked.

Chen Wen replied, "Logically, it’s unlikely. Nothing like this happened in the past decade, proving how successful the initial brainwashing was. If there were issues, it would’ve been in the first couple of years, but there weren’t any problems for over a decade, so it’s unreasonable now. I also wonder if he has other intentions, so I wanted to prepare before going. But now seeing you, I think I might have guessed: did you meet?"

Ye Ningwan nodded, "Yes, we did meet."

Chen Wen said, "That explains it. Perhaps seeing you awakened her dormant memories."

"I can awaken her? If I wake her, can she slowly remember me, remember the past?" Ye Ningwan asked excitedly.

Chen Wen looked at her with knit brows, "Madam Zhan, are you sure you want her to recover her memories and remember everything?"