37

She stood happily beside Joseph, dressed in matching red outfits. Joseph was speaking to her, and Anna listened with a soft smile on her face. Knox stood at a distance, observing them. Her gaze drifted slowly from his feet to his face, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. But before she could call out to him or catch Joseph’s attention, her eyes widened in shock at the pistol Knox held in his hand. 

The gun was aimed at Joseph. She tried to stop him, but the sudden impact on Joseph's body froze her in place. The bullet struck Joseph in the chest, and he crumpled to his knees. Blood quickly spread across his chest as he clutched the wound. Anna screamed and rushed toward him, but before she could reach him, another bullet whizzed past her. 

Though it narrowly missed, the next shot hit its mark. She felt a searing pain, like a hot rod piercing her body. Closing her eyes, she collapsed, her last sight being Joseph’s face. 

"No, Anna… You can’t leave me! If you do, I’ll destroy everything! I won’t spare Joseph or anyone else!" 

Knox’s tortured cries echoed as he twisted and turned in his sleep. His anguish was overwhelming, tears streaming from his eyes and soaking his pillow. Suddenly, he woke up in a panic, heart racing, gasping for breath. 

The dream had shaken him to the core. In it, he had killed Anna. Pacing his room, the torment in his mind made it impossible to breathe. He demanded answers from himself—why did he dream of killing Joseph and Anna? And why did it feel so real? 

Fragments of forgotten memories began to resurface, faint and disjointed. It was something Joseph and Anna had intentionally avoided discussing. The words Knox had shouted in his dream lingered in his ears, haunting him like an undeniable truth. 

His eyes landed on the watch Joseph had given him. It wasn’t just a timepiece—it stored every moment they had spent together. Those memories could be accessed on a special computer in the control room of Joseph’s planet. 

“Ah, so that’s how it happened,” Knox murmured, standing before the computer. As the watch transferred its stored memories to the screen, he watched the events unfold. Everything came rushing back, crystal clear, as if no time had passed. 

He didn’t need to see more. Knox already understood why Joseph and Anna had kept him from these memories. His fists clenched, his eyes burning with fury. Slamming the control room door behind him, he muttered to himself, "I won’t let them live in peace." 

The weight of the past was unbearable. The memories he had uncovered were inescapable, yet they only fueled his anger. His heart burned with a single, unrelenting desire: revenge. 

For weeks, Anna struggled to sleep, haunted by her fears. Joseph did his best to comfort her, but Knox’s disappearance had deeply disturbed their lives. 

Though Anna tried to dismiss her nightmares as nothing more than dreams, Joseph knew better. To him, they were a warning—a sign that Knox had regained his lost memories and was plotting against them. 

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Anna about their last encounter with Knox. Joseph had pleaded with him to change his ways, to leave behind his greed and embrace a better path. But Knox had refused. 

Joseph had once believed Knox was the rightful leader of his planet, but the truth had proven otherwise. Knox’s hunger for power made him unfit to rule. To counter him, Joseph formed a team of advanced scientific robots. 

“Anna, meet Darmi and Dr. Harry,” Joseph said, introducing his robotic allies. “They’ll help me handle this now.” 

Anna smiled, relieved to see Joseph gaining support. For a moment, she believed this would ease his burdens. 

Two months passed. 

“Did you find anything?” Anna asked the same question she had repeated every day. 

Joseph shook his head, his expression apologetic. She looked at him, her disappointment clear. Though she understood, it didn’t make it any easier. 

Deep down, Anna knew Knox had left of his own accord. He wasn’t lost—he simply didn’t want to be found. But waiting for his return had become an unbearable test of patience. 

In time, Anna’s strange desires faded, replaced by an uneasiness she couldn’t shake. Since that day, she had avoided entering the world of dreams. The beauty of dreams was overshadowed by their terrifying potential. 

That evening, another nightmare shattered her fragile peace. Waking with a start, Anna trembled, terrified of the images that had stolen her sleep yet again.