“I can’t even remember the last time you were this well-behaved.” Mrs. Carter shed tears. “Your father is gone, I only have you and Little Alice left. If you hadn’t made it through tonight, how would I go on living?”

　　Grace Sullivan could no longer utter a word. He was afraid of upsetting this mother; he knew she wouldn’t believe his denial, only feel more sorrow.

　　How could he even explain his existence—coming from 1945, a man from the last century? He had no way to prove it, and would only be taken for a madman.

　　Mrs. Carter tucked in his covers and, before leaving, said, “Little Brian, get some more sleep.”

　　But Grace Sullivan couldn’t sleep at all.

　　Sunlight streamed in from outside the window. Morning had come. He dragged his sick body out of bed, bare feet pressing onto the hard, solid floor, and step by step walked to the window.

　　He opened the window, taking in the view below the tall building—busy traffic on the distant long street, buildings clustered like a forest, and not a trace of the hardship and old look of the past among the pedestrians.

　　Only the morning glow remained as before; everything else had truly changed beyond recognition.

　　The nation, once ravaged, had recovered and now stood upright and open.

　　But what about home?

　　A father not yet mourned, a mother and younger sister long separated—had they all vanished into the river of time?

　　And what about him?

　　Arriving here out of nowhere, unable to speak of his past, knowing nothing of the present, with no idea where the future would lead.

　　What did he, Grace Sullivan, amount to?!

　　And yet, fate had not abandoned him, letting him survive.

　　To keep living, he needed to learn how to survive; to survive, he had to first adapt to everything here, and before that, he needed a place to settle down.

　　Grace Sullivan thought, he must look very much like “Brian Carter”, even their family circumstances were uncannily similar. Was his appearance in this hospital room, in the The Carter Family, perhaps some arrangement by fate?

　　Maybe, heaven was helping him, lending him a new identity.

　　Grace Sullivan’s heart beat rapidly, feeling uneasy and ashamed for resorting to such a desperate measure.

　　He looked up at the sky—clouds dispersed, the bright moon sinking. On a sudden impulse, he reached his hand out the window, gathering a handful of the cool breeze.

　　No, it wasn’t borrowing—it was stealing.

Chapter 3

　　On the second day after Grace Sullivan woke up, before he could undergo a thorough examination, he was quietly transferred to another hospital by the The Carter Family.

　　He was admitted to a high-end private hospital. The room was more spacious, there were more attendants, the environment was more private, and there were almost no other patients on the same floor.

　　Grace Sullivan wasn’t afraid of boredom, nor did he have any extra needs. All he wanted each day was newspapers—the more from different publishers, the better.

　　He craved all information: international affairs, economic development, industrial technology, education and people’s livelihood. As long as he was awake, he was tirelessly reading the news.

　　Grace Sullivan was amazed by the tremendous changes in the world. Coming from the past to the present, his unease gradually faded, replaced by a sense of relief.

　　Equally amazed was Mrs. Carter. Her son, who never studied, had actually started reading books and newspapers. She couldn’t help but ask, “Little Brian, aren’t you tired?”

　　Grace Sullivan still wasn’t fully used to this name. He looked up a beat late and replied, “I’m not tired.” After a pause, since he couldn’t bring himself to say “mother” or fake intimacy, he said, “Your dress looks very pretty today.”

　　Mrs. Carter was overjoyed, nearly moved to tears. She stayed by his bedside, not leaving for a moment, hoping her “son” would talk to her more while he was still amnesiac.

　　Grace Sullivan put down the newspaper. As the saying goes, “the more you say, the more mistakes you make.” He took precautions: “I don’t remember a lot of things, and there’s so much I don’t recognize. Even some basic knowledge feels like reading a foreign language.”

　　Mrs. Carter comforted him, “Don’t be upset. You weren’t very knowledgeable before either—didn’t have much learning in your belly.”

　　Grace Sullivan was taken aback. “Really?”

　　Mrs. Carter said, “Luckily your sister is good at studying and gets good grades. Otherwise, I’d have no face at all when socializing with the other ladies.”

　　Grace Sullivan: “……”

　　While chatting, Grace Sullivan couldn’t help but think of his own mother. She was a lady from a distinguished family, his first teacher in childhood, stricter than affectionate. Compared to his father, his mother had placed even higher hopes on him.

　　But Mrs. Carter was the typical “loving mother,” never demanding anything from Brian Carter, accepting everything, never considering what to do if something irreversible happened one day.

　　Grace Sullivan thought, living as “Brian Carter” was already a shameful act. If he only enjoyed the rights without fulfilling the duties, wouldn’t that make him a complete scoundrel?

　　As a son and an older brother, as a grown man, he had to do what needed to be done and shoulder the responsibilities—he had to do it for Brian Carter.

　　That day when he woke up, the strange man he saw said, “caused such a big accident”—Grace Sullivan had never forgotten it.

　　He guessed that “Brian Carter” was involved, but these days had passed peacefully. Had the trouble already been dealt with? Would the family be implicated?

　　Grace Sullivan found a chance to ask what had happened that night. Mrs. Carter, afraid of upsetting him, glossed over it lightly, finally telling him not to worry and that Uncle Thompson would take care of it.

　　Later, Grace Sullivan learned from Alice Carter that it was a yacht explosion, and the transfer to another hospital was because too many people were involved, and staying in the same hospital might cause trouble.

　　As for the follow-up, Alice Carter wasn’t too sure either, only saying that Uncle Thompson would handle it.

　　Grace Sullivan paid close attention and discovered that the real decision-maker in the The Carter Family was David Thompson.