Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 1146

Mira wasn't asking these questions just for fun. She needed to assess his current mental state and determine exactly how much of his past memory remained.

"Why are you asking so many questions? I knew you were criminals!"

He grabbed a walking cane from the corner, fully prepared to chase them out.

Mira held up a bag of the premium snacks. "Tell me your son's name, and I'll give this to you."

The facility provided an endless supply of fresh fruit, but the residents always craved junk food. Since it was a sanatorium, standard spicy or heavily processed snacks were strictly forbidden.

However, the snacks Mira brought were custom-made, perfectly safe even for people with high blood pressure, blood sugar, or cholesterol.

Leonard stared at the bag in her hand, clearly torn. He desperately wanted the food, but he didn't want to give up his son's name.

"It's fine, we aren't bad people.

Think about it. If we were really criminals, would security have let us in?"

Mira reasoned with him gently.

He hesitated for a moment. "Then you have to promise not to hurt my son."

"We promise."

Mira raised her hand in a solemn vow.

"My son's name is Richard."

Thinking of Richard's hypocritical, vile face, Mira nearly choked on her own saliva.

Then, Leonard held his hand out for the snacks.

"Answer one more question, and it's yours."

"No! You're a liar. If you won't give it to me, I'm never answering another question."

He crossed his arms behind his back and turned his head away, pouting exactly like a petulant child.

His mental age was hovering around that of a ten-year-old. But this was exactly the outcome Mira and Owen had engineered. Only in this regressed state could he find happiness, free from the crushing stress that would have otherwise ruined his health and shortened his life.

If he were to find out what had actually happened to the Lance family, the sheer rage would have killed him ten times over.

Conceding defeat, Mira handed him a small bag. "Can you tell me now?"

With the prize secured, Leonard puffed his chest out righteously. "Ask away. But we have a deal. One question equals one bag. No backing out."

"Deal. No backing out."

Mira assured the assistant.

"Do you know Jocelyn or Lawrence?"

The old man thought hard for a moment. "Who are they? Why do they also have the surname Lance?"

Mira and Owen exchanged a look. She smiled. "Seems they aren't as important to him as you are."

He had forgotten so much, retaining only the memories of those who had left the deepest imprints on his heart.

"No, I asked the doctor about this last time.

It's not that they weren't important. It's that they brought him immense pain and terrible memories, so his brain subconsciously blocked them out entirely."

Leonard held his hand out again, completely oblivious to their serious conversation.

"Hand these over to your assistant for safekeeping, and I'll give you more. Be a good boy, eating too much junk food will ruin your dinner."

The care assistant Owen had personally selected was a sunny, cheerful young man who had graduated with a degree in nursing and excelled at uplifting his patients' moods.

Leonard eyed the young man suspiciously. "No way. He's going to eat them behind my back."

The young man laughed, not knowing whether to be amused or exasperated. "You can count them and write the number down. That way, you'll know instantly if I stole any."