Ivy laughed, the sound light and dismissive, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke.
"And who are you," she scoffed, "to think you can stop ?"
Her gaze swept over Grace without warmth, without interest. To her, Grace was nothing more than background noise.
Grace let out a sharp laugh in return, though it carried more spite than humor.
"If you don’t listen to ," she threatened, "I’ll tell everyone that you’re pretending to be Ivy and scamming people out of their crystals."
Ivy lifted a brow, her expression calm, almost amused.
"If that’s what you want to do," she replied evenly, "then go ahead."
Seeing that Ivy remained completely unmoved, Grace ground her teeth together, anger burning in her chest.
"Since you’re so eager to dig your own grave," she snapped, "don’t bla for not stopping you."
She suddenly raised her voice, shrill and loud, cutting through the murmur of the waiting line.
Heads turned one after another as people stared in her direction, so frowning, others openly annoyed.
A few exchanged glances as if wondering whether Grace had lost her mind or if her pet had just died, considering how loudly she was shouting.
Soone in the line clicked their tongue and spoke up with clear irritation.
"If you want to test your vocal power," they mocked, "go outside and scream at the zombies. Maybe they’ll appreciate your singing."
Laughter rippled through the crowd, sharp and unrestrained.
"He’s not wrong," soone added, still chuckling.
Grace’s face darkened instantly. She glared at the speaker, her eyes burning with humiliation and rage.
"If that’s how it is," she snapped without hesitation, "then don’t expect to take you with ."
Her words hung in the air, but the laughter around her only grew louder, drowning out whatever authority she thought she had left.
Feeling humiliated, Grace clenched her fists so tightly that her nails bit into her palms.
Her voice trembled with indignation as she blurted out,
"I was scamd here, and all of you are laughing at like it’s so kind of joke."
A ripple of curiosity passed through the crowd.
Soone scoffed softly before asking, "Scamd? How exactly were you scamd?"
There was disbelief in their voice, as if they couldn’t believe that Grace could make such an absurd remark.
Grace straightened her back, forcing on a righteous expression, though her heart was hamring wildly.
"I had been admitted to this base just 3 days before; I t her then, and I got cheated instead." She pointed an accusing finger, her arm shaking slightly.
"This woman here, the one with pink hair, is pretending to be Ivy. She took my crystal and ran."
A murmur spread instantly. Soone stepped forward, arms crossed, skepticism written all over their face.
"And your proof?"
Grace swallowed, the taste of bitterness coating her tongue.
"I have no proof since it was done in a physical way. She took my crystal from back then."
Before she could continue, a voice from the back cut in sharply, laced with mockery.
"That’s funny. I saw you walk up to Ivy just a few minutes ago. Now you’re saying you t her earlier?"
Another snort followed. "If you want to accuse soone, at least use your brain."
Grace’s face burned crimson.
"Just now I recognize her." She realized that others had seen her. Drawing a deep breath, she looked straight at the man.
"You don’t understand," she snapped. "I had talked with her earlier, and she vanished. Since I didn’t have a good look, I only approached won with pink hair."
Her words rushed out as if she were afraid of being interrupted again.
"Who would’ve thought I’d later hear about another pink-haired woman nad Patricia? I didn’t even know neither of them was Ivy. That’s how I got scamd out of my money."
The mont she finished, the crowd’s gaze turned cold.
Soone questioned slowly, each word deliberate, "Are you absolutely sure that this woman, with pink hair and pink eyes, isn’t Ivy and just pretending to be her?"
Silence stretched unbearably long. Grace’s breath grew shallow.
"Are you all going to ignore just because this pink-haired woman looks prettier than ? Indeed, this world is filled with shallow people," she asked, panic curling in her stomach.
She glanced toward Ivy, her lips twisting into a smug, defiant expression.
Suddenly, laughter erupted. It wasn’t gentle; it was sharp and cruel, slicing straight through her composure.
Grace froze, stunned. "Why are you laughing?" she demanded, her voice cracking. "What’s so funny?"
Soone wiped tears of laughter from their eyes and replied bluntly, "Because you’re the idiot here."
Another chid in, "If you’re going to accuse or fra soone, at least learn their real identity first."
The words hit her like a slap.
"The woman you’re accusing?" the voice continued rcilessly. "She ’is’ Ivy."
Grace’s world tilted. She stared at Ivy in disbelief, her ears ringing.
Ivy rely smiled, one brow lifting lazily, her gaze calm and amused.
Grace felt as though she had lifted a massive stone only to drop it straight onto her own foot.
Without waiting for another word, she dropped to her knees, the hard ground biting into her skin.
"I’m sorry," she cried, bowing her head. "I was wrong. I didn’t confirm anything." Her voice shook violently.
"I thought you were like Patricia, soone trying to scam . I never ant to accuse you."
Ivy let out a soft chuckle. "How strange," she remarked coolly.
"If I weren’t the one being frad, I wouldn’t have even known you were at fault."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you forget that you accused even though we’ve never t before today?"
Grace laughed weakly, the sound brittle and hollow.
She looked up, eyes glistening. "I was confused... everything’s been overwhelming."
Her voice dropped. "The zombie apocalypse broke . My parents died in an accident. I’m the only one left."
She swallowed hard. "I’ve done things I don’t even know how to apologize for. But I truly didn’t an to drag you into this."
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