"I feel connected to a very strange man. I do not know who he is, and my mories are unclear, but I know one thing... he is sohow related to ."
Her voice carried uncertainty, yet also an undeniable certainty that made the words heavier.
"If possible," she continued, "you should treat him gently."
Hearing this, Silas’s fists clenched instinctively.
"What does he look like?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain calm.
Ivy frowned, trying to recall.
"I cannot rember clearly," she admitted. "Everything feels blurry... like looking through fog."
She paused, concentrating.
"But there is one thing I am sure of."
Silas felt his heartbeat quicken.
"He has silver hair."
The mont those words left her lips, Silas’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Only one person matched that description.
Jade.
A chill spread through his chest, but after a long mont, he exhaled slowly.
’So that is how it is.’
No matter how much he disliked it, he had already made his decision.
For Ivy’s sake... he would have to treat Jade with restraint.
Otherwise, Ivy’s life itself might be placed in danger.
...................................................
Recently, Annie’s so-called mother had been trying relentlessly to contact her.
Her reasoning was simple.
She had caught wind of the news that Annie was now living inside SiIvy Base after the military base had been completely dismantled.
Believing this was her chance, she tried to enter SiIvy Base by lying about her identity.
But reality proved far harsher than she expected.
Even before she could complete the required interviews, she was rejected at the base’s checkpoint.
The officials cited her "improper behavior" as the reason.
The first rejection angered her.
The second humiliated her.
By the third, she was furious.
She had initially suspected that the base sohow knew about her past, about her being a mistress, but one day she overheard gossip in the city.
People were talking about Annie.
They spoke about how the new General Annie, alongside Silas, had beco well-known within the base.
So admired her courage, so envied her, and others whispered about her achievents and sharp mind.
The more Annie’s fake mother listened, the more convinced she beca that this "Annie" was indeed the sa girl she had once controlled.
Excitent replaced her frustration.
’If she is doing well now, she can write a recomndation letter. Entering the base will be easy.’
So the next ti she was rejected, she loudly declared that she was Annie’s mother.
The officer who had been turning her away repeatedly looked at her calmly and said,
"The reason you are being rejected... is precisely because of Annie. Using her na will not help you."
Those cold words stunned her.
Her eyes widened, and rage exploded.
"How dare you!" she shouted. "How can you bully like this? Are you judging people by appearances? How can you be so biased?"
She began cursing Annie openly, her voice shrill with resentnt.
"That ungrateful girl! Do you know how much I sacrificed? I wasted my entire life raising her, and this is how she repays !"
People nearby started to stare.
Realizing she was drawing attention but not sympathy, she suddenly changed tactics.
She walked to a corner, lowered herself to the ground, and began sobbing dramatically, hoping others would approach and console her.
No one did.
Most simply ignored her.
Seeing this, she decided to wait for Annie to appear herself.
Hours passed.
An entire day passed.
Just when she was at her limit, Annie finally ca out, preparing to leave for a hunt.
The mont Annie’s fake mother saw her, she rushed forward.
Annie, seeing a figure charging at her, reacted instinctively.
Without hesitation, she moved into self-defense, grabbing the woman and throwing her away.
The woman crashed onto the ground with a loud thud, the impact knocking the breath out of her.
She imdiately burst into exaggerated wailing, drawing attention from everyone nearby.
"I have never seen such a heartless daughter!" she cried loudly. "How can she treat her own mother like this?"
Several curious onlookers gathered.
"What happened?" soone asked.
But Annie’s fake mother did not allow Annie to speak.
"This girl entered this place and used her influence to stop her own mother from entering!" she accused tearfully.
"Tell , why would a daughter treat her own mother like an enemy?"
So mbers of the crowd began murmuring.
One sympathetic voice said, "Mothers really do not have it easy these days."
But others remained silent, watching carefully.
A few spoke up cautiously. "If she is refusing you, there must be a reason. Why would Annie do this otherwise?"
Annie finally stepped forward.
"This woman is not my mother," she said calmly.
The fake mother panicked.
"Yes, yes, I am not her real mother," she admitted quickly, trying to twist the narrative.
"But I raised her! Why is she being so ungrateful now? I took her in when she had no one!"
Her words tried to paint Annie as an abandoned orphan she had generously adopted.
But after the earlier deception, many people were no longer convinced.
One of the n who supported Annie asked,
"Then why does it seem like Annie does not want you here at all?"
Annie let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Because she swapped at birth," Annie said. "Why should I show goodwill toward soone who did that?"
The crowd gasped.
Not many people had known the truth, but hearing this, they imdiately sensed sothing deeply wrong.
"If children were swapped," soone muttered, "there must have been a motive. Why would anyone give away their own child?"
Another asked Annie, "Do you belong to a wealthy family?"
Before Annie could answer, the woman interrupted again.
"She is not from any rich family!" she insisted. "My own daughter died, and Annie was abandoned, so I raised her!"
Annie cut her off, her voice steady but cold.
"I was not abandoned. She stole . And even after the truth ca out a year ago, she refused to admit what she did."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
People began looking at the woman with open disgust.
Even then, she tried to argue. "I still raised you!"
Annie’s expression hardened.
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