Soon, they reached an isolated house at the edge of the area.
At first, Annie’s mother remained imrsed in her fantasies, but as she stepped inside, unease began to creep in. The place was far too quiet, far from the crowded zones she expected.
"This place feels a little remote," she muttered, glancing around.
Felix gestured casually. "Please, have a seat."
They entered the living room.
Annie’s mother imdiately began talking again, her voice dripping with false concern.
"I do want to help you, but Annie is troubleso. She throws tantrums. If you want, I can arrange sothing... a drug perhaps. Sothing that would leave her completely defenseless. Then I can hand her over to you."
Felix remained silent.
Encouraged, she continued eagerly, "Of course, that would cost extra. Are you willing to pay more?"
They reached the center of the living room. She turned toward him expectantly.
Felix raised his hand. The next second, a sharp slap echoed through the room.
The sound was loud, brutal, and final.
Annie’s mother collapsed onto the floor, completely stunned.
Her cheek burned, her ears ringing as she struggled to process what had just happened.
She stared up at him, eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you just do? How dare you slap !"
Felix looked down at her. The warmth from earlier had vanished entirely.
By now, the last trace of gentleness in his expression was gone. Ivy had already told him about Annie’s past, about how this woman had clung to her like a parasite.
He understood one thing clearly: she would never stop draining Annie, never stop exploiting her soft-hearted nature.
But Felix was not Annie. He did not need sympathy. He did not need to pretend morality where none existed.
Since birth, he had learned one principle: showing rcy to an enemy only gave them another chance to hurt you.
In this apocalypse, kindness was often nothing more than a weapon others used against you.
He no longer believed in aningless restraint.
If he hesitated because she was a woman, she would exploit that hesitation without a second thought.
Annie’s mother slowly pushed herself up, trembling, and pointed at him while backing away.
"You are making a mistake! I am Annie’s mother! I will tell her everything! I will make her deal with you!"
Felix’s voice was calm, almost indifferent.
"Go ahead," he said. "But before that... you will pay for what you’ve done."
With that, Felix began to beat her.
There was no hesitation in his movents, no rcy in the way his fists struck. Each blow landed with a dull, sickening thud that echoed against the silent walls of the villa.
Dust trembled from the ceiling with every impact, and the air filled with the tallic scent of blood.
This was the woman who had sold her own daughter’s MMS for money.
This was the woman who had not hesitated to let Annie be drugged.
This was the woman who had swept Annie at birth and taken away her comfortable life.
This was the woman who had stolen Annie’s rightful life, the life she should have lived surrounded by grace and love.
’If Annie had never been swapped...’ Felix’s jaw tightened as another punch connected. ’If she had grown up where she belonged, she would have been cherished.’
But she had not. And it was because of this woman.
Felix despised won like her more than anything. They reminded him too painfully of his own past, of how his sister had been stolen away.
’If she had not been taken... maybe she would have been loved,’ he thought bitterly.
People like this woman were the reason girls like Annie and Ivy had suffered through hell.
All the hatred buried deep in his chest poured out rcilessly.
Annie’s mother scread at first, then whimpered, then fell silent. Soon, her body went limp.
When Ivy arrived, the scene was already grim.
The faint coppery sll of blood lingered in the air. Felix stood over the unconscious woman, his chest rising and falling heavily, his eyes still burning as if he wanted to continue.
Ivy looked at him quietly. The murderous intent radiating from him was suffocating.
She stepped forward without a word and gently patted his back. Her hand was small and soft against the rigid tension in his muscles. Her fluffy pink hair brushed lightly against his arm as she moved closer.
Felix stiffened.
Then, as if sothing inside him finally broke, he turned and pulled her into his arms.
"I’m sorry," he murmured hoarsely.
Ivy blinked, slightly amused despite the situation. "You’re apologizing for that?"
However, she stopped midway through her sentence.
Hot tears soaked into her shoulder. She froze.
Felix’s voice trembled. "I’m sorry... I didn’t co earlier."
He began to sob quietly, his fingers tightening around her as though he were afraid she would disappear too.
Ivy felt an unfamiliar ache spread through her chest. ’Why is he so vulnerable right now?’ she wondered, her hand slowly moving up to rest against his back.
Felix mumbled brokenly,
"Annie suffered so much. Even if her adoptive mother did not hit her often... she still suffered. And you... you had it worse. I could not give you justice. Before I could punish your culprits properly, they died."
Hearing that, Ivy unexpectedly laughed softly.
"You already tortured them enough," she replied gently. "You and Amber both did. That was enough for ."
Felix did not respond. He only hugged her tighter.
Every ti he embraced her, his heart ached. Even though Ivy possessed terrifying strength, her body was far too thin. Her shoulders felt fragile beneath his hands.
’No one should be this thin unless they endured starvation as a child,’ he thought painfully.
Ivy waited until his sobs gradually subsided before gently pulling back.
She glanced at Annie’s unconscious mother and said calmly, "Put her in prison."
The next day, Annie’s mother was thrown directly into a detention cell.
The reason Felix had brought her to such an isolated villa was simple.
That place was a no-rule zone created by Ivy herself.
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