Chapter 110

Accompanied by their mocking laughter, the voice seemed to become clearer and clearer.

"Go for it, don't be afraid, break their legs!"

Finally, a clear voice rang in her ear.

Boom!

The dam that had been holding back her sanity suddenly collapsed. Maria actually reached out directly and slapped one of them across the face.

Slap!

A loud slap.

Before the four could react, Maria grabbed the fingers of the girl in front of her and bent them back.

Crack.

"Ahhh!!"

The scream echoed throughout the entire alley.

Maria stared at the others, the fingers she held already bent, the corners of her mouth actually slightly raised, and even her eyes were completely different.

But the next instant, Maria's eyes changed back to their previous timid state. "Ah!"

Maria screamed and let go of her hand.

Her fearful appearance seemed to be telling others that she was the one being bullied.

But who was the one actually hurt?

At this moment, besides the girl wailing while clutching her fingers, the other three girls were all silent.

The atmosphere was somewhat frozen.

"Bitch!"

Finally, a curse broke the silence.

"You actually dared to hit Keli."

A sudden kick knocked Maria over. Seeing that she no longer had the ferocity from just a moment ago, the three of them gained courage, and a flurry of punches and kicks followed.

"So, is American alley literature also like this? Dragging people in and then beating them up?"

"Shouldn't American-style bullying be: 'Guess who didn't get invited to the party today?'"

"You guys are really cheap."

The sudden voice made all four of them stop their actions and look up.

Louis and Emma stood with their arms crossed, heads tilted slightly, looking at them with disdain.

Their movements were surprisingly synchronized.

Exuding an inexplicable sense of contempt.

"Emma! This isn't school, you—"

Before she could finish, a dark gun barrel was pressed directly against her forehead.

Emma looked coldly at the person in front of her, crouched down slightly, pinched the other's face, and shook it. "I warned you, but you don't seem to be very obedient?"

"Then what use is this head?"

As Emma said this, she pulled a silencer from her pocket and began to attach it to the barrel.

Louis watched happily from the side, having no intention of helping Maria up. Coming to break up the fight was already out of consideration for a brief encounter in elementary school; Louis was too lazy to put effort into comforting someone.

Better to watch the show.

I'll say it again: I, Louis, love watching women fight the most!

Seeing that Emma had even started attaching a silencer, all four were terrified. America didn't ban guns, but schools didn't allow them! How did she bring it in?!

Finally, under the terrified gazes of the four, Emma aimed at the leader's forehead.

Her legs were shaking, her whole body trembling. She squeezed a sound out of her throat, "Help..."

Even Maria, who had stood up from the ground, was watching this scene in shock. But for some reason, she always had a restless feeling in her heart, as if urging her to step forward, grab the gun, and finish the four of them off herself!

Bang!

Everyone closed their eyes at this moment.

"Ahhh!!!"

Piercing screams echoed.

Drip... drip...

There was no sound of a heavy object falling; instead, there was a pitter-patter of dripping water.

Opening their eyes, the lead girl was fine.

Emma blew on the barrel, smiling as she simulated a few more gunshots. "Bang, bang, bang!"

The lead girl's legs trembled twice more, and she collapsed to the ground, soaked in her own urine, crying uncontrollably.

"Heh, coward."

Emma put the gun away.

Louis walked over at this time and nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, I remember you also..."

!!!

Emma's eyebrows jumped wildly. The dark history of being scared into wetting her pants by Louis in the past flooded her mind. Embarrassed and angry, Emma wanted to stomp on him, but as soon as she raised her foot, she chickened out—she couldn't do anything to him!

In the end, she could only turn and walk away.

Louis burst into laughter.

He glanced at Maria, who was still standing there in a daze. "What, do you want to stay there and get beaten up again?"

The words woke Maria from her immersion in the strange pleasure. She hurriedly crossed past the four girls and approached Louis.

"Um, long time no see, thank you both."

"Heh, what, finally dare to acknowledge me?"

Maria blushed. "Sorry, Madison is a bit afraid of you guys."

"Oh? You're not?"

"I... I'm not."

Looking at Louis, Maria finally couldn't suppress the impulse in her heart and asked, "Can I follow you guys?"

"Whatever."

Louis looked at this "friend of Madison's," answered like that, and walked away directly.

Maria was still thinking about what "whatever" meant—was it consent or refusal? —but her feet had already followed involuntarily.

In the alley, the three terrified girls trembled as they helped the crying girl up and left the alley in a sorry state. Next, they would likely choose to transfer schools, or even call the police or tell their parents?

What kind of background does a student who can bring a gun to a private school like Lake High have?

They weren't stupid; they knew what to do.

Night.

Maria, who skipped and jumped back home, was unusually active. She even held her head slightly high, her beautiful hair no longer covering her face, and a rare youthful aura overflowed.

This scene surprised her mother, who was preparing dinner. "Oh, Maria, you seem to be in a good mood today. Can you tell Mom why?"

Maria smiled. "I met two new, um, friends today."

When mentioning friends, Maria still instinctively paused slightly.

But her mother didn't notice this. She just looked at her daughter in surprise, seemingly finding it hard to believe, but joy followed immediately.

"Oh, my dear Maria, it seems you're doing well at school and have finally changed."

"Changed? Seems like a little, but it's not enough." A male voice sounded from the side.

A serious-looking middle-aged man sat on a stool holding a newspaper and said this. His gaze toward Maria was very flat.

Suddenly, his gaze froze.

"Maria, I've said it before, you need to have poise. Look at your hair, what a mess! Now, go back upstairs and fix it."

His voice was calm but contained power, filled with an unrefusable determination.

Maria's mood immediately fell from the clouds. She looked at her mother for help, but saw her mother silent, not saying a word.

Maria pursed her lips. "Understood."

She stepped upstairs.

Soon, it was night.

The family sat at the dining table eating. Her mother brought up a matter. "Maria, I remember your school is hosting a skating competition next month, and there's a figure skating event, right?"

"Figure skating, I remember your father once did plastic surgery for a professional figure skater; perhaps we could let..."

Maria interrupted with no interest. "NO."

"Maria, you don't even know what I'm going to say next."

"Better not to say it."

"..."

Her mother smiled awkwardly. "Well, since you don't want to hear it, then—"

"No, she will listen," said her father, who was wiping his mouth in a leisurely manner.

"You know Mom is considering things for you, right?"

"Right?!"

Her father's tone deepened slightly.

Maria felt oppressed and opened her mouth. "Yes."

Under her father's instruction, her mother began to continue planning the skating competition for Maria.

After finishing the meal, Maria started to go upstairs.

And the topic about her downstairs had already begun before she even walked away.

"I think she needs time to poke her head out of her shell," her mother said somewhat sadly.

"No, this is her personality: withdrawn, gloomy, insecure, cowardly."

"She doesn't even have friends," her father said.

"No, she does. She has Madison, she has the new girl Lily, and when she came back tonight, she even said she made two new friends."

"Heh, as far as I know, she hasn't even talked to boys. New friends?"

Her father was dismissive.

After a brief silence.

"Then what should we do?" Her mother seemed to agree with her father's view. Well, she really didn't believe her daughter could make so many new friends.

"It doesn't matter. Her insecurity is only because she isn't perfect enough. When she grows up a bit more and her facial bones are suitable, I will take action."

"Perform plastic surgery on her to carve out an angelic face."

Her father's fingers moved slightly, seemingly immersed in the pleasure of wielding a scalpel and creating an art piece.

And her mother... actually acquiesced!

Upstairs, Maria, who had been listening from the beginning—no, it should be said her parents hadn't avoided her at all—had tears in her eyes.

She was wrong.

Compared to Madison, she was actually the one who was more pathetic.

Maria stumbled back into her room, looked in the mirror, and touched her face. Am I really that ugly? Is everything caused by my ugliness? Can I be popular just by getting plastic surgery?

In a daze, she caught sight of a photo in the crevice of the mirror. She pulled it out and saw it was an ultrasound photo of twins.

"Twins? The patient is Mom's name..."

"In other words, I have an older sister? A younger sister?"

Maria was very surprised. She hadn't expected to have a sister. If, if she really had a sister, and they had grown up together... would everything be different now? She wouldn't be like this? At the very least, when she was sad and in pain, she could have a warm embrace to cry in?

If only she really existed...

At this moment, a sharp pain shot through her brain, and the faint voice she heard when facing the bullying after school seemed to come again.

Shaking her head, trying hard to stay awake, Maria walked into the bathroom. Perhaps she needed to vent a little to recover her mood.

Soaking in the bathtub, Maria was in a daze, recalling everything that happened today.

Her usual bad luck seemed to have ended today.

When the memories in her mind stopped at the moment Emma raised the gun and Louis looked on with indifference, it was as if it had frozen into a famous painting, making her obsessed, crazy, and joyful.

Emma's wantonness, Louis's aloofness.

Maria's breathing quickened, her cheeks flushed.

When everything ended.

Maria felt somewhat drained, her eyes unfocused, and a pleasant sense of relief made the corners of her mouth rise slightly without her knowing.

Life will always find a way out; when the pressure is too great, some instincts awaken.

Of course, it wasn't just this that awakened.

In the mirror next to the bathroom, a figure was looking at her indifferently, the corners of its mouth seemingly holding a beautiful smile that didn't know what it was suppressing.

When Maria got up and put on her bathrobe, she caught a glimpse of the mirror and was stunned. She seemed to have seen a figure?

Trembling all over, she wiped the water mist off the mirror.

A person who looked exactly like her, but with the corners of their mouth raised and looking wanton and wild, stood in the mirror.

"Maria, what are you afraid of?"

A familiar voice—it was the voice that appeared in her mind!

Maria instinctively wanted to find her parents, but the person in the mirror suddenly said, "Don't you want to become a person like Emma and Louis?"

"Do you really want to get plastic surgery?"

"Do you still want to be a wallflower? Ignored by others! Mocked by others!"

"Don't you want to turn the fantasy you just had into reality?"

Every sentence struck her soul, every word speaking of her desires and her repression.

Maria's breathing quickened. Finally, her footsteps stopped, and she looked at the figure that looked so much like her. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm your sister~"

"You can call me Alan."

"I can help you."

Sister? Soul? Alan?

A string of terms flashed through Maria's mind.

"Why are you helping me? Can you really help me?"

"Of course, I'm your sister, naturally I will help you. As for whether I can help you?"

Alan suddenly laughed, and the bathroom lights suddenly began to flicker due to a bad connection.

"Remember the slap this afternoon? Was it satisfying?"

"Come, I will help (replace) you fulfill all your desires~"

"Family~ School~ Boyfriend~"

"We will become the person you dream of."

Maria moved forward step by step. For some reason, she felt that every word Alan said made sense. Alan was right; she wanted to change, she wanted to be as... satisfying as this afternoon!

Her forehead touched the cold mirror surface, and the two people overlapped at this moment. Maria, who had been filled with an aura of insecurity, had her eyes shift slightly, and a sense of darkness emerged spontaneously.

Bang!

The mirror shattered.

Maria fainted in the bathtub.

From beginning to end, she actually never left the bathtub.

Everything seemed to be just her fantasy, but the shattering of the mirror couldn't be fake.

When her mother heard the sound and came to wake her up, Maria's mood was very stable, only saying she accidentally fell asleep. As for why the mirror shattered, she didn't know either.

She returned to her room.

Lying on the bed.

She began a conversation with Alan. Of course, most of the time Alan was the one talking, and she occasionally interjected. Even so, she felt like she had a new friend.

And for some reason, facing Alan, she felt like she was facing another self, full of trust.

Perhaps she really was her sister.

What she didn't know was that at this very moment.

Her repressed brain tissue and thinking had already begun to undergo subtle changes, like a split personality.

Regardless, she felt that tomorrow would be a good day.

(End of chapter)