Chapter 110: Maria's Awakening: The Mirror Person

Amid their laughter, the voices seemed to grow louder.

“Go on, don’t be afraid—break their legs!”

Finally, a clear voice sounded in her ear.

Boom!

The dam holding back her reason collapsed outright; Maria suddenly reached out and slapped the girl across the face.

Crack!

A loud slap.

Before the four could react, Maria twisted the girl’s finger backward with her other hand.

Snap.

“Aaaah!!”

The scream echoed through the entire alley.

Maria stared at the others, the finger in her hand bent, her lips slightly curled upward, her gaze utterly transformed.

But the next instant, Maria’s eyes reverted to their former timidity. “Ah!”

Maria screamed and let go.

Her fearful expression seemed to tell everyone she was the one being bullied.

But who was truly injured?

At that moment, the other three girls fell silent, save for the one clutching her finger and wailing.

The atmosphere froze.

“Bitch!”

Finally, an oath shattered the silence.

“You dared hit Caleigh.”

A sudden kick sent Maria sprawling; seeing her lose that fierce edge, the three regained their courage and launched a barrage of punches and kicks.

“So, American alleyway literature is just this? Drag someone in and beat them up.”

“American bullying shouldn’t be: Guess who wasn’t invited to the party today?”

“You’re really lowering yourselves.”

The sudden voice froze all four in place; they looked up.

Louis and Emma stood with arms crossed, heads tilted slightly, looking down with disdain.

Their movements were eerily synchronized.

Radiating an inexplicable air of contempt.

“Emma! This isn’t school, you—”

Before she could finish, a black barrel pressed firmly against her forehead.

Emma stared coldly at the girl, crouched slightly, and pinched her face, shaking it. “I warned you. But you didn’t listen?”

“Then what use is this head?”

As Emma spoke, she pulled a silencer from her pocket and began attaching it to the gun.

Louis watched beside her, grinning, with no intention of helping Maria. Coming to intervene was already a favor based on a childhood acquaintance; comforting her? Louis had no interest.

Better to watch the show.

Let me say it again: I, Louis, love watching women fight!

Seeing Emma start to attach the silencer, all four were terrified. America didn’t ban guns, but schools forbade them! How did she get it in?!

Finally, in the four’s terrified gazes, Emma aimed at the leader’s forehead.

Her legs trembled violently; her whole body shook. She choked out a whisper: “Help…”

Even Maria, now standing from the ground, stared in shock—but for some reason, a restless urge stirred within her, urging her forward: take the gun, kill all four yourself!

Bang!

Everyone closed their eyes in that instant.

“Aaaah!!!”

A piercing scream filled the air.

Drip… drip…

No heavy body fell. Instead, a soft patter of dripping water sounded.

When they opened their eyes, the leader girl was unharmed.

Emma blew on the barrel, smiling as she mimicked several gunshots: “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The leader girl’s legs trembled again, then collapsed, soaked in her own urine, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Heh. Coward.”

Emma holstered the gun.

Louis walked over and nudged her with his elbow. “Hey, I remember when you were little, you used to…”

!!!

Emma’s eyebrow twitched violently; the humiliating memory of being scared into peeing her pants by Louis flooded her mind. Furious, she raised her foot to kick him—then hesitated, cowed again. She couldn’t touch him!

Finally, she turned and walked away.

Louis burst into laughter.

He glanced at Maria, still standing there dazed. “What? You planning to get beaten again?”

His words jolted Maria from her strange euphoria; she hurried past the four girls and approached Louis.

“Uh… long time no see. Thank you.”

“Heh. So you finally dare to recognize me?”

Maria blushed. “Sorry. Madison’s a little scared of you.”

“Oh? You’re not scared?”

“I… I’m not.”

Looking at Louis, Maria could no longer suppress her impulse. “Can I follow you?”

“Whatever.”

Louis looked at this “friend of Madison,” gave that reply, and walked off immediately.

Maria pondered what “whatever” meant—approval or rejection?—but her legs moved on their own, following him.

In the alley, the three stunned girls helped the crying one up, stumbling away in disgrace. Next, they’d likely transfer schools—or even report to police or parents?

What kind of background did a student have, to bring a gun into Lakeview High, a prestigious private school?

They weren’t stupid. They knew what to do.

…

Night.

Maria bounced home, unusually lively; she held her head slightly high, her beautiful hair no longer hiding her face, radiating a rare burst of youthful energy.

Her mother, preparing dinner, stared in surprise. “Oh, Maria, you seem in good spirits today. Care to tell me why?”

Maria smiled. “Today I met two new… friends.”

When saying “friends,” Maria paused instinctively.

But her mother didn’t notice; she only stared at her daughter, stunned, then beamed with joy.

“Oh, my dear Maria, you’re doing well at school at last. Finally, some change.”

“Change? There’s been some—but not enough.” A man’s voice spoke from beside her.

A serious middle-aged man sat on a chair, reading a newspaper. His gaze toward Maria was flat.

Suddenly, his eyes sharpened.

“Maria, I told you to mind your appearance. Look at your hair—how messy! Go upstairs and fix it now.”

His voice was calm yet forceful, brooking no refusal.

Maria’s mood plummeted from the clouds. She glanced pleadingly at her mother—but her mother remained silent, saying nothing.

Maria bit her lip. “Understood.”

She climbed the stairs.

Soon, night.

The family sat at the dinner table. The mother brought up something. “Maria, I remember your school has a skating competition next month—with figure skating, right?”

“Figure skating? I recall your father once did cosmetic surgery for a professional figure skater. Maybe we could…”

Maria cut in indifferently. “No.”

“Maria, you don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Don’t say it. Better not.”

“… ”

The mother smiled awkwardly. “Alright, since you don’t want to hear—”

“No, she’ll listen.” Her father wiped his mouth slowly.

“You know your mother’s trying to help you, right?”

“Right?!”

The father’s tone grew firmer.

Maria’s spirit crushed. She opened her mouth. “Yes.”

At her father’s signal, Mother resumed planning Maria’s next ice skating competition.

After dinner, Maria went upstairs.

Downstairs, the topic of her barely had time to fade before it began again.

“I think she needs time to peek out from her shell,” Mother said, sorrowful.

“No, that’s just her nature—solitary, gloomy, insecure, timid.”

“She doesn’t even have friends,” Father said.

“No, she does—she has Madison, and a new friend, Lily. When she came home tonight, she said she made two new friends.”

“Heh, as far as I know, she’s never even spoken to a boy. New friends?”

Father sneered.

After a brief silence,

“What should we do?” Mother seemed to agree with Father’s view—well, she didn’t truly believe her daughter could make so many new friends.

“It doesn’t matter. Her insecurity stems only from her imperfection. When she grows older and her facial bones settle, I’ll intervene.”

“I’ll give her plastic surgery—carve her a face like an angel’s.”

Father’s fingers twitched slightly, as if lost in the thrill of wielding a scalpel, crafting art.

And Mother… actually accepted it!

Upstairs, Maria had heard it all—from start to finish. No, rather, her parents hadn’t even tried to hide it. Her eyes welled with tears.

She was wrong.

Compared to Madison, she was truly more pitiful.

Maria stumbled back into the room, stared into the mirror, touched her face. Could I really be that ugly? Is everything because I’m ugly? Would plastic surgery make me popular?

In a daze, she caught sight of a photo tucked in the mirror’s seam. She pulled it out—it was a twin ultrasound image.

“Twins? The patient’s name is Mom’s…”

“So I have a sister? Or a brother?”

Maria was stunned. She never knew she had a sibling. If—if she really did have a sister, and they’d grown up together… would everything be different now? Would she not be like this? At the very least, when she was heartbroken, she could have a warm embrace to cry in?

If only she truly existed…

Then, a sharp pain stabbed her mind—the faint, distant voices from schoolyard bullying returned.

She shook her head, forcing herself awake, and stepped into the bathroom. Perhaps she needed to vent a little to recover her composure.

Soaking in the bathtub, Maria stared blankly, recalling everything that had happened today.

All her bad luck seemed to have ended today.

When her memory paused at Emma raising the gun and Louis’s indifference, it froze like a masterpiece—mesmerizing, mad, exhilarating.

Emma’s reckless freedom. Louis’s lofty detachment.

Maria’s breathing quickened; her cheeks flushed.

When it ended,

Maria felt drained, her gaze vacant, a sweet, light relief making her lips curl slightly.

Life always finds a way out. When pressure mounts, certain instincts awaken.

Of course, not just that one awakened.

In the mirror beside the bathroom, a figure watched her coldly, a beautiful smile—restrained, unreadable—lingering on its lips.

When Maria rose and wrapped herself in a robe, her peripheral vision caught the mirror—and she froze. Had she just seen a shadow?

Trembling, she wiped the steam from the mirror.

A figure stood inside it—strikingly like her, but with lips curled in wild, arrogant triumph.

“Maria, what are you afraid of?”

The voice was familiar—it was the one inside her mind!

Maria instinctively turned to find her parents, but the figure in the mirror spoke: “Don’t you want to become someone like Emma and Louis?”

“Do you really want plastic surgery?”

“Do you still want to be a leaf—ignored, mocked?”

“Don’t you want to turn your fantasy just now into reality?”

Each word struck her soul, each one voicing her hidden desires, her suppressed longings.

Maria’s breath came fast. Finally, her steps halted. She stared at the figure so like herself: “Who are you?”

“Me? I’m your sister~”

“You can call me Ailan.”

“I can help you.”

Sister? Soul? Ailan?

A string of terms flashed through Maria’s mind.

“Why help me? Can you really help me?”

“Of course. I’m your sister—I naturally will. As for whether I can help you?”

Ailan burst into laughter. The bathroom light flickered violently, dimming and brightening erratically.

“Remember the slap this afternoon? Wasn’t it satisfying?”

“Come on—I’ll fulfill every one of your desires~”

“Family~ School~ Boyfriend~”

“We’ll become the people in your dreams.”

Maria stepped forward slowly. For some reason, every word Ailan spoke felt true. Ailan was right—she wanted change. She wanted to feel that… satisfaction from this afternoon!

Her forehead pressed against the cold mirror. The two merged. Maria’s eyes, once filled with self-loathing, shifted slightly—a shadow deepened within them.

Crash!

The mirror shattered.

Maria collapsed into the bathtub.

From start to finish, she had never left the tub.

It all seemed like a fantasy—but the broken mirror was real.

When Mother rushed in upon hearing the noise and woke her, Maria was calm. She said she’d simply fallen asleep, and had no idea why the mirror had broken.

She returned to her room.

Lay on her bed.

Began talking with Ailan—though mostly Ailan spoke, and Maria only interjected occasionally. Even so, she felt as if she’d gained a new friend.

And for some reason, facing Ailan felt like facing another version of herself—she trusted her completely.

Perhaps she truly was her sister.

She didn’t know that, at this very moment,

her long-suppressed brain tissue and thought patterns were beginning to subtly shift—like dissociative identity disorder.

Regardless, she felt tomorrow would be a good day.

(End of Chapter)