"What's your na?" That was the first ti the little girl spoke to , her voice tender yet lodious.
"Justin Davis..."
I felt a pang of sadness in my heart, having been alone in the woods for so long, and just as I had found a companion, she was about to leave, leaving by myself once again.
"You've touched and seen my body, so when you grow up, you have to marry ," she said next, leaving frozen in place, my young heart nearly leaping out of my chest...
The little girl walked away, glancing back at every few steps, but even as their figures vanished, I never learned her na.
I don't know if that girl and her parents ever ca back to see , because three days after they left, I packed up the gear they had left behind and walked out of the forest, venturing into the city to make my own way.
I've always wanted to go back to that little cabin, just to see it one more ti, but it's filled with too many mories of my parents.
Maybe I'm afraid of the emotions it would stir up, so I've never found the courage to return.
Is that cabin still standing? Maybe it's ti I made the trip...
Snapping back to the present, I looked at the woman in front of .
Her icy deanor was just like that of the little girl, only now she was grown, but her features still bore traces of her younger self.
"Are you that little girl? The one I saved from the woods?" I asked, staring at her in disbelief, my expression unchanging, as nothing much could shake my now cold and shattered heart.
The woman didn't speak, just nodded slightly as she looked down at her bowl of porridge.
"Thank you for saving . I saved you once when we were children, and now you've saved again as adults. Is this my good karma from childhood?" I said, half to her and half to myself.
If it were up to , I would have preferred to die on those cold city streets.
Hearing my words, she suddenly looked up, her expression intense, shaking her head vigorously, her long hair swaying with the motion.
In that mont, she seed to revert to the quiet little girl I once knew, responding with body language rather than words.
"Have you been keeping tabs on all this ti?"
Seeing that photo album and her imdiate presence when I was in trouble made wonder.
My tone was calm, and upon hearing my question, a flicker of urgency passed through her eyes.
"I was just ensuring your safety, nothing more. Don't overthink it, I wasn't spying on you..." Her usual composed deanor faltered, and she seed like a flustered little girl.
Then I rembered the photo from the coal mine, a place of extre danger, yet her people had tracked there without the mine boss noticing.
A lingering doubt had always haunted : during my escape from the coal mine, it felt almost divinely tid.
I had been lucky, thinking it was providence, especially since the police and military had arrived just in ti to rescue .
Recalling the heavy police and military presence when the little girl's parents ca to pick her up... "Back at the coal mine... was it you who saved then?" I asked again, my eyes fixed on her.
She seed unable to et my gaze, lowering her head before hesitating and then nodding once more.
Although I had received many answers, my mind was filled with even more questions.
When did she start keeping tabs on ?
How did she find ?
How much does she know about my current situation?
"Can you explain in detail?" I asked, rubbing my temples, trying to manage the overload of thoughts and not dwell on the situation back ho or Betty's condition.
Would Betty worry if she found out I had returned ho?
Would she cry?
Would she regret anything?
How is she doing now?
Has she been searching for like she searched for Michael?
"My na is Luna Bennett..." she began, pulling back from my chaotic thoughts with her introduction.
Just hearing her last na startled .
Not because it was frightening, but because 'Bennett' was a sensitive na in this city, even nationally.
"Wait, the Bennett Group? Top ten tycoons in Singapore?"
I interrupted her, throwing out two questions, thinking about her status and the ans at her disposal.
I looked at her, waiting for her response.
She simply nodded gently, and I lay back on the bed, overwheld not by her status, but by the surreal realization of my childhood circumstances.
"My grandfather, Ethan Bennett, is a titan of industry, and my maternal grandfather, Eli Hudson, was a deputy commander.
I guess you could say I'm both a second-generation rich kid and a politician's child..."
She paused, then continued, her tone devoid of any arrogance, surprisingly serene.
"After you saved , about half a year later, I ca back to that cabin with my parents to look for you, but it was empty.
From that mont, I lost track of you.
Later, my grandfather sent abroad to study, and by the ti I graduated at 22 and returned to run his company, I started looking for you everywhere.
When I finally found you, I learned you were married..."
Her way of speaking was direct and sparse, just like her actions.
"Do you think I'm foolish? Still rembering a promise from childhood?
I don't know why, but during my formative years, those mories kept circling in my mind, always making wonder about your current situation.
It might sound bizarre, but that's just who I am.
I've always been decisive and dominant in my actions, and once I set my mind on sothing, I don't change it.
When I found out you were married, I was truly heartbroken.
I rushed but was still too late, yet I sincerely wished you well from the bottom of my heart.
My grandparents introduced to countless wealthy heirs and other politicians' children, but I had no interest or thoughts about them.
They couldn't do anything but let be, up to this point..."
She spoke candidly, leaving sowhat speechless.
Was this a confession?
Having just faced a significant emotional setback, and now a rich heiress and politician's daughter was confessing to , with such an impressive status, could this be so kind of cosmic joke?
It seed absurd; my heart was already dead.
Though I had left ho, who was the one I truly loved?
It was still Betty.
If I didn't love her, I could throw myself into this woman's arms right now, beco a son-in-law to a powerful family, but my heart felt no thrill, only a sense of ridicule.
Did I even deserve such fortune?
"I had people protect you because I wanted to know everything about you.
The photos in that album were taken by my people in secret.
I would look at your pictures and then follow in your footsteps to the places you had been, as a sort of solace in my spare ti.
Until I heard you were in trouble..."
As I pondered, her words reached again.
"So, do you understand now why I was in trouble?"
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