“Anna? What are you doing here?”
Ryan was surprised when he opened the door, startling Anna who was standing behind it. She clasped her hands over her chest, her eyes darting around like a frightened deer.
“Ry…Ryan…hi.”
Her voice was soft, just as Ryan rembered Anna to be—always so polite.
Anna sneaked glances at Ryan, her gaze lingering on his profile, almost srized.
Yes, this was the Ryan she had missed so much. He hadn’t changed at all during the days he was gone.
In fact, Anna’s feelings for Ryan had always been one-sided. Ryan only rembered her as a younger classmate he had seen a few tis,they didn’t really have any interactions beyond that. But Anna’s emotions were clearly intense.
“Do you rember , Ryan? Senior Ryan?”
“Uh, of course, I rember. You’re Anna from the library, right? I helped you with your howork before.”
Ryan was puzzled by her question. Hadn’t he just called her by na?
Even though she knew he rembered her, Anna felt a warmth spread through her heart when Ryan said her na. It made all her previous suffering seem worthwhile.
“Uh, anyway, co in.”
Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, wondering why Anna was here.
From what Hannah had said, it was almost certain that Anna was brought here by her.
But that woman definitely wasn’t just helping him out by bringing soone he knew over. What was she really up to?
And did Alice know about this, or was Hannah acting on her own?
Regardless, Anna was here now, and he couldn’t just leave her standing at the door.
Even though it was Alice’s house, Ryan felt obliged to be a good host since he was staying here. He quickly ushered Anna to the sofa and poured her a glass of orange juice.
“So… Anna, how did you find this place?”
Ryan set the orange juice in front of her. Anna stared at the glass for a mont before downing it in one go.
It was a generous pour, ant to be sipped slowly, but Anna kept swallowing even as the juice spilled over her lips and down her neck.
It was from Ryan, and even if it ant showing off a bit, she wanted to finish it.
Ryan watched, a bit taken aback, thinking, ‘You don’t have to rush, Anna. You look like you were dying of thirst.’
“I saw you on the street earlier and followed you here.”
Anna spoke timidly, her voice soft. She wasn’t good at interacting with others and appeared very shy and reserved.
Especially sitting next to Ryan, it all felt surreal to her, like floating on clouds.
She had actually done it.
“By the way, Senior Ryan, why are you here?”
Seeing Ryan fall silent, Anna initiated the conversation.
Her eyes scanned the villa’s lavish decor and the distant bodyguards, pondering how she might get Ryan out of here.
To her, this place seed like a gilded cage. Ryan shouldn’t be trapped here,he needed to be back where he belonged.
In her life.
“My situation is a bit complicated.”
Ryan touched his nose, unsure of where to start. He was technically brought here against his will, but obviously, he couldn’t share that with Anna.
He still didn’t know why Anna had co looking for him, but telling her might just cause her to do sothing reckless, and he would regret it later.
Seeing Ryan’s troubled expression, Anna’s heart sank, confirming her suspicions.
Ryan had been forced here, and these bodyguards were here to keep an eye on him. That was the real reason he had disappeared.
“Anna, why did you co looking for ? Did Hannah force you to co?”
Ryan couldn’t think of any other reason. Hannah clearly had a grudge against him, so bringing Anna here might be a way to intimidate him.
Was this to show that she could easily find people connected to Ryan and warn him not to do anything unnecessary?
He wasn’t planning on causing any trouble,on the contrary, the more he could help Alice, the better it would be for him.
“No, it’s not about anyone else.”
“It’s just , I wanted… to find you, Senior Ryan. That’s all.”
Ryan’s words revealed his concern, which ward Anna’s heart.
But she shook her head vigorously. She didn’t want Ryan to think she was here out of obligation, she wanted him to understand how important he was to her.
“You wanted to find .”
Ryan paused, not quite grasping her aning at first, then sothing clicked, and he nodded, visibly relieved.
Ryan had always thought he had vanished without a trace, unnoticed by the outside world. He had been here for so long without any news from outside, he almost believed everyone had forgotten about him.
But now, with Anna standing right in front of him, it was clear he hadn’t been completely forgotten, and that touched him deeply.
He hadn’t expected his friends to look for him, but here was Anna, soone he’d only t a few tis, who had been thinking about him all this while. Anna really was a thoughtful and kind-hearted girl.
Suddenly, sothing else crossed Ryan’s mind, sparking his curiosity.
“Do you know about the fire at the orphanage? What happened with that?”
Ryan had died trying to save the orphanage from a fire, and he thought that might have made the news, maybe even earned him a Carnegie Hero Fund dal.
But at his question, Anna frowned slightly, looking seriously at Ryan.
“Uh, maybe I was being presumptuous. It’s normal if you don’t know about the orphanage.”
Ryan waved his hand dismissively, chuckling at himself. He realized he might be overestimating his own importance.
Anna’s presence didn’t necessarily an she knew a lot about him. She probably had no idea what Ryan was talking about when he ntioned the orphanage.
But before Ryan could finish his thought, Anna interrupted him, her voice filled with excitent as she set her glass down on the table with such force it nearly shattered, startling Ryan.
“What’s going on? Why such a big reaction?”
“No, I do know. I know about it all.”
“The orphanage is at 37 Riverside Avenue, a three-story duplex that houses seventy-one children. You ca from there.”
“You really miss that place, you always go back once a month to volunteer.”
Anna rattled off a string of information, countering Ryan’s assumption, and leaving him utterly stunned.
She was right, even more detailed than Ryan himself knew. He went there every month, but he didn’t even know how many children were there now.
How could Anna know so much about him? Ryan felt goosebumps rise on his skin as he grew increasingly puzzled.
But looking into Anna’s clear eyes, the flicker of suspicion in Ryan’s heart lted away.
Here was his sweet junior, knowing all these things didn’t an she was plotting anything against him.
He was just an ordinary person after all,who would go out of their way to gather information about him?
Maybe Anna just happened to know these things and had a good mory.
“My frown wasn’t because I have any aversion to you, but what you ntioned about the orphanage, as far as I know, there hasn’t been a fire.”
“No fire?”
Anna spoke earnestly, and after seeing Ryan’s startled reaction, she quickly switched back to her soft, soothing voice.
“But, the fire at the orphanage on March 17th, wasn’t it reported outside?”
Ryan, unable to suppress his inner turmoil any longer, leaned forward, grabbing Anna’s hands in his excitent.
Anna’s cheeks flushed with a hint of red as she noted Ryan’s agitated deanor, then nodded seriously.
It seed the orphanage was really important to Ryan. Anna silently filed this information away, knowing it might be useful later.
Worried that Ryan might not believe her, Anna pulled out her phone to show him the Daily Bugle from March 17th.
An event like a fire at an orphanage would definitely make the news if it had happened.
But there was no ntion of any fire in the newspaper. Instead, a conspicuous article about city leaders visiting the orphanage children stood out.
That day, the orphanage was safe and sound, with no fire at all.
Ryan was overwheld with shock. He couldn’t have misrembered,after all, he had died trying to put out that fire.
But now, faced with this reality, could it be that the tiline had changed?
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