Puzzled, ra frowned. “What ten years? What are you talking about? Have you mistaken me for someone else?”


    “Absolutely no,” Horace said quietly, “I recognized you the minute I saw the picture. I’m one hundred percent sure that’s you.”


    But ra was still confused, so Horace continued to exin patiently, “Ten year ago, the suburb in Stratmont, think harder.”


    Sitting on hisp, ra tried to recollect the memories before she finally remembered something and looked at him in shock, “That was you! You were the teenage boy!”


    As it turned out, ra had been already brought to the Middletons back then. It happened one day when Ashlee had gone to some summer camp, and Mr. and Ms. Middleton were at work.


    She was alone at home, so she secretly put on Ashlee’s red dress and went out to y.


    No one would care about her anyway.


    She was afraid to go downtown, so she went to a familiar suburb, where she came across a teenage boy with blood all over him.


    That was Horace.ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    Never had seen anything like that before, she was terrified, but goaded by a sense of righteousness, her little body generated an infinite power.


    ra carried him all the way to a hospital.


    It was then ra identally tore Ashlee’s dress.


    Fearing that she would get caught wearing that clothe, ra soon hurried home after she had left Horace at the hospital.


    The dress was tainted with blood, which she hoped to get off by hand-washing it.


    But she ended up tearing the dress. She stealthily put it back and had never talked about it to anyone.


    As time went by, ra had forgot about the incident all together.


    Until Horace brought it up.


    Horace tenderly kissed ra and whispered to her ear, “I’m so d that it was you who saved me. Our destined encounter happened earlier than two years ago.”


    ra blushed, amazed by how wondrous and beautiful fate was.


    Horace’s heart was melting as he looked down and saw her rosy cheeks.


    How great.


    The little girl who had saved him was still how he remembered her to be. Kind, and determined, nothing like Ashlee.


    His face fell as he thought of Ashlee.


    Horace had mistakenly thought of Ashlee as the girl who had saved him, so he had kept refraining himself from avenging what she had done to ra and let ra deal with her instead.


    But since he had known the truth, he wouldn’t have to feel indebted to her and rein in his hatred anymore.


    He decided to pay her back himself.


    ra asked, “What are you going to do?”


    “You might steel clear of this,” Horace said.


    ra didn’t want to get involved anyway.


    The next morning day after she had a good sleep at home, she woke up and received a phone call from Glenn, who snarled on the phone, “ra Selman, do you want to ruin my family?”


    ra frowned. “What’s going on?”


    “You are the one to ask. Just check the news.”


    ra found out from the trends on twitter that the Middletons was officially broke, leaving Glenn hundreds of millions in debt, all because of Solrace.


    Glenn shouted at ra, “You are such a traitor. You colluded with that Kirnd and destroyed us, what do you want? Even though yourst name isn’t Middleton, you are still my daughter and has half of my blood. You father and sister are suffering, and your mother is sick. Not only did you not care, you have inflicted more troubles on us. What’s your scheme? Son of a bitch, bastard, traitor…”


    As every word came out ever harsher, ra was exasperated with her hands starting to shake.


    Meanwhile, Horace who had been at the bathroom freshening up before he came out and heard Glenn yelling on the phone. He took on a cold look and then grabbed it from ra, hanging up on him.


    “Why would you do that?” ra raised her head and asked Horace, “Why did you suppress Mind Inc again?”


    “To take revenge for you, not just over this time, but what the family have owed you and your mother over thest twenty years.”


    “What did you do to Ashlee?”


    “I’m sending her to a military camp in Africa,” answered Horace without any hesitation.


    ra was stunned and then she soon realized what would have happened to a beautiful woman in a camp.


    She thought it would be an appalling thing to do. A tinge of pity shed across her face, while Horace said, “Step out of this thing. I’ll take care of it.


    ra hesitated for a while before she nodded with a fatigued look.


    re was not an angel or some moral crusader. Ashlee had more than once preyed on her, so she had no desire to stick up for her anymore.


    Everybody had their karmic debt. If Ashlee hadn’t hadmitted so many sins against ra, she wouldn’t havee to that ce.


    During the talk, some chaotic noises were hearding from downstairs.


    A help rushed upstairs, saying that Sean and Darren hade over.


    Horace told ra to rest at the bedroom while he himself went downstairs.


    ra was still so worried that she came to the top of the stair and saw that Sean and Darren’s face were red from the fight with Horace.


    They wanted Horace to spare Ashlee.


    She was a woman after all. Besides, she’s pregnant with a Kirnd baby, so they would not, in any way, watched her being shipped off to Africa.


    Especially Sean, who was being really remorseful.


    He was merciless, but he wouldn’t do anything at the expense of family. The only reason he had asked Ashlee to set ra up was because he had thought that Horace would never hurt her for the sake of her having been his lifesaver.


    However, ra was his bottom line, and Horace would stop at nothing to teach those who had hurt her a lesson.


    Besides, Ashlee wasn’t the one who had saved his life at all.


    “Can’t you just let it go this time, Horace,” said Sean, clenching his teeth, “All things aside, we are family.”


    “Uncle Horace, please let her off, and I owe you one for this,” Darren pleaded, “No matter how mad you are at Ashlee, please spare her for the baby’s sake.”


    “No way!” Horace, however, wouldn’t relent at all. “She should have seen thising when she did that to ra.”


    Sean and Darren were in despair.


    They knew how cruelly determined he could be once he’s set on something, and once he said he wouldn’t let her off, she’s going to hell.


    Then it was imaginable that her child would be…


    ra, who was listening to the conversation upstairs, suddenly had an idea.


    Just when the father and son had lost their hope, she slowly came downstairs and said,


    “Horace could let her off, but on one condition.”