The beach was secluded, with no houses around, and even the highway was desolate.

Fearing discovery, Hannah chose a path where no one trod.

Although her sense of direction was good, in a completely unfamiliar territory, she couldn’t determine which road would lead to the outside world.

Having no other option, she could only rely on her intuition to move forward.

The dress she wore, though pretty, offered no warmth against the plunging temperature; its hem had been torn in several places, and her legs bore corresponding wounds.

Fortunately, the wounds were shallow, merely seeping a trace of blood.

Walking on the damp, soft sand beneath her feet, Hannah looked up at the churning waves in the distance.

The ocean had lost its calm, dark clouds massed together and bore down heavily, inspiring awe.

A storm was approaching.

Hannah didn’t linger, turning to leave.

But after just two steps, she was forced to stop again.

...

Between heaven and earth there was no light; under the dark clouds, it seemed as though everything was in turmoil, the waves piling one after the other, surging toward the shore. The cold was wrapped in the wind, mercilessly pelting against the human body.

It was bone-chilling, leaving faces pale.

Hannah felt the cold too, but that was all.

Even her complexion remained calm, her eyes clear as glass. With the clouds overhead, the usually sparkling stars in her eyes had dimmed, "Long time no see, Miss Lynch."

She waved her hand, greeting her.

The dark pupils were tinged with a fragmented smile, pure and clean, nothing like someone being threatened with a gun.

In contrast, Tiffany Lynch, the one holding the weapon and seemingly at an advantage, couldn’t stop her hands from trembling.

She was afraid. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

It was an instinctual fear rising from her subconscious.

She feared Hannah.

Two years had passed since they last met, Tiffany Lynch had lost a great deal of weight, her face sallow and abnormal, her eyes and cheeks deeply sunken. Standing in the wind, she looked like a ghoul that had crawled out of hell.

Seeing that she remained silent, Hannah took another step forward.

"Why aren’t you speaking, Miss Lynch?" Her tone was one of care, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Tiffany Lynch’s face was severely pale, her body clad only in a thin hospital gown, her fingers gripping the gun stiff and blue with cold.

Hannah was in a white dress, wearing even less than Tiffany Lynch, yet her complexion was normal.

She wasn’t shivering with cold, nor was she stiff from the freeze.

Instead, the malice crushed in the smile of her eyes made Tiffany Lynch tremble within.

"Don’t come any closer!" Tiffany Lynch screamed, her voice hoarse as though she hadn’t spoken for a long time.

"Miss Lynch, are you afraid of me?" Hannah stopped, smiling gently, her soft voice almost beguiling, "You see, you have a gun. It should be me who’s afraid of you."

The cold wind blew again, driving the rain-laden clouds towards the sea, where raindrops fell and disturbed the water even further, a white blur, as if the entire ocean might be overturned.

Tiffany Lynch looked down at the weapon in her hand, then back up at Hannah standing in front of her with an innocent face. Something seemed to click in her mind.

She began to mutter repeatedly, as if in delusion, "Right, I have a weapon, I have a gun, I have a weapon, I have a gun..."

She was here for vengeance.

That person had told her she could have her revenge.

She could kill Hannah Winter.

She could kill her!