Chapter 91: Twisted Love

**Flashback to the Past, Behind Holy Cross Orphanage, Deep in a Cave:**

Fana pushed aside the branches and weeds covering the cave entrance and stepped into the pitch-black darkness. She held a small flashlight, its beam slicing through the darkness but barely making a dent in it.

The light found a child huddled in a corner, knees pulled to her chest.

Raya Hada lifted her head, squinting against the glare.

"Here, eat," Fana said, offering some food.

Raya didn't move. She just pouted and shook her head.

Fana turned off the flashlight and sat down next to her in the dark.

For a while, the two girls sat in silence, until Raya finally spoke.

"I don't want to go back," she whispered. "I hate that place. I hate everyone."

Fana didn't say anything; she just gently patted her on the head.

"I like it here," Raya continued, her voice a little calmer. "It's quiet. No annoying people."

This cave was their secret hideout, known only to them. They had carefully camouflaged the entrance with branches and bushes so no one else would find it.

Even if they hadn't hidden it, chances were slim anyone else would come across it. The orphanage was mostly filled with kids who either didn't care or couldn't get around much. Of the few who did explore, only these two ever ventured this far.

Raya looked at Fana in the darkness. "We'll always be friends, right?"

"Yeah," Fana replied softly, stroking her hair like she would a younger sister. "Always."

---

**Present Day:**

"I thought you'd forgotten about this place," Raya said. "I'm guessing that accident at Yoshimura's store made you reach out to me, right? When I realized you were there, I figured this might happen. But how'd you connect me to Yoshimura?"

"Neighbor," Fana replied softly. "I asked around."

"A neighbor saw me? Probably that chatty Aunt Li," Raya shrugged. "I only stayed at Yoshimura's for a few days, and I tried my best to stay out of sight. But I guess someone saw me."

Earlier that day, when investigators from the Ninth Office were poking around Yoshimura's neighborhood, a neighbor mentioned seeing a little girl going in and out of the house a couple of days before the Yoshimura couple disappeared. According to the neighbors, the couple didn't have any kids.

Fana had heard about it and went to ask the neighbors herself. When she saw the girl, she immediately thought of her old friend from the orphanage.

So she came here, back to where she grew up.

"Look at you, all fancy now," Raya said sarcastically. "I bet it's hard for you to come back to a dump like this for someone like me."

"I don't—"

"Let me guess," Raya interrupted. "That old guy, Zhai Liangtao, must treat you like royalty now. If he could, he'd probably kneel and kiss your feet."

Raya clearly wasn't interested in listening to her.

"Because you look all put-together now, you've turned into a white swan, so there's no way you'd hang out with us ugly ducklings anymore. You know what? I've seen you. I've seen you outside. 

Living in a fancy apartment downtown, wearing designer clothes, and getting picked up in a private car. That old guy used to treat us like dirt, but now he practically worships you. 

I bet you feel pretty good about yourself now, huh?"

Fana stayed silent, unsure of how to respond.

"Ha, if you're trying to say that donating money makes you feel better, I already know," Raya said, unimpressed. "I don't care what promises the old guy made about the future of this place. We all know it's just an illusion."

Raya stared coldly.

"I know it, and deep down, you know it too. We're all outcasts, right from the start. Our lives are set on a straight path, and even if we meet someone along the way, we're destined to be abandoned again in the end. That's who we are. Maybe you can use money and status to cover it up, and maybe others will play along, telling you that you matter. You can throw cash around to make this cursed place look better, but no matter how hard you try to lose yourself in that lie, you'll never feel whole. Because we're born with that emptiness."

Fana was silent for a moment.

"You were adopted," she said suddenly. "Why—"

"Glad you mentioned it," Raya interrupted with a smile. "Yeah, that experience was a big deal to me. I actually thought, for a while, that the emptiness could be filled. But I was wrong. They felt like I owed them for the adoption and that I could never meet their expectations. I think they just acted on impulse, and it didn't take long for their initial enthusiasm to fade. I overheard them talking seriously about sending me back here. That's when I realized that some things we're born with, like a curse, can't be shaken off, no matter how much we hate them."

She paused, then her childish face twisted into a permeating smile.

"But that's when I learned something even more important," she continued with a grin. "If God took something from us at birth, we have no choice but to take it back ourselves. See, it's like this."

Fana noticed figures emerging from the shadows of the flames on both sides.

There were two people, a man and a woman, with twisted bones and bloated bodies. Their bloodshot eyes bulged out, making them look terrifying.

"Meet my parents, the Jordans," Raya said with a bright smile. "Look, they love me with all their hearts now."

Fana glanced at them.

"What did you do?"

Raya didn't answer directly.

"Remember when I asked you why there's so much love in the world and why everyone else seems to have it except for us? But that doesn't matter anymore."

The girl's grin grew wider, looking even more sinister in the flickering firelight.

At the same time, Fana noticed more pairs of eyes lighting up from the shadows all around the cave. Men and women with twisted bodies, some walking and some crawling, stepped out of the darkness into the light. Countless shadows danced on the stone walls and floor, weaving into a dark net that protected Raya in the center.

"Look," the girl said, her smile even brighter. "Now I have many people who love me."