When His Perfect Mask Shattered I Awoke (Anneliese) novel Chapter 561

"Anne, you should have what the other kids have. Just tell your dad or me whenever you want something, alright?"

Anneliese's adoptive mother gently tied her hair into a neat ponytail using a brand-new scrunchie, caressed her head, and smiled with a warmth that made her heart melt.

Flushing, she hugged her mom lightly. The next morning, she arrived at school before anyone else. She raised her hand for every question in class, wanting everyone to notice the beautiful scrunchie her mom had made.

She was certain that no other girl at school owned a scrunchie as exquisite as hers.

She cherished it like a treasure. Each night, she carefully placed it under her pillow. She wore it daily for over a year, even replacing its elastic three times.

Yet eventually, she lost it—after both her parents were gone.

She had lost her mom, and with her, the precious scrunchie. Countless times, she cried quietly over it, searching every corner in vain.

Anneliese never imagined that more than ten years later, she would lay eyes on that scrunchie again.

And it happened in the most unexpected way.

She gripped the hair tie tightly, turning toward Jonathan, her lips trembling.

"Why do you have the hair tie I wore as a kid?"

The scrunchie, the portrait in the room that mirrored her so perfectly, and her grandma's sudden, fiery reaction the instant she laid eyes on him...

Anneliese sensed she was grazing the edge of a buried truth, yet her memories instinctively recoiled, retreating behind a shielded blank.

Jonathan reached for her hand gently. He pried open her clenched fingers and lifted the scrunchie from her palm.

Then he placed a small black velvet box into her hand.

Encouraged by him, she opened the box.

What she saw inside struck her like a bolt of lightning. Her eyes burned instantly.

Nestled in the brocade box was a blood-stained, charred badge.

The name embroidered on it read Frederick Claude—her adoptive father.

Her hands trembled violently. The box slipped, and she staggered, struggling to stay upright.

"Honey!"

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify