Zombie Apocalypse: I Have Safe Zone Superpower

Chapter 772: Chapter 772: Bullied Gwen

Annie seized an opening, grabbed Gwen’s wrist, twisted it behind her back, and threw her hard onto the floor.

Before Gwen could recover, another punch landed. One by one, punches rained down on her.

Soon, Gwen’s cries replaced her angry shouting.

“Aah! Stop! It hurts!”

Bruises quickly spread across her arms, shoulders, and face. Finally, Annie stepped backward, breathing heavily.

She wasn’t completely unharmed either.

Her lips had split open slightly. A vivid slap mark remained across her cheek.

Aside from that, she was largely uninjured.

Gwen, however, looked utterly miserable. Her hair had become a tangled mess.

Dark bruises covered nearly every visible part of her body. She lay curled up on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

In truth, Annie had only stopped because, midway through the one-sided beating, Gwen had suddenly broken down into genuine tears.

She no longer looked angry. She looked broken. Seeing that pitiful sight, Annie’s heart softened despite herself.

She silently stepped away. But Gwen didn’t stop crying. Her sobs only became louder.

“It’s not fair…it’s so unfair… every single time…whenever I try to stand up… you appear… you steal everything from me… and now… you even ruined my future…”

She cried and shouted simultaneously, her voice filled with years of accumulated resentment.

Annie frowned deeply. “Stop acting as if your entire world has collapsed.”

She folded her arms across her chest.

“Have some shame and stand up.”

Gwen abruptly looked up. “What do you know?”

Her voice trembled with pain. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered?”

Fresh tears rolled down her face as she continued sobbing. Annie remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“Oh? What kind of suffering is there that I wouldn’t understand?”

Gwen glared at her through tear-filled eyes. “You stole everything from me. Are you happy now? Does it make you feel good inside?”

Annie fell silent. After a long pause, she quietly asked,

“You really believe that I stole everything from you?”

Gwen continued crying without answering.

Letting out a weary sigh, Annie slowly walked over before sitting down beside her on the floor.

She stared quietly ahead.

As she did, a conversation from a week earlier resurfaced in her mind.

One week ago, Gwen’s father had personally come to visit Annie.

He hadn’t come with any hidden agenda.

The only reason for his visit was to get to know Annie better.

Ever since Annie’s mother, or rather, Gwen’s late mother, had expressed her wish to see Annie return to the family and hoped someone would understand her better, he had carried that wish in his heart.

By spending time with Annie, he believed he was fulfilling one of his late wife’s final hopes.

Annie understood his intentions.

During one of their conversations, she had casually mentioned how Gwen had been using Felix’s name to gain influence within the company.

After hearing everything, he didn’t become angry.

Nor did he criticize Gwen.

Instead, he remained silent for a long time before looking at Annie with a heavy expression.

A deep sense of guilt lingered within his tired eyes.

“Whatever Gwen has become today, part of the responsibility lies with me. I was the one who constantly made life difficult for her. My inexperience as a father, my poor parenting, they slowly shaped her into the person she has become today.”

Hearing those words, Annie was stunned. “What do you mean?”

Gwen’s father slowly closed his eyes.

For a long moment, he remained silent, as if he were forcing himself to relive memories he had spent years trying to bury.

A weary sigh escaped his lips.

“When Gwen lost her mother…”

His voice grew noticeably heavier.

“…she also lost the one person who should have raised her with patience, warmth, and gentleness. I wasn’t that person.”

His weathered hands slowly tightened around the teacup resting on the table.

“I raised her harshly. I expected her to become independent far too early. I made her take care of herself. I made fighting the centre of her entire life. I never really spoke to her the way a father should speak to his daughter.”

His expression became increasingly bitter.

“Because of that, she was bullied throughout her childhood. The other girls looked at her as nothing more than a tomboy. They mocked, insulted, and isolated her. There was never anyone willing to stand beside her.”

He lowered his head. “I thought making her stronger would protect her.”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face.

“But all I really did was make her lonelier.”

He took another deep breath before continuing.

“It wasn’t until she began living on her own that she slowly started changing. She became calmer. She started smiling more. For the first time, she looked like an ordinary young woman.”

His smile quickly disappeared.

“But even then, I still didn’t know how to be a proper father. I believed giving her freedom was enough. I let her do whatever she wanted. When I should have accompanied her… I stayed behind. When she needed someone beside her… there was no one.”

His eyes became noticeably moist. Looking directly at Annie, he quietly asked,

“Sometimes, I truly wonder… if she had a sibling standing beside her throughout all those years, would she still have become the person she is today?”

Hearing those words, Annie slowly lowered her gaze. A complicated emotion surfaced within her heart.

Perhaps the biggest reason she herself hadn’t lost her way was because she had never truly been alone.

Even after everything she had suffered, her brother had always been there to accompany her.

Gwen never had that luxury. After another brief silence, Gwen’s father continued.

“Later, during her college years, I watched her become a different person.”

A faint smile finally appeared on his face.

“She smiled much more often. She started dressing more femininely. She laughed. She made friends. For the first time, she actually looked happy.”

His expression gradually became filled with regret.

“But that was also when I became nervous. You see, my entire life’s dream had always revolved around martial arts. I wanted her to become the national champion. I wanted to see her standing proudly on television. I wanted everyone to know that she was my daughter.”

His shoulders slowly slumped.

“That dream became the very thing that destroyed her.”

He closed his eyes once again.

“She had been deprived of love for so many years. So when someone finally gave her affection, she became intoxicated by it. She couldn’t tell whether it was genuine.”

“So she kept testing it, she wanted proof. She wanted reassurance. And before she finally realised what she truly wanted, I had already stepped in. I warned her not to chase impossible dreams. I pushed her away again.”

He let out another long sigh.

“I’m not trying to say she’s innocent. She has done many terrible things. Many. I’m well aware of that.”

He looked toward Annie with tired eyes. “I simply feel sorry for her. That’s all.”

Annie remained silent. She neither agreed nor disagreed.

Those words quietly remained inside her heart.

Now, looking at Gwen lying on the floor, crying so helplessly, looking so broken, she couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

She slowly sat beside Gwen. Her voice was gentle.

“Do you know anything about my past?”

Gwen continued sobbing without answering. Annie looked ahead blankly.

“Sometimes, I wonder, if that kidnapping had never happened, would we have become wonderful sisters?”

The moment those words left her mouth, Gwen froze.

Even her sobbing gradually subsided. Annie continued quietly.

“When I met you for the very first time, I didn’t have any ill intentions toward you.”

Her eyes softened.

“In fact, you immediately became one of the people closest to me.”

A faint smile appeared across her lips.

“You look so much like me. So much, it almost feels like I’m looking at another version of myself. A version of Annie who grew up with her real parents, instead of growing up as an orphan under adoptive parents.”

Hearing those words, Gwen’s eyes slowly became moist once again. The anger inside them wavered.

Seeing that, Annie smiled gently. “So, let’s become good sisters. Let’s forget everything that happened before.”

For a brief moment, no one spoke.

Then, Gwen suddenly laughed. The laughter was cold and filled with ridicule.

“Impossible.”

She slowly raised her head, glaring at Annie.

“You went behind my back. You gossiped about me to your precious sister-in-law. And then she came to lecture me. Do you seriously believe I’d still have any goodwill toward you after that?”

Annie’s brows knitted together in confusion. “When did I ever do something like that?”

Those words caused Gwen to freeze. She carefully stared into Annie’s eyes. There wasn’t the slightest hint of guilt there.

Gwen blinked several times before shouting,

“You’re lying, aren’t you? Now you’re going to pretend you’re innocent? Oh, Annie…”

She let out another mocking laugh. “I almost believed you were actually sincere.”

Seeing Gwen’s reaction, Annie quietly sighed. She understood one thing.

If this misunderstanding continued, there was a high chance Gwen would only drift further down the wrong path.