The skin texture was so fine and realistic,
the beard detail even included the tender stubble,
and there was nothing awkward about the change in facial shape; it was as if it had always been this way.
Just a moment ago, Lin Xian even doubted that the mirror was real; he never suspected that the unfamiliar face in the mirror was actually the masterpiece of makeup.
No...
It couldn’t just be called makeup anymore.
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Lin Xian gently touched this face that didn’t belong to him:
"Can I touch it?"
"Of course, just don’t get it wet."
"Your skill in transformation is too impressive..."
Lin Xian shook his head from side to side, looking at the stranger in the mirror—a complete stranger.
It wasn’t just that his own mother wouldn’t recognize him; even Lin Xian himself didn’t believe it was him.
"Didn’t you say someone was trying to kill you?"
While packing things away, Angelica placed these items into the luggage:
"If you go out like this, that assassin will certainly not recognize you, and you won’t have to be scared anymore."
Lin Xian stood still for a moment.
Putting down the mirror, he looked at the Hollywood star in front of him, the Oscar queen, the Seven Sins of Lust, the older sister who grew up holding Ji Lin in her arms...
She was truly thoughtful.
For a moment, Lin Xian felt as if he had unjustly doubted a noble heart with his small-mindedness.
"Thank you."
Lin Xian said softly.
"You’re welcome."
Angelica replied indifferently.
Then she combined the two oversized suitcases, pushed them to the corner of the living room, turned back, and smiled at Lin Xian:
"After all... aren’t we partners united by a common grudge?"
"If you die on the way, who will fulfill the promise? Who will help me find Ji Lin’s murderer? I must do my utmost to protect you."
Lin Xian scratched the curly hair at the back of his head:
"Were you... always this considerate in looking after Ji Lin?"
Angelica looked down and smiled:
"I wish I could have been, but I never had the chance."
She threw her head back, and her wavy brown hair cascaded to her shoulders:
"When Ji Xinshui first brought Ji Lin to the orphanage, Ji Lin was not even one year old, just a baby in swaddling clothes. At that time, I was not even four years old myself, but I had already gotten used to looking after my younger siblings."
"I think I’ve told you before? I was born in a war-torn country. When Ji Xinshui rescued me from the charred rubble, everyone from my family was dead around me—my brothers and sisters, my parents. From such a large family, only I survived."
"So... maybe deliberately or not, I treated Ji Lin the same way I would have cared for my deceased siblings. I raised Ji Lin in the orphanage. I mixed his formula, changed his diapers, read stories to him, played with him..."
"I raised him from a baby into a little boy who loved to read, who loved to solve math problems. I really liked this little brother. I poured all my familial love and affection into Ji Lin."
"But as we grew older, we were separated. Ji Xinshui sent me to Hollywood to fight my way up as a child star, while Ji Lin was raised by his cousin, who later became Xu Yun’s wife, under Ji Xinshui’s high hopes."
"However, Ji Lin and I always kept in touch. Whenever I had the chance, I would fly back to see him... It’s just that Hollywood is not an easy place, and I didn’t have much time to spend with Ji Lin, maybe only one or two breaks a year to go see him."
"Because... why so busy? You’re right to guess that Ji Xinshui had indeed assigned me tasks. You’re smart, and you guessed right—it was intelligence gathering tasks. After the two of them were arrested, I was also investigated by the Mi Country police, but in the end, I was indeed spotless... because the two of them, an old man and a child, really never told me what they were doing. I was completely unaware."
"It’s true that the old man didn’t raise me much, and even sent me to Hollywood to be his tool for gathering intelligence... But I am still very thankful to him. When I was most desperate, my family had all died, and I was alone, he gave Ji Lin to me and gave me hope to continue living."
"So, Ji Lin is my everything, my all, and the reason I live. Everything I work for is to make Ji Lin happy, to see him joyful, to help him fulfill his desire to avenge our parents."
"Anything he wants, I would make it happen for him. But he never made any requests of me... The only time was that painting, ’The Sorrowful Einstein.’ At that time, the painting was with a Hollywood director, and Ji Lin asked me if I could buy it for him."
"Anything that Ji Lin asks of me, why couldn’t I do it? I would make it happen for him. To tell you the truth, the day Ji Lin told me that he had made a friend named Lin Xian, I truly felt lost, jealous, and heartbroken... I know it’s contradictory. On one hand, I wanted Ji Lin to make good friends, on the other hand, I feared he would drift farther away from me."
"And then... well, unfortunately."
Angelica chuckled dryly and spread her hands:
"Before I, as the older sister, had time to process my own emotions, Ji Lin had left this world."
"I’m a reasonable person. I don’t blame you, nor do I blame Zhou Duanyun. I know that the real killers of Ji Lin are not you two, but the Genius Club they were always chasing, yet seemed to have been deceived and used by."
"I realized this too late... By the time I became aware, it was already too late. The relatives closest to me had left me for a second time; the brother I most cherished, Ji Lin, had made mistakes because of their manipulation, and died on the path to avenging our parents."
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"So, just like you asked me yesterday, now that I know who the killer is... What can I do? What can I do?"
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head to look at Lin Xian:
"Lin Xian, you’ll tell me... who the killer of Ji Lin and his parents is, right?"
"I can wait, I can wait a long time. But in the end, the day you really join the Genius Club meeting... You’ll tell me, won’t you?"
"I will," Lin Xian nodded:
"I keep my word."
"That’s good," Angelica smiled faintly as she lowered her head:
"Do you know why I trust you like this, unconditionally? Even now that you’re in trouble, when you actually don’t have any chips to negotiate with me... But I still believe in you."
"It’s not because of anything else, just because..."
She raised her head.
Looking at Lin Xian, it was as if she was seeing the shadow behind him:
"It’s just because you were the friend recognized by Ji Lin."
"So I... will always believe in you."