Li Hua steeled herself, drawing a deep breath and releasing it slowly.
"By the time I got there..." Anna's voice cracked slightly, her usual fierce demeanor giving way to raw pain. "Your home was in chaos. Your perfect garden turned into a battlefield, blood staining the snow. And there you were, lying so still, in pieces..."
A heavy silence fell between them, the weight of that final night pressing down on both their shoulders. The pristine white snow stained crimson, the perfect setup of the ambush, the betrayal that had cut deeper than any blade—memories neither of them had truly escaped, even in this new world.
