Chapter 356: The Fountain of Youth (13)
There had always been a photograph sitting on the desk in Everly’s bedroom.
The young girl in the photograph had golden hair and blue-gray eyes. With a rebellious, defiant expression, she stared stubbornly into the camera, her appearance carrying the contradictory combination of youthful vitality and a hint of weariness.
That was Everly’s biological mother, Rachel.
The woman appearing on the theater screen had fewer of the prickly defenses of a hedgehog and a softer, more maternal air about her, but her facial features were essentially identical to those in the photograph.
Therefore, Everly recognized her at a glance.
It was her mother, Rachel.
The woman was covered in bruises, her left arm broken. Her maternity clothes were stained with blood, and she looked as though she had just walked out of a car wreck—disheveled and haggard. Yet there was not the slightest trace of pain on her face.
Through the screen, she gazed at her daughter with tenderness and reluctance to let go, a faint smile appearing on her face.
“Everly, I’ve always wanted to see what you’d look like when you grew up… To me, the fact that you’re alive is already such a wonderful thing. Thank you for growing up safe and sound.”