The shadow lightly tapped Charlotte on the shoulder. Charlotte yawned but did not turn around.


    "Just leave the coffee there. Thanks, Sterling."


    Sterling quietly ced the coffee aside.


    "Yeah, you should try not to stay up toote. Get some rest."


    “Haha, you''ve really changed since back then... But I can feel it, and you can too." Charlotte smiled.


    Sterling nodded.


    "Now, Mosley is dead. The person who saved you and your mother... seems to be the me from my previous life."


    Charlotte waved her hand. "I know, which is why I didn''t mention it during the day. I didn''t expect you to have noticed."


    Sterling picked up a nearby document.


    "Impressive, Charlotte. You were able to detect this."


    "It''s nothing, just some basics."


    "How''s your mother now?"


    Charlotte suddenly paused in the middle of her work. Sterling realized he had said the wrong and quickly stepped forward to apologize.


    "Sorry about that," Sterling said.


    Charlotte shook her head and continued typing away at her keyboard. "It''s okay. My mother was content with her fate, so... it''s alright."


    Sterling quickly shifted the topic. "Oh, that''s good. By the way, Charlotte, who did you learn all these skills from?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Your ability to gather intelligence."


    "From an organization. Sorry, but I can''t reveal their name. They gave me the codename ''Zero'' for a reason. We aren''t meant to be seen in public. We''ve always worked behind the scenes to maintain a certain bnce, though some might deem our efforts insignificant."


    Sterling said with a smile, "I think it''s impressive. You should continue as you did before."


    With that, Sterling left the room. Charlotte picked up the coffee and took a piece of candy out of her pocket. Unwrapping it, she dropped the candy into the cup. Rain began to fall outside, stirring up memories from years ago.


    ...


    "Mom, I''m so hungry."


    The heavy rain washed away everything but their hunger.


    Charlotte''s mother took out thest of their food from her pocket and divided it between her son and daughter.


    "Why hasn''t Dade back yet?" Charlotte asked as she nestled in her mother''s


    arms.


    Her mother gently reassured her, "Don''t worry, sweetie. Dad will be home soon." Suddenly, there was a hasty knocking at the door, and the two children ran excitedly toward it while their mother called out from behind. "Slow down, yton, Charlotte."


    When the door opened, however, it was not the familiar face they were expecting. Instead, a ck-d figure holding an umbre was standing there.


    Their mother stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?"


    The ck-d figure said nothing. With a snap of his fingers, they fell unconscious.


    When Charlotte awoke, her brother was nowhere to be found, and the yard was


    filled with blood. It looked like a scene from hell.


    An elderly man stood before her mother, who was covered in wounds.


    Charlotte immediately rushed forward. "Mom!"