Chapter 1

On the day of the avalanche, my own brother cut the safety rope around my waist to save his fake sister who had stolen my place in the family.

As the snow piled high above me and my body heat began to fade, I cried out to Shawn Lingard, reaching out my stiff, frozen hands.

"Shawn! Don't leave me behind, or my adoptive father's men will come for you and blow this whole mountain up!"

It had been a year since I was found and brought back to the prestigious Lingard family.

I had always played the part of a timid, submissive girl, never talking about my adoptive parents abroad.

Therefore, the Lingard family didn't know that the couple who adopted me were the leaders of an international mercenary group.

My adoptive father was a master marksman, my adoptive mother was an explosives expert, and I was the beloved little princess in their unit.

But my biological brother only laughed coldly as he pulled the rope back.

"Stop lying! You're just a country bumpkin, what powerful men could your adoptive father possibly have?

"I was kind enough to take you skiing, but you actually dared to compete with Janice? Don't you know she can't handle even the slightest shock?"

With that, he grabbed the fake sister and turned to leave.

"If your adoptive parents are so impressive, have them send a helicopter to rescue you!"

I watched the light above disappear, then used the last of my strength to press the red button on my satellite locator.

Little did Shawn know, the moment this signal went out, the entire snowy mountain would become his grave.

Chapter 1

In my vision, Shawn vanished completely into the wind and snow. All that remained was the howling wind, mocking my stupidity.

I struggled to open my eyes. Beside me stood only Shawn's personal assistant, Gary Mendes. He stared at me with a complicated look on his face.

A spark of hope ignited in me—the instinctive will to survive.

"Save... save me..."

Gary's hand reached out, stopped halfway, then pulled back.

"I'm sorry, Miss Anna.

"Mr. Lingard said Miss Janice was frightened, so everyone had to escort her down the mountain.

"Mr. Lingard said the avalanche has stopped and you're not buried that deep. Since you grew up in the countryside, a little bit of snow like this won't freeze you to death. He said you should calm down."

Gary guiltily averted his gaze after he finished speaking.

A simple pull from him would have helped me crawl out, but he wouldn't even do that.

He chose to obey that stupid CEO of his and leave a living, breathing person behind in the snow pit.

The footsteps faded away, the distinctive crunch of boots on snow. I was completely abandoned.

I desperately tried to bend my fingers, reaching for the hard object inside my underclothes.

It was something my adoptive mother gave me before I returned to the Lingard family.

She said, "Anna, this is a life-saving talisman. Don't use it unless you have no other choice because once you do, your peaceful life will come to an end."

Back then, I said with a smile, "I won't need this. My biological parents and brother will take care of me."

Thinking back now, what a colossal joke that was.

I summoned every last ounce of strength to press the red button.

Beep.

The indicator light flickered weakly twice, then went dark.

The satellite signal was sent successfully.

I wasn't sure if I could hold on until they arrived from abroad. After all, I was in a no-man's-land sealed off by the avalanche.

Just then, the phone screen pressing against my chest suddenly lit up. It was a special vibration pattern.

There was a new message in the "Mercenary Group of Love" group chat.

Even with the weak signal, on this special frequency, the message still came through.

Eason Keller had posted a photo. In the photo, he was polishing a heavy sniper rifle, its barrel dark and glinting coldly.

The caption was simple:

"Anna, we've received your location. We happen to be on a mission near the border, only 200 kilometers away from you. This snowy mountain has a nice view, perfect for burying people."

I wanted to laugh but couldn't move my lips. I wanted to reply but my fingers were too frozen to type on the screen.

Chapter 2

My consciousness started to blur.

In a daze, I seemed to have returned to those days abroad.

It was a dangerous place, but full of vitality.

When I was five, I was abducted and trafficked, eventually ending up at the border. It was Old Hawk who pulled me out among a pile of corpses.

He thought I was filthy, but he gave me half a piece of hardtack.

My adoptive father, Old Hawk, was a man of few words, and also one of the world's top marksmen.

He taught me how to assemble a Glock in three seconds. He said, "A gun is a partner more reliable than people."

My adoptive mother, TNT, was an elegant lunatic.

She taught me how to make liquid bombs from supermarket detergent.

She said, "If anyone bullies you, blow them up. No need to reason with them."

And then there was Eason, my sworn brother who crawled out of the same pile of corpses.

He always saved the best meat for me. With a smile, he would break the arms and legs of anyone who made me cry.

Those days of living on the knife's edge yet wrapped in love, I had given them up with my own hands because I craved so-called "blood kinship".

I thought that with blood ties, I could have a real family.

I abandoned the identity of "Red Fox" and played the part of the obedient, timid biological daughter of the Lingard family.

Shawn once handed me a glass of water when I had a fever. I was moved to tears.

I thought that was family warmth, but reality gave me a hard slap on the face.

I later learned that the water was leftover from Janice. Shawn only gave it to me because Janice found it too hot.

A sharp pain shot through my body, yanking me out of my memories.

It wasn't the warmth of rescue, but the sharp pain of metal hitting bone.

Crack.

A rescue worker's metal shovel slammed hard into my thigh.

I let out a muffled groan, my consciousness partially returning.

I was dragged roughly out of the snow. There was no stretcher, no emergency treatment like I'd imagined.

The rescue worker looked at me with disgust.

"You're lucky to be alive after being buried that long. We wasted half an hour rescuing you. Mr. Lingard is furious."

He didn't even give me basic first aid or bandaging. He just tossed me carelessly onto a cart used for transporting supplies.

After a bumpy ride, I was hauled back to camp.

The medical tent was right in front of me. Warm yellow light spilled out from inside, along with the roar of a heater.

Two bodyguards dragged me in. The warmth hit my face, but it wasn't meant for me.

Janice was wrapped in a thick cashmere blanket, sitting in the only cushioned chair. She was surrounded by doctors and nurses, all wearing tense expressions.

"Miss Janice, does it hurt?"

"Quick, bring the best ointment!"

I struggled to lift my eyelids.

Janice had merely scraped her finger, not even enough to draw blood, yet the only emergency heater in the tent was blowing directly on her finger at full force.

I was soaked through, curled up on the muddy ground in the corner of the tent, the wound on my thigh gaping with torn flesh. No one paid me any attention.

Gary saw my miserable state when he hurried past me. He paused briefly, then casually tossed me an old towel stained with dirt.

"Wipe yourself. Don't dirty the carpet. Mr. Lingard is keeping Miss Janice company while she's receiving therapy. Don't bother them, it'll do you no good. Stay in this corner and don't go anywhere."

I gritted my teeth, staring at that towel. The light in my eyes went out completely at that moment.

I was thrown into an abandoned storage room.

Drafts came in from all sides. It was barely better than being left outside.

There was no doctor, no medicine.

I leaned against the wall, the wound on my thigh still oozing blood.

Chapter 3

The door was pushed open, and Janice walked in wearing a pink patient's gown.

She toyed with a pair of medical scissors in her hand, wearing a victor's smile.

That fragile, helpless look from earlier was gone. In its place was pure venom and cruelty.

She dismissed the bodyguards and closed the door behind her.

"Anna, you're so hard to kill."

Janice walked up to me and crouched down. The tip of the scissors lightly traced across my injured face. The sensation was chilling.

"Let me tell you a secret. That safety rope didn't break by accident."

She leaned close to my ear and whispered, "I cut it halfway through beforehand. And that avalanche? I had someone detonate a miniature explosive at a specific location."

I looked up with a start and stared at her.

Although I had suspected as much, hearing it from her own mouth still made me incredulous.

To compete for favor, she actually triggered an avalanche? Was she trying to bury our entire group?

Janice saw through my thoughts and laughed hysterically.

"What's there to be afraid of? My brother will protect me. I just wanted to see whom he would choose in a situation of life and death. The answer is obvious now, isn't it?"

She patted my cheek with the scissors, her eyes full of mockery.

"You, the real sister, have lost completely. In this family, blood means nothing. What matters is who's better at acting."

I wanted to tear her mouth apart, but I had no strength left. I couldn't even lift my arms.

Janice looked at my miserable state and became even more smug.

"Don't blame me. You're the one who came back out of the blue. Your adoptive parents must be low-class trash, right? I heard they're abroad, digging through garbage in refugee camps."

At the mention of my adoptive parents, my eyes changed instantly. I looked at her like one would look at a corpse. A cold smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"You'll definitely regret this."

Janice was startled by my gaze.

That kind of killing intent was something she had never seen before in her sheltered life.

She flew into a rage and slapped me hard on the face.

Smack!

The slap was brutal, making my ears ring.

"How dare you glare at me, you lowly wench!"

She stood up and ground her high heel into my wounded thigh, pressing down hard.

"AAH—"

A muffled groan escaped me as the wound split open completely, blood pooling on the floor.

Janice wiped her shoe sole on my clothes in disgust.

"Shawn will kill you soon because your existence makes me anxious. When you're dead, everything in the Lingard family will be mine."

She raised the scissors, as if aiming for my eyes.

Just then, urgent footsteps sounded outside the door.

Janice's reaction was astonishingly fast.

She immediately put away the scissors, threw herself onto the floor, messed up her hair, and transformed into a frightened little rabbit, trembling pitifully.

The door was pushed open, and Shawn strode in. Seeing the scene, his face instantly darkened with fury.

"What's going on here?!"

Janice scrambled to throw herself into Shawn's arms as if she'd seen a savior. Tears came on command, streaming down her face.

"Shawn! Anna... Anna's gone crazy!"

She raised her completely uninjured hand, pointing at me accusingly with a trembling finger.

"I came to check on her out of kindness and even brought her some medicine, but when she woke up, she grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to kill me!

"She said she would ruin my face because I stole her place!

"Shawn, I'm so scared. My chest hurts so much..."

Chapter 4

With that, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed limply in Shawn's arms, faking unconsciousness. Her acting was so superb that Oscar owed her an award.

Shawn didn't even spare me a glance. He only had eyes for his kind, harmless fake sister.

"Janice! Janice, what's wrong?!"

He shouted anxiously, then turned to me. He looked as if he wanted to hack me into a thousand pieces.

"You vicious woman! If anything happens to Janice, you'll pay with your life!"

He strode over and kicked my wounded thigh hard. The excruciating pain made my vision go black, cold sweat instantly soaking my back.

The doctor rushed in, took in the scene, and immediately understood what was expected of him. He made a show of examining Janice.

"Mr. Lingard, this is bad! Miss Janice is experiencing myocardial ischemia from extreme shock!

"If she doesn't get a blood transfusion immediately, it could lead to heart failure!

"But the camp is remote and has no blood bank..."

What a clumsy lie. Shock required a blood transfusion? It was a blatant robbery.

Shawn's gaze instantly locked onto me viciously.

He knew I had O-negative blood, making me a universal donor.

"Take hers!"

Shawn pointed at me and ordered without any hesitation.

"As long as Janice is saved, drain her dry for all I care!"

I weakly raised my head and looked at my biological brother.

"I... just survived an avalanche... I've already lost… too much blood... Drawing blood now... is murder..."

My voice was hoarse, offering the last shred of rational protest.

Shawn scoffed and crouched down, grabbing my hair and forcing my head up.

"You dare talk about living? A cheap life like yours is tough. Losing a little blood won't kill you!

"If Janice doesn't wake up, I'll make your whole family pay with their lives!"

He pinned down my struggling arm and signaled the doctor to proceed.

The doctor didn't hesitate either. He instantly produced a thick needle and roughly jabbed it into my vein that had already shriveled from hypothermia without performing disinfection.

Bright red blood flowed along the tube, rapidly filling the collection bag.

As the blood drained from me, my vision started to blur. I felt a bone-chilling cold, and my heartbeat turned extremely weak.

Janice, in Shawn's arms, secretly opened an eye to peek. She flashed me a venomous smile, like she was watching livestock being bled out for slaughter.

I smiled too. It was a smile of release.

Looking at that bag that had once been my life source, I finally understood.

The so-called family love was nothing but a lethal shackle.

In the last moment before my life force drained away, I summoned all my strength and cried out, "Dad! Mom!"

The next second, a thunderous boom shook the world.

The entire wall of the storage room was blown open!

Gravel flew everywhere.

The doctor holding the blood bag was sent flying by the shockwave. The blood bag in his hand smashed to the floor and burst, splattering Shawn's face.

The dust settled. Three figures in top-tier black tactical gear stood silhouetted against the light like deities who descended from heaven.

My adoptive mother TNT held the latest C4 detonator, red lips curved in an elegant and crazed smile.

My adoptive father Old Hawk had a sniper rifle raised, the red dot of the infrared sight locked onto Shawn's forehead.

Eason twirled a Nepalese kukri knife in his hand.

"Anna."

Eason's voice carried a chilling excitement.

"It seems your brother's not just naughty, he's also a vampire. Shall I drain all his blood for you?"