At Misty Mountain.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Suddenly, multiple gunshots reverberated throughout the serene mountain forest. Gabriella immediately squatted down, looking around. She spotted a man dressed in a black windbreaker hobbling towards her. It was clear that he was injured.
Gabriella crouched low and quietly moved towards the scene. She saw several burly foreign men quickly closing in with a fierce demeanor.
"Keep chasing! That kid won't get away." The voice of the pursuer was gruff.
Hiding behind a large tree, the injured Harold pulled out a pistol with a silencer from his chest. Aiming at a curly-haired man running at the fore, he pulled the trigger. With a 'swoosh', the man fell.
"Boss, we've got a situation!" Two armed foreign men quickly surrounded the area where Harold was hiding.
Gabriella realized that the situation was becoming dangerous. If she didn't intervene now, this man would likely die right here.
She rushed beside Harold, taking the three-stride distance in two spans, whispering, "Take this. You're injured." As she spoke, she handed him a medicinal pill.
Harold's eyes narrowed as he forcefully grabbed Gabriella's arm, pushing her to a slope nearby. His voice was cold as ice, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Anyone who could freely access this area was, undoubtedly, not ordinary.
Meeting his icy gaze with a calm expression, Gabriella responded, "If you want to survive, let me go first."
The grip of Harold's hand loosened slightly.
The excessive loss of blood made him feel increasingly weak. The world in front of him turned black, and he passed out.
Gabriella acted swiftly, stabilizing the unconscious man.
She looked around, ensuring that the pursuers in the vicinity haven't noticed them yet before quickly drawing a dart from her pocket.
She flicked her wrist and the dart whistled through the air aiming straight at the two pursuers.
Before they could react, they fell to the ground clutching their throats, with blood spraying everywhere.
Gabriella hastily pulled Harold to an open area, unbuttoned his trench coat and examined his injuries. The condition was worse than she had anticipated. A bullet had hit his left scapula, another had grazed his right arm, and to make matters worse, he was also poisoned.
Quickly, she took out her emergency first-aid kit. With practiced ease, she extracted the bullet and used a silver needle to stop the bleeding. Then, she pulled out a black pill from her bag and popped it into Harold's mouth, finishing it up with dressing his wound.
After a while, Harold slowly opened his eyes, feeling the pain subsiding. He saw Gabriella's face in his drowsy state, as if he was dreaming.
In his dream, a beautiful fairy was saving his life.
He opened his mouth, attempting to speak, but no sound came out.
It was then that Gabriella noticed a crack on his face. She scrutinized it, and it seemed like... a human skin mask. Driven by curiosity to catch the man's real appearance, she reached out to pull off the mask.
Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter resounded from afar. Her hand that almost touch his face paused in mid-air. She had to leave quickly.
"Never mind who he is! It doesn't matter at all. Chances are that we will never meet again", she thought.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to caution him, "You've been poisoned. Take this medicine, and swallow one when the poison flares up." Gabriella stuffed a small medicine bottle into Harold's hand, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and turned her back to leave.
Harold wanted to reach out and grab her, but he was too weak and could only watch helplessly as Gabriella's figure gradually disappeared.
Five years later, at the bottom of Anderson's Group skyscraper in Belmanno City.
Gabriella stepped out of a taxi, tilted her head back to look up at the towering building, just as she was about to enter the company, her phone suddenly rang.
"Hello." Answered by a clear and cold young woman's voice.
Evan was extremely excited. "Gabbie, I heard that you are coming to Belmanno? When are you arriving?"
Evan and Gabriella had known each other since childhood and he's currently a doctor in a medical research institute.
"Uh huh, I’m already here." Gabriella replied absentmindedly.
"What? You’re already here? That's great. We actually ran into a little problem in the lab.", Evan said excitedly. As long as Gabbie was here, they could overcome any problems.
Upon hearing this, Gabriella frowned, and said in a light voice, "Who said I was going to the medical research institute?"
Evan was dumbfounded. "So Gabbie’s in Belmanno but she’s not going to the medical research institute? Then, why is she here?" he mused to himself.
Evan then asked tentatively, "Gabbie, if you're not returning to the medical research institute, is there any special task? Do you need my help?"
"I'm getting married, how can you help?" Gabriella said with a chuckle.
Suddenly, the other side of the phone went quiet, clearly still too shocked to react.
Ten seconds later, Evan could no longer control his excited emotions and blurted out, "No way! Gabbie, why are you suddenly getting married, and to whom?"
He was too surprised! How could Gabbie be getting married without anyone knowing?
"Harold Anderson." Gabriella revealed without any hesitation.
The other end of the phone was clearly shocked again.
Evan then asked with a bit gossiping, "Gabbie, what's going on?"
Both of them are so strong, won't they fight if they get together? He had never heard of any connection between them before.
Gabriella was a bit annoyed with Evan and didn't want to discuss this issue with him any further. She said impatiently, "If there's nothing more, I'm going to hang up."
Afraid that she might hung up, he hurriedly said, "Gabbie, when you get married, you will definitely get bored. Why not help me out a bit first?"
Gabriella pinched her brow, somewhat helpless, and sighed lightly, "I won't get bored, I've already promised Grandpa Ruedi to go to Astra University. As for you, I will come and see you when I have time."
Evan was a bit sad. Gabbie is actually going to Astra University!
"But it's alright, at least she's in Belmanno. It will be much more convenient to see her now that she's here", he thought. They exchanged a few more pleasantries and said their goodbyes.
After hanging up the phone, Gabriella looked again at the building in front of her.
When she was a child, she was taken back to the village and was raised by her grandmother. Her grandmother treated her as if she were her own granddaughter.
Growing up, she was very intelligent and had a great memory. Her grandmother passed on to her all she knew, and later sent her abroad for further studies.
Before she passed away, her grandmother told her that Harold, the ruling figure of the Anderson family in Belmanno, was engaged to her. Her grandmother's only hope was that she could fulfill this marriage, find a home of her own and have someone to rely on. Whenever she thought of her grandmother, a sour feeling rose in her nose.
"Grandma, don't worry, I'll fulfill your last wish."