Chapter 1455: Chapter 1427: Return as a Youth

Being able to properly bring to life the experiences of each patient within 15 minutes is no simple feat, but Kiara achieved it.

The rules of the competition state that one cannot exceed the time limit; going overtime results in a deduction of points. Although the girl playing the role of the evil spirit spent only a short time on stage, her therapeutic effect was the best. Some judges even wanted to stand and applaud, expressing their admiration for Kiara’s exquisite psychological play, while several other judges felt puzzled.

Despite the plot being ingeniously arranged, and having good therapeutic and viewing effects, it didn’t quite hit the mark of the topic at hand.

Let’s not forget that the title of Kiara’s psychological play is “Desert Island Sunshine,” but thus far, no one has seen where the sunshine is; after the devil appeared, the entire stage was oppressive.

Only one final minute remained when suddenly, a flood of light burst onto the dark stage, and an angel in a white robe and mask appeared!

Even though her face couldn’t be seen clearly, as soon as she spoke, it was clear she was the narrator!

Aka made her grand entrance as the grand finale!

The moment Molly saw Aka in white, accompanied by the holy music, her pupils dilated, feeling like her heart had been struck hard.

This final move was Kiara’s visual shock to Molly from afar!

The rules of the psychological play competition included a clause allowing patients, passersby, and psychologists to participate, so Aka’s surprise appearance as an angel didn’t break any rules.

Aka, with a slow but forceful speech, recited the crucial closing lines.

“Human nature is dualistic, half angel, half devil. Bright as the moon yet always having a dark side unseen, the me under rules and constraints is an angel, so who is the unrestrained me in a world of chaos?”

This line not only underlined Kiara’s theme but also struck directly at Molly’s heart.

The very moment Aka appeared, something about Molly just wasn’t right anymore.

When Aka voiced those words that Kiara had tailor-made for Molly, Molly’s memory seemed to be transported back to her childhood.

“What has twisted everything into its present state, is it heartless fate or the play of the creator? You have only seen me laughing in the sunshine, yet you never saw me crying in the darkness. I wish to transcend time and space to answer the moment you were hurt, to embrace the crying you!”

The few actors on the stage were prompted by these guiding words to return to their true selves. During the psychological play, each person had been portraying someone else. The cleverly designed plot had helped these patients see their own shadows through others’ performances, and now, through Aka’s words, they achieved a sublimation, returning once again to their true selves, allowing their fragmented psyches a momentary peace.

After Aka finished reciting these lines set by Kiara, it should have been time to draw the curtain, with only the last 10 seconds remaining, Aka should have exited the stage.

But at that moment, she saw Molly below.

There were many people around Molly, and she was far away, but Aka still managed to see her through the crowd at a glance.

That was her twin sister, Emily Martin. Once upon a time, they were the closest people in the world. They came into the world together and shared several years of life, but now her sister had been taken away by bad people, raised in a dark, twisted world where perhaps that sunshine may never return.

Although Mrs. Kiara hadn’t told her details about Molly’s situation, Aka understood in her heart. She had seen such conditions with Yuzo Joel before; the condition was irreversible, and maybe her sister would have to live like this for a lifetime.

With this thought, Aka suddenly burst into fiery rage, using a powerfully resonant voice to shout out what she felt at the moment.

“Come back, we were originally one, you are me, I am you… I’m in the sunshine, waiting for you!”

Right after she shouted, the time was up, and a tidal wave of applause arose from below the stage.

Shouted at such a moment, these words carried extraordinary power and were deeply moving.

Human nature is inherently complex; everyone has two sides. Even the kind Aka possesses darkness invisible to others, and the evil Molly Palmer might have once had an unknown goodness that was torn apart by someone more terrifying than the devil itself.

Watching her sister, whom she had envied with her life, standing on the stage and speaking those words, Molly felt as if a beam of sunlight had suddenly pierced through the darkness of her heart, stirring an emotion she hadn’t felt in a long time.

One minute, it really is too short.

Yet a minute can change a lot. Sometimes, it’s just a phrase, a simple “I’ll wait for you,” that’s enough to touch a heart twisted by years with the memories it once held.

Molly thought back to when she and Aka first entered the orphanage. No one knew what this place was about; they were too young. Occasionally, they would swap clothes and imitate each other, amusing themselves by making the nuns guess who was who.

Molly stared blankly, lost in these past events that she had forgotten for many years. Ever since she joined JR for training, she became a person with only a future and no past. So why were all her thoughts now about those things she hadn’t considered in so many years?

There was one particularly cold winter, when she shivered in a corner… and then something happened…

“That last line was her own addition.”

Pulled back from her memories, Molly followed the voice and saw Emma Clark standing not far away, her face obscured in shadow under the light, her voice reaching out.

“Added herself?” Molly’s heart could not yet settle, and she could only mechanically repeat what Kiara had said.

“It’s what she most wanted to say to you. You two were once the closest people in the world. You’ve gone too far, but she has always been waiting for you there. If you look back when you want to, she will still be there.”

She will still be there…

Suddenly, Molly remembered!

That coldest winter, just a month before she left the orphanage, she shivered in a corner, and then Aka came over.

She wrapped her arms around herself, and together they huddled in that corner for warmth. It was then that a very young her swore never to live like this again, and soon after, she left.

Success always comes at a price. She had let go of some things and gained others. Her clothes could finally be warm, but she had ultimately lost the person who had warmed her with an embrace.

The sealed memories burst open in an instant, the subconscious forcibly locked by those at JR surged forth, and Molly, in agony, clutched her head, “I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to… She hates me, she hates me…”

“She doesn’t hate you. She hates those who hurt you. No one is born a devil. Aka came up here because she wanted to take you away.” Kiara said what needed to be said and turned around, her hair tracing a beautiful curve in the air, her voice following softly.

“May you have journeyed half your life, only to find yourself still a youth upon returning.”

That was the title of a book Kiara was fond of, and it fit perfectly at that moment.

Now, tears streaming down her face, Molly thought she had left that frigid winter behind. After wandering half her life, she realized she was still as cold as ever, and the kindest one who had given her warmth was still there, though she had left her riddled with scars.

The past, after all, cannot be chased after. She could never go back.

“No!” Molly let out a wail and turned to run outside.

Kiara stood with her back to her, eyes closed, heart as still as water, while nearby, a man wearing a mask quietly watched the scene unfold, his lips curving slightly as he twisted the beads in his hand.

“Taking down the competition while driving an opponent to mental breakdown, Emma Clark truly is more entertaining than burning ‘Woodhead’…”