The man in the photos was thin, though he looked quite shaggy and unruly. His gaze was hard and piercing.
Although he seemed quite young, he had a beard. And, judging by his appearance, he looked extremely dangerous!
If Ariah were to meet this kind of man in reality, she would stay away from him as far as possible.
Nevertheless, what was Anna's purpose in showing her these photos?
Upon browsing through the photos, Ariah frowned and asked, "Anna, what do you mean by showing me these?"
Anna merely looked at her with a faint smile. "Ariah, don't you recognize the man in the photos?"
Hearing that, Ariah turned her gaze back on the photos and studied the man carefully, looking at his brows, his expression...
Suddenly, Ariah's expression changed from being puzzled to pale. Her hand, which was holding the photos, also started to shake...
"This is..."
"That's right. It's Jimmy!"
When Anna saw the shocking look on Ariah's face, her mood brightened up instantly. She took out a photo from Ariah's hand and pointed at the bearded man in the photo, saying, "You can't tell that this is Jimmy, can you? But this is him. This is how he looked eight years ago — shaggy yet threatening."
Anna said as she admired Ariah's expression.
Meanwhile, Ariah just kept her eyes fixed on the man as if she couldn't believe it at all.
"You said that you love Jimmy, but that's because you never really know the real him."
Approaching the dazed Ariah, Anna hissed, "The real Jimmy is cruel and bloody. He committed all manners of crimes and he was a hundred times worse than the wickedest criminal you've ever seen! He drank, smoked, and gambled. He had different women outside and he had even... killed people before. Now, do you still think that he's the man you've known for all these years? The Jimmy you love now is tall, handsome, and kind. But it's just an illusion."
Immediately, Ariah looked up in astonishment and took a few steps back. Trembling, she dropped the photos to the ground.
She looked very pale. "You... you're talking
nonsense!"
This was not true. The man in the photos was not Jimmy! Anna was telling lies!
The man seemed nothing like Jimmy now. Their appearance and temperament were nothing alike!
Although Jimmy could act arrogantly at times, at least due to his profession as a cop, he was full of uprightness. In contrast, the man in the photos was just a... punk, a human being in the lower social class!
There was such a big difference between them, so how could they be the same person?
Ariah refused to believe in Anna's words.
Seeing that Ariah gradually calmed down and became indifferent, Anna knew that she must be unwilling to accept these and sneered. "What? You couldn't accept his real side? Tsk, the truth will still be there even if you don't wanna believe it! The man you love is just an illusion that he created to deceive you!"
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