Chapter 199
In the end. Mandy still had to return to the Lewis family.
Nina and the others walked her and Simon to the gate. The little girl looked at Mandy reluctantly and asked, “Mandy, how are you getting back? I can have my family’s driver take you.”
Mandy declined
ed: “No need. We came by plane.
Driving would just take longer.
“Alright.” Nina nodded and held Mandy’s hand again. “Mandly, let’s stay in touch, okay? Let the higher–ups think whatever they want about us staying close. Didn’t Clifford say it himself? As long as we’re not killing anyone, he can handle everything else for us.”
As Mandy met the little girl’s genuine gaze, the usually frosty expression in her eyes softened, as if ice melting by the gentle warmth of spring
In the beginning, Mandy had been extremely cold and violent. She despised the world. The harsh training she endured filled her with a desire to destroy, making her hate everyone and everything. Even among the other war machines, she couldn’t blend in.
But the war machines were naturally arrogant and wouldn’t go enit of their way to interact with her. Among them, only Sam and Nina were exceptions, as they would take the initiative to talk to her.
Sam approached her simply because he was a chatterbox. Once he started talking, he could ramble on for ages with any of the war machines, completely oblivious to whether the other person was even listening.
But Nina was different. She cared about other people’s feelings.
For example, if Mandy didn’t like talking and preferred silence, Nina wouldn’t push her into a conversation. Unlike Sam, she wouldn’t chatter endlessly. Instead, she would quietly stay by Mandy’s side.
Once, Mandy asked Nina why she kept sticking to her.
The girl’s answer was simple and almost absurdly naive. Nina had always admired the idea of being a “cool girl–the type with an indifferent face who didn’t care about anyone
Mandy perfectly fit that image, so Nina wanted to stick around her, hoping to absorb some of that coolness and eventually become just like her.
When Mandy beard this answer, she was speechless and didn’t even know how to respond. Especially when the save Nina’s innocent expression, she felt utterly defeated.
Mandy thought Nina would probably never become the cool girl she dreamed of Nina had a cheerful personality. She lived with an open heart and saw the good in everything
Even after enduring the same harsh training, Nina would recover instantly with a little encouragement from the other war machines. She never held grudges, let alone felt despair or resentment toward the world.
Mandy wasn’t sure if she had been influenced by Nina over time. With Nina leading the way, Mandy gradually began to accept the other war machines. As they grew up together, she even started to see them as an important part of her life,
Of course, in Mandy’s heart, the most important person would always be Nina.
Without Nina, there wouldn’t be the present Mandy
So, faced with the little girl’s reluctance to pan, Mandy did her best to comfort her. She raised her hand and awkwardly ruffled Nina’s hair, saying, “I come back again if 1 get the chance.”
Hearing Mandy’s reply, Nina’s face immediately lit up with joy. She nodded enthusiastically and said, “Okay, okay! Mandy, if you don’t have the time, I can come to you instead. I have plenty of time!”
“Alright” Mandy nodded and said, “Goodbye, Nina”
“Goodbye, Mandy! Goodbye, Simon!” Nina said as she waved her hand.
Simon couldn’t speak, so he waved both hands at the little girl vigorously. Though they had only known each other for a day, Nina and Simon had already built a strong bond with each other –
After bidding goodbye to Nina and the others, Mandy and Simon got into the car heading to the airport
On the way. Mandy turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on the nightscape rapidly retreating outside the window, Next to her, Simon kept glancing at her repeatedly but didn’t say a word.
Mandy found the constant staring annoying.
She turned to look at Simon with a frown. Her expression was no longer as gentle as when she was talking to Nina. “If you’ve got something to say. jud say it. Don’t sit there pretending to be mute.”
