She Who Seemed Heartless

Chapter 15

There was no point in lying. He knew too well that stating the truth earlier would be much better than letting it surface in the end. Also, he wanted to confirm everything. For once, he wanted to be so wrong with his assumptions. His hands were trembling from the answer and reaction he was bound to get.

"You're Donovan's daughter, correct?"

Annie's eyes went comically wide. She wanted to lash out but seeing Armin's father has something else to add, she just listened to him attentively but didn't give any answer. Timothy considered it as a yes and continued.

"A soldier was about to shoot you, but you were able to escape with someone and lived."

She wanted to scream and cry so bad. How come he knew this? Was he the man who attempted to kill her? Was he simply hiding somewhere and witnessed the incident? Or was he the man who... salvaged her from death? He grimaced at the girl, mixed emotions filling up his heart.

"It has been six years. It's nice to see you again."

Armin was perplexed as to what was happening. Annie, on the other hand, caught on to what Timothy said and her dark memory was finally clear as it played in her mind once again.

Just a second away and she would've been dead. She could've embraced death and possibly her father, but it was not her time. A man sheathed with a dark cloak covering most of his face with the hood nabbed her from viable demise. She stared at the man, not knowing if she should thank him or not. He then slowly turned his face to look at her. He had dark blond hair shaping his slightly plump face that made him look youthful than his actual age. His eyes were sea blue, comparable to life and hope.

He was Timothy Arlert.

"It was you who... saved me." She simply stated, trying her best to suppress the attack of her disorder again.

"What?!" was all could Armin react to the revelation. He didn't know what or how to feel. He just wished to know more what happened, in which Timothy granted without even asking him to do so.

"And I gave you to Levi because I didn't have the capacity to take you home. I already lost my rank that time. The gun I had was from a dead soldier I stumbled upon. Your father was... a cruel man. I wanted to at least save his daughter, because I know that she'll be a good person."

"What is a good person?", she thought to herself. It was what Armin told her too.

"I didn't know where Levi took you that time. He was also worried sick about Petra whom he was trying to find, thinking that she was dead from the assault. And now, seeing you here... seems like he brought you to an orphanage."

Deafening silence enveloped the room. The tension rose from every second of muteness so Timothy broke the pressure. "Are they still serving the army?"

"No", Armin immediately replied. "Ms. Ral had a degree in psychology. I don't know about Mr. Ackerman, but he seemed to be working with her."

"I wonder how he's related to Mikasa."

"I already asked. She's not familiar with him, but she seemed interested to know him more."

Annie was silent all throughout. She had no idea how to approach Armin's father anymore, the man who saved her life. Should she be thankful that she was given a second chance to live? She glanced at Armin, and in a flash, everything made sense to her. Up to this point, she betrayed her own beliefs that were forged into her heart and mind by her own father. Donovan was a cruel man? She didn't know. What she knows is that her mother was the coward for leaving them and not her father. Somehow, they didn't matter to her anymore.