Her Rebirth of Retribution
Chapter 313 Should Have Realized Sooner

His face tense with concern, Kallum took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand toward her. "Callie... tell me what's wrong? I promise you, I'm here for you. I will help you in any way I can! Trust me, I'm willing to do whatever it takes for you!" His earnest plea hung in the air as Calista suddenly spun around, facing him directly. Kallum's hand grasped the empty air as his eyes met hers. At that moment, all his words seemed to catch in his throat, a flicker of fear darting across his purple eyes. "Callie... what's going on?" Calista took a step back, a smile playing on her lips, yet her eyes were streaming with tears tinged with a faint red hue. Her expression was hauntingly eerie, almost too much to bear.

Kallum struggled to discern whether she was laughing or crying; her facial muscles were tense, her smile rigid, while her eyes betrayed a profound agony, the kind pushed to the brink of madness. She seemed to stand in a picturesque field of flowers, yet precariously on the edge of a cliff, as if the slightest touch might send her spiraling into an abyss.

"Would you consider using someone you despise, who just happens to be a unique case, as a human test subject to save another person?" Calista's voice was eerily calm, her blood-tinged tears blending into the flora around her as if they were merely part of the landscape.

Kallum's mind blanked for a moment, feeling as if his heart was clenched within an unseen fist. The person before him seemed so delicate, as though she might shatter from a mere touch, causing him to tread lightly, even with his breathing. "I won't..."

"You will," Calista countered sharply, her insight cutting through his denial. "Just like with Sterling, you wanted to utilize him fully before his demise. I merely preempted your plan by killing him first."

Kallum's heart churned with turmoil, his lips pressing tightly together as he instinctively responded. "Because he's a villain, he wanted to harm you..."

"Right, Sterling might not be a fair comparison," Calista mused thoughtfully, almost coldly. "You hate her but feel a slight obligation. It's from Sterling's case."

She scoffed slightly. "Imagine this scenario. Someone important to you falls ill, and then you replace out the person you despise is also ill, a special infected. Would you let others experiment on her?" Calista's hypothetical question hung in the air, laden with implications. "Out of a small sense of responsibility, you'd insist the researcher spare her life after the experiment. If it succeeded, she should be healed immediately that's the least they could do to compensate her. Maybe others suggested that without becoming a test subject, she might die quickly. But by becoming one, she might survive and save someone important to you. And isn't survival the greatest gift for her, despite the pain?"

Suddenly, Calista took a step closer,

her gaze piercing into Kallum's. She

concluded dismissively, "So, because of your disdain for her, you never bothered to replace out why she fell ill, or even if it was true. You were afraid that if you didn't use her as a human test subject, she would die. And you were scared of the

heartache it would cause others. So,

you chose to remain ignorant."

Her logic was brutally efficient, a reflection of the mindset of those in power, weighing the lesser of two evils and exploiting available resources.

But Kallum felt a surge of panic. Her words weren't the ramblings of a delirious person; they were coherent, painfully precise. She spoke as if she was the one sacrificed, the special test subject, while he, blinded by utilitarian need, had sanctioned her torture for the "greater good."

How could it be possible?

"Callie, you're hallucinating. Are you allergic to rosemary?" Kallum quickly surmised, desperation creeping into his voice. "Can we go home? Let's see a doctor..."

His attempt to approach her was met with a fierce swipe of her hand, pushing him back, causing him to stumble and scrape his knee on a rock, drawing blood. A profound sorrow tore through Kallum as he watched her, his heart heavy with despair. "Callie..." He looked at her helplessly, fear and confusion clouding his eyes. This wasn't like her. Before, whenever he was hurt, Calista would rush to his side, concerned and caring. This cold detachment was unlike her.

"Don't touch me!" Calista's command was sharp, her expression icy. The veins in her eyes, once bloodshot, now seemed to pulse with a fierce, almost predatory intensity.

"If you love somebody, you want

them to live forever, but if you hate somebody, you want them dead. To you, I was merely a plaything for your emotions. You could elevate me to the skies, or crush me into the dust. should have seen it coming.... Who else could it be but you." She glanced around at the apparent utopia surrounding her, her gaze turning to the fortress-like building with a cold, mocking derision. "Heh... Who else but you could have established such a place? I should have realized sooner."

"Callie!" Kallum called out as she turned to leave, but it was too late. Calista didn't pause or look back this time; she fled with all the speed she could muster. Watching her determined figure disappear into the distance filled Kallum with an overwhelming sense of loss. Why is this happening? Is it because of this place? The flowers, the grass? Why has Callie suddenly turned so wild?