Chapter 70: My Gullible Dear Niece

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: My Gullible Dear Niece

The Sinclair family had already treated her as though she no longer existed.

As far as she was concerned, they had stopped being her family the moment they took her Celestial Core and cast her aside. So what reason could Ryan possibly have for approaching her now?

"I don’t want to talk to you," Mira said coldly. "Move."

Ryan’s smile stiffened. If he had been someone else, Mira might already have attacked.

The only reason she had not done so was because Ryan had never personally participated in the family’s persecution of her.

He had always kept his distance rather than openly attacking her. But that did not make him family anymore.

To Mira, the entire Sinclair family had become her enemy.

Ryan’s eyes darkened. For a brief moment, anger and resentment flashed across his face.

Then he remembered why he had come, and he forced himself to smile again.

"I didn’t come here to argue with you," he said.

Mira said nothing.

"I actually wanted to tell you something about your mother," Ryan continued.

Mira’s expression changed.

Ryan deliberately paused before adding, "She’s still alive."

Mira’s eyes widened.

"What did you say?" she breathed.

Her mother was alive? For years, Mira had believed both of her parents were dead.

She had been their only child, and they had loved her more than anything. Their disappearance had already devastated her.

When a colleague eventually returned with her father’s remains and told her that her mother’s body had been lost in Mistfall Forest, Mira had been left with nothing but grief.

She had cried countless times over them.

And now Ryan was telling her that her mother was still alive?

Mira grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer.

"Where is she?" she demanded, her voice trembling.

"How do you know she’s alive? Tell me!"

Ryan’s face tightened from the pressure. Mira’s strength was far greater than he had expected, and a flash of jealousy appeared in his eyes.

He had already heard rumors that the cousin the Sinclair family had discarded had awakened the Frost Phoenix bloodline. Now that he was feeling her strength firsthand, he no longer had any doubt.

"Let go first," he managed to say.

Mira released him. Ryan immediately straightened his clothes and rubbed his neck.

"I’m not going to tell you everything here," he said, looking around before lowering his voice.

"If you want to see your mother, come to Stormvale Martial Academy at exactly nine tonight."

Mira’s eyes narrowed.

Ryan continued before she could speak.

"You know what the Sinclair family is capable of. There is one condition," he said, his expression becoming serious.

"You cannot tell anyone about this. You must come alone." He paused.

"If you bring anyone with you, you can forget about seeing your mother again."

The threat was unmistakable. Ryan turned around and walked away without giving her another chance to question him.

Mira remained where she was, her mind in turmoil.

If what Ryan had said was true, then her mother had survived. But why had the Sinclair family hidden her?

And why reveal her existence now?

Mira understood the warning behind Ryan’s final words.

They were using her mother to force her into doing something she would otherwise refuse. If she disobeyed them, they could kill her mother.

Before her Celestial Core had been taken, Mira might have struggled to believe that her own family could sink that low. Not anymore.

She had already seen what they were capable of. They had taken her Celestial Core while she was helpless, destroyed her future, fabricated accusations against her, and thrown her out of the family.

If they had truly kept her mother alive, then using her as leverage was entirely possible.

Two questions immediately occupied Mira’s mind. Was her mother really alive? And if she was, what did the Sinclair family want from her?

The first question was the one Mira desperately wanted to believe.

Even if there was only the smallest possibility that her mother was alive, she could not ignore it. She had to find out.

As for the second question, she could not understand it.

The Sinclair family had already taken her Celestial Core.

Her Frost Phoenix Bloodline could not simply be removed and transferred to someone else. So what else could they possibly want from her?

Mira stood silently for several moments. Then she clenched her teeth.

"Stormvale Martial Academy," she murmured.

Whether Ryan was telling the truth or setting a trap, there was only one way to find out. She had to go.

Mira turned around and began walking toward the academy gates.

What she did not know was that Ryan had stopped a short distance away and was secretly watching her.

The moment he saw her leave, a cold smile appeared on his face. Everything was unfolding according to plan.

"My father and Uncle Adrian were right," he murmured.

"We just need to find a way to keep that man from interfering." His expression became colder.

"Xavier Kane." Ryan quietly shook his head. "You shouldn’t have married the wrong woman."

By the time Mira reached Stormvale Martial Academy, the sky had already grown dark.

She stopped outside the enormous two story training hall and stared through the gates. The entire compound was silent.

Not a single light was visible inside.

Mira stood there for several seconds, her expression caught between hope, anxiety, disgust, and a growing sense of unease.

She knew this place. Stormvale Martial Academy was one of the Sinclair family’s major businesses.

When her parents were still alive, she had spent countless days training here, and back then the academy had felt familiar and safe.

Now, standing before its dark entrance, it looked completely different. It felt like the mouth of a waiting beast.

Mira took a slow breath. Please let Mother really be alive. Please let me find her here.

She stepped through the gates. She had arrived roughly half an hour earlier, and the time had given her enough opportunity to calm down and think.

Six months ago, she might have walked straight into a trap without considering the consequences. She was no longer that naive.

Too much had happened since then. Her Celestial Core had been taken. Her family had abandoned her. She had been publicly humiliated and forced to survive on her own.

Most importantly, she now had people she could rely on. Before leaving Arcadia Academy, Mira had already contacted her new superior, Samuel Bush, and told him everything.

Samuel had immediately understood the danger and promised to come as quickly as possible, at worst within twenty minutes.

That gave Mira some confidence. If the Sinclair family really intended to harm her, then the situation would change completely once members of the Extraordinary Division arrived.

The family might be powerful, but they were nowhere near powerful enough to openly challenge the Division.

Still, nine o’clock had arrived. Mira looked at the dark training hall ahead of her.

If there was even the slightest possibility that her mother was truly being held here, she could not simply stand outside and wait.

One chance in ten thousand was still a chance, and she was not willing to gamble her mother’s life.

Mira tightened her grip and entered the academy alone.

She passed through the deserted reception hall and continued deeper into the building until she reached the main training ground.

The moment she stepped inside, the lights suddenly blazed to life. Mira’s body stiffened.

A familiar voice drifted across the enormous training hall.

"My dear niece," it said, amusement threading through every word. "It’s been a long time."

Mira’s eyes immediately locked onto the figure standing in the center of the training ground. Victor Sinclair.

He was holding a massive iron staff nearly two meters long, and a strange smile rested on his face.

Mira’s body instinctively tensed. She would never forget this man.

Victor was the one who had personally ordered her Celestial Core to be removed.

He had watched as the procedure nearly destroyed her body, then allowed her wounds to be crudely stitched together before abandoning her.

He had smiled while doing it. That memory had been burned into her mind.

For a brief moment, an old wave of fear passed through her. But it disappeared almost immediately.

Victor was no longer facing the same helpless Mira he had discarded months ago.

She now possessed a powerful foundation, several valuable elixirs, and a 4th-Tier weapon. More importantly, she was no longer alone.

Mira looked at him coldly.

"Where is my mother?" she demanded.

She had no intention of wasting time exchanging meaningless pleasantries.

Victor laughed.

"So that’s all you care about?" His laughter suddenly became louder. "You really believed your mother was still alive?"

Mira’s heart tightened. Victor’s expression twisted into something almost deranged.

"Unfortunately for you, she is," he said, the smile disappearing from his face.

"She’s been hiding somewhere these past few days like a frightened animal. We’ve searched everywhere, but we still haven’t managed to find her."

Mira froze. Then her eyes immediately filled with tears.

Her mother was alive.

The words echoed through her mind. Alive. After all these months of grief, all those nights when she had cried herself to sleep believing she had lost both parents forever, there was finally a possibility that her mother had survived.

"That’s wonderful," she said, her voice trembling.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled despite herself. "That’s really wonderful."

For several moments, Mira simply stood there, overwhelmed by relief.

Then she wiped her tears and turned around. She had gotten the answer she came for. There was nothing else she wanted to hear from Victor.

But she had barely taken two steps when a figure suddenly flashed in front of her. Victor blocked the exit.