Jolene's voice called to Evangeline from behind. Evangeline looked back and saw five people standing nearby, regarding her with complicated emotions. She showed no surprise, having heard them approaching from a distance. Without looking back, she recognized them from their footsteps.

"What's the matter?" Evangeline asked flatly.

Jolene bit her lip and looked at Evangeline fearfully. Finally, she summoned her courage and approached Evangeline, stopping about four feet away. Evangeline looked at them coldly, her expression unreadable.

Jolene sincerely apologized, saying, "Evangeline, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have picked on you, let alone robbed you. I genuinely apologize, and I hope you can forgive Kendrick and Travis." Kendrick and Travis followed suit, looking guilty.

Kendrick said, "Evangeline, I'm sorry. I was wrong. As a man, I shouldn't have bullied a little girl like you. I apologize, and after we leave, I will make it up to you. Please forgive me!" Travis also apologized, "Evangeline, I'm very sorry. I will compensate you and provide resources in the future. Please forgive me!"

Samson pushed Meghan forward; she looked awkward. "Evangeline, I was wrong. Please forgive me. I will treat you well and try my best to make up for what I owe you in the future."

Meghan reluctantly added, "I shouldn't have robbed your things. But you beat me up in return. We are even now. I won't bother you again in the future. Just forget about it, and let's get along!"

Indifferently, Evangeline asked, "Did you come just to apologize?"

Everyone nodded.

Meghan eagerly added, "Now that we've apologized and you've forgiven us, we should work together as a team. We should help each other. Oh, Evangeline, when you're looking for food today, please bring back our portions as well!"

Evangeline sneered. She suspected they hadn't genuinely apologized and had ulterior motives. "Are they expecting me to be their slave? Just a 'sorry' and they can boss me around?" she thought.

"When did I forgive you?" Evangeline retorted sharply.

Meghan's face darkened. "Evangeline, why are you so narrow-minded? It's trivial. We apologized. You're too petty to hold onto it! Besides, we're the ones who got beaten up and suffered losses. Why can't you let it go?" (Meghan wanted to say Evangeline hadn't suffered any losses, but Samson's warning kept her silent.)

Evangeline said indifferently, "So what if I'm narrow-minded? You're only saying that because you can't defeat me. If I hadn't trained in combat, my fate would be worse than yours. You would have beaten me mercilessly, maybe even killed me. You didn't show your evilness because I could stop you, but because you are cowards."

Meghan's face turned grim. "You're the evil one! You watched us starve and refused to help us. You clearly want to kill us! Who is as wicked as you! If you don't help us, and something happens to us, you will be the one who killed us, and you will feel guilty forever!"

Samson grabbed Meghan's wrist. "Stop it, Meghan!" Travis had promised to apologize and plead for help, but Meghan was threatening Evangeline.

Kendrick angrily looked at Meghan. "Are you out of your mind? We're here to ask Evangeline for help. Why are you acting like this? If you can't stop being a princess, just go back and starve to death. Don't drag us along with you!"

Travis frowned. "I know celebrities can be hypocritical, but you're just being stupid. I don't know what's wrong with the Gallagher family for giving up such a capable daughter like Evangeline and choosing a brainless, hypocritical, and vicious fake like you." (Travis wasn't worried about offending Meghan because of his background.)

Initially, he followed Meghan because they were on good terms, but now, his life mattered more.

"How dare you yell at me!" Meghan's eyes widened in disbelief. She'd never been yelled at except by Evangeline. Now, Travis and Kendrick were scolding her.

Meghan's eyes filled with tears. She looked at Samson with an aggrieved expression. "Sam, they bullied me. You need to avenge me!" Samson said nothing.

"Sam, what are you doing? Why aren't you talking? You promised our parents, Eddie, and Jas that you would protect me!"

Meghan became angrier and cried louder.

Samson said in a deep voice, "Meghan, stop it. It's your fault. You promised to apologize to Evangeline, but instead, you threatened her."

Anger made Meghan's voice tremble. "Sam, do you think I was wrong? I was generous enough to apologize after being beaten by her. Why are you still asking so much from me? It was Evangeline's fault, but you asked me to apologize. And when I apologized, you complained that I was being rude. So, was I being cold when I was forced to apologize after being beaten by her? If I knew you couldn't protect me, I might as well not have let you come with me. You came with me, yet now you can't protect me, and you helped others bully me. You are a useless brat!"

Samson's expression turned gloomy. Meghan had gone too far.

Kendrick turned to Evangeline. "Evangeline, we are different from Meghan. We truly realized our mistakes and apologized. I hope you can accept our apology." Evangeline looked at them indifferently. She saw remorse, but also a strong desire in their eyes—a hunger that drove their apology. They were remorseful only because they were hungry; if they could find food themselves, they wouldn't apologize.

Evangeline said coldly, "Your apology shows you still have some moral values. However, it's your choice to apologize, and mine to forgive you. The harm can't be undone. I won't accept your apology, and I won't give you food. I'm not a saint. I will never help people who have hurt me. You can find your own food. The poultry dropped by the production team were injured and drugged, making them easy to catch. Animals usually hide in a new environment."

Evangeline turned and ventured deeper into the forest. Jolene tried to follow, but Evangeline was too fast.

"Humph! I told you. She has no conscience. She wants us to die here, yet you humbly begged her. How embarrassing!" Meghan remarked sarcastically. Kendrick and Travis ignored her and ventured into the forest with Jolene. Samson stayed with Meghan.

Frowning, he said, "Meghan, why are you acting like a different person? I don't even know you anymore."

Meghan immediately softened her voice and cried. "I've suffered so many grievances. My teeth were knocked out, my face was swollen, my skin was bitten by mosquitoes and insects. Not to mention that there's nothing to eat, and I am so hungry. I've been wronged so much and forced to change my temperament, yet you don't care about me. Instead, you are mad at me. I'm so sad"

Samson paused and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I failed to protect you and let you suffer." He knew hunger made people cranky.

Meghan said aggrievedly, "What should we do now since Evangeline refuses to help us? Are we going to starve again? I'm so hungry that I can't even walk anymore"

Samson said, "Let's keep looking. Even if we can't catch poultry, let's find some berries."

Meghan followed reluctantly, inwardly cursing Samson.

(Online comments follow, largely unchanged.)

Evangeline continued into the woods. She saw many chickens and hares but wasn't in a hurry to catch them. She searched for wild fruits instead. The monkeys that had attacked her usually lived in the mountains, suggesting a mountain lay beyond the forest. Following the monkeys, Evangeline quickly crossed the forest and reached the mountain. The monkeys fled upon seeing her.

Evangeline shrugged. "Am I that scary? As long as they don't provoke me, I won't harm them. Why are they running?"

Evangeline climbed the mountain and found wild grapes. After eating, she felt a soreness in her teeth. She then found persimmons and other wild fruits, but didn't eat much.

The monkeys watched her from a distance. Evangeline initially planned to stay on the mountain to watch the stars, but the lack of water forced her to return. On her way back, she caught a lure.

Returning to camp, she saw Meghan and the others, empty-handed and frightened. Samson was particularly miserable, his shirt stained with blood, his face scratched. They had encountered something terrible in the forest.