For nights, the images of my daughter being hit replayed in my dreams. Seeing it again
made me tremble.
Mark hesitated, reaching out to comfort me. I slapped his hand away. Six years of marriage, and I’d never rejected him so decisively. My attitude was icy.
The police said they’d identified the driver
L
and were apprehending him.
Mark said, “There’s another video, you should
see it too.
The screen showed footage from Jessica’s
house. Two small figures, wearing the same
dress as my daughter, were sneaking around
the bedroom. They went to the vanity, pouring
liquid from their pockets into a cosmetic
bottle. The video ended.
I stared at the paused image, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. As a mother, I knew
instantly that those weren’t my daughters!
But Mark had condemned my daughter based on this!
I sneered, “Oh, you finally investigated her? Don’t you feel bad?”
Lily’s teeth were chattering; she slapped
く
David, “This is your evidence? You ruined the
funeral, the urn, for this?”
David was speechless, wanting to kneel and
apologize. His words were empty.
Mark was silent, finally saying, “I never
betrayed you, my heart was always at home.” “It’s not about feeling bad, she did wrong,
she has to be punished, she’s next door.”
I sensed something was off, “How did you get
the footage from her room? Did she agree?” Mark’s face changed. He whispered, “I
bought the house, I had the cameras installed.”
I sneered, “Good, one home destroyed,
another one to go.”
“Did you sign the papers?”
Mark’s face went white. Before he could
explain, I pulled Lily out. We ran into the
police bringing someone in. I looked at the
man behind them. He resembled the person in
the video, Lily and I lost it. We beat him up. In a minute, his face was a mess. The police dragged him away. I saw Mark’s suppressed rage. But what good was his anger?
The driver was being interrogated. We waited
for two hours, our legs numb. Finally, a police officer came out.
9
