With the driver’s confession, the case
became clear.
Mark didn’t get the results he wanted. He went back in to question him again. He told us the driver would be sentenced to at least
ten years.
<
I almost collapsed. Lily held me up.
Resentment surged through me. Relief and
despair battled inside me.
We left the police station, Lily trembling. As
we were about to hail a cab, Jessica
appeared.
She knelt before us, slapping her own face, apologizing and repenting, “I shouldn’t have
pretended to be allergic, I shouldn’t have
asked the kids to get the medicine, it’s all my fault, I tried to stop them, but they didn’t
want to stay at the hotel, they ran out while I was cutting the cake.”
“They didn’t come back, I thought you took
them. My allergies got worse, I didn’t think… it’s all my fault…
Her slaps grew harder; her words became
slurred. Her mask fell off, revealing no more
red blotches, just faint pink marks inside.
I wanted to kill her, to tear her face apart, to
shut her lying mouth, to make her pay for
what she did. But reason stopped me.
Mark caught up, ignoring Jessica, offering to
take us home. He said he wasn’t reassured.
But how reassured was he when he sent our
daughters out at midnight?
I refused. I didn’t want any contact with him.
But as soon as we got home, Mark called from the police station. His voice was choked with sobs.
“Honey, I’m sorry… Jessica’s allergy was fake, I just found out… I’m so sorry…” “The people in the video were actors she hired, the police found them, they’re
developmentally disabled adults… I didn’t see the footage, I just heard from her… I never thought she’d lie to me like this…”
I hung up. Her lies were obvious, but he only
realized now. He believed her accusations
without evidence. His indulgence said it all.
Explanations were pointless.
For days, Mark and David kept contacting us, begging for forgiveness. They said they would sue Jessica for the money they gave her. They would put her in jail if necessary.
But I didn’t reply. Money couldn’t bring back my daughter, nor could it fix things. We blocked all their numbers.
I tried to find a job, but at night, I fell apart. My daughter’s face haunted me. Lily felt the
same. Children’s pain is always their mothers‘
- ཕམི—
burden.
We decided to go abroad, to escape and find
work. We put our apartment up for sale and
booked our flights. It was the day the driver
went to jail.
That morning, we were packing when we got
a package from Mark – the signed divorce papers. The bank notified us of a $300,000 deposit.
I didn’t reply, didn’t refuse. These things meant nothing now. I took the papers, and Lily and I left. We both had one goal to return as stronger, whole people.
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