Chapter 4:
Rick paused, then chuckled.
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“Yours or mine? You’re losing it!”
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“Spare me the jokes! Give me the money and I’ll open the door.”
Gladys, standing beside him, egged him on.
“Hey, stop holding on. That’s coming to you either way. Just pay him and let Rick open the door, or you’re going to get killed in there!”
They wouldn’t budge. I suppressed my anger.
If I didn’t pay, he wouldn’t open the door.
I put Lily down and ransacked every drawer, but only found a few bills. Finally, as Gladys was encouraging, I stuffed the gold chain around my
neck, the gold bracelet, and the gold rings
through the crack of the door. Only then did
they start working on the lock.
“Babe, see, wasn’t so hard! Now relax and
breathe easy, okay?”
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9:00
The burning furniture was groaning and
creaking.
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I could barely keep my eyes open in the smoke.
He was fumbling with his tools, I choked out,
“The girl’s dying. If she dies, you’ll regret it!”
Rick shrugged. “Your threats are amusing. What’s the hurry? It’s gonna be a little warm for
a while, but you’re not gonna die. You have to wait until the firefighters get here.”
When he said that, all my suppressed emotions
turned into hate.
I kept my head clear and did everything I could
to save my life: “Do you realize that the time
you waste is a crime and a murder? Do you
think you can get away after the police arrive?”
Rick was nonchalant and reckless: “Humph! I’ll stick to this speed! No one is going to change
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While speaking, he slowly lit a cigarette and
smoked it.
Gladys was being complacent:
“You just didn’t give the money as soon as Rick
asked for it, so it won’t take much time now!”
I had no choice but to concentrate on Lily.
“Hold on a little longer, and we’ll be able to
leave right away. Don’t fall asleep!”
Lily was in tears and squeezed my hand:
“Auntie – I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have listened to
my parents and started the fire.”
I quickly comforted her: “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter, and just hold on!”
Seeing that she was getting worse and worse, I
kept banging on the door and urging Rick to
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9:00
For the next half hour.
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He was still leisurely turning the lock, no matter how hard I pushed him.
He opened the door fast when there were many people gathered outside.
As soon as the door opened.
Firefighters and paramedics poured in at the
same time.
I was helped out, and everyone saw the girl on
the ground with her head covered.
The onlookers were driven downstairs to put
out the fire.
At that moment, Gladys, stood in the crowd not
far away with an expression of pity;
“This woman doesn’t care about her daughter’s
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life because of money, which is really hateful.
This kind of person shouldn’t be saved and just be burned alive!”
Rick was also sarcastic: “Right, look, her
daughter is dead, but she doesn’t even have a
single tear, this is the most vicious mother I
have ever seen!”
Then, he spit fiercely in my direction.
I looked at Rick with a calm expression: “Why should I cry when your daughter is dead?” Chapter 5
Rick’s face twisted when I said that, but he quickly recovered. His voice was sharp with anger.
“What the hell are you talking about? The fire scrambled your brain! Just because your own kid died, doesn’t give you the right to curse other people!”
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Gladys stormed over and slapped me hard
across the face.
“You killed your daughter, you can’t blame.
anyone else! If you say another word, I’ll rip
your mouth off!”
The crowd’s eyes hardened, like they were looking at a murderer.
“Living in the same building, I never knew she
was such a nasty person!”
“Yeah, her own daughter dies, and she acts like nothing happened.”
“Looks can be deceiving, that’s for sure. I feel sorry for her daughter, killed by such a wicked mom!”
The crowd was muttering and pointing, but I stayed calm, my eyes cold as I scanned them.
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“What do you people know? Just standing here and making stuff up! You need evidence before you throw accusations around. Don’t you know one bad rumor can destroy a person’s life?”
Someone in the crowd got angry.
“The facts are right in front of us! What are you arguing about?”
“Right, you had the nerve to kill your own
daughter, but you don’t want people to talk
about it? That’s hilarious!”
Just then, my sister walked over with my
daughter in tow.
Everyone’s jaw dropped when they saw her.
Rick and Gladys were stunned.
Gladys was the first to react. “Wait a minute,
wait a minute. If your daughter’s alive. then
I said, “Guess you’ll find out.”
“No, no! It’s can’t be happening!”
Gladys’s face went white, and she ran over to
the body.
When she lifted the blanket, she crumpled.
“Lily! It’s Lily! Lily!”
Rick, who’d been watching with a smug look,
his legs gave out.
He crawled over to her.
The paramedic said, “Preliminary diagnosis
indicates death by smoke inhalation triggering
asthma. Please accept my condolences.”
Gladys collapsed on the ground, cradling the
body and sobbing uncontrollably.
