Chapter 8
“We can all watch, and see what really
happened to your daughter!”
I played the security footage.
The audio was clear.
You could see how my door was opened.
094
How Lily sneaked in and started the fire. You
could hear Rick’s outrageous demands and his deliberate stalling.
The video exploded.
The tide turned.
Strangers spoke up for me.
The comments flipped.
“If she hadn’t had those cameras, she’d be
going to jail for murder.”
“They sent their own daughter to hurt other
people! What kind of parents are these
people?!”
“I’ve never seen people so wicked.”
“And now they want money? They should rot in hell!”
“They got what they deserved! What did they
expect after sending their daughter to set fire to someone’s home?”
Rick and Gladys were getting ripped apart the way I had been before.
I’d been through this before, and now, they
were going to feel it, too.
“No! The video’s fake! Fake!”
<
Seeing the shift, Gladys panicked and tried to
grab my phone.
When she couldn’t get it, she tried to hit me.
“You killed my daughter! I’ll kill you!”
She was deranged, her eyes burning with hate,
like she wanted to tear me apart.
The officers ordered her to stop.
Gladys shook and pointed at me.
“She killed my daughter! Why aren’t you
arresting her?!”
The officer lost patience. “Your daughter set
fire to someone else’s home. You tried to extort
money and delayed the rescue. It’s all on tape.
How can you stand there and say that with a
straight face?!”
Maybe it was the look in my eyes, but Gladys
seemed to realize I was enjoying this.
She rushed me.
“Even if Lily started the fire, how could you let
her die?!”
Unable to pin her daughter’s death on me, she
was trying to make me look like a monster.
I snapped.
“The video’s clear. You were stalling! I’m not a
doctor. What could I do?”
“You sabotaged the lock and tried to rip me off!
This is your fault!”
Rick, seeing that things had fallen apart,
slapped Gladys hard across the face.
“This is all your fault! You said it would work
<
“This is all your fault! You said it would work
perfectly! What happened?!”
“I don’t care. You deal with this mess!”
Rick washed his hands.
Gladys stared at him, confused and hurt, and
she collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
“You hit me! You hit me!”
I stood back, wanting to cheer.
The officers stepped in. “You’re both under
arrest for arson, extortion, manslaughter, and
slander. Come with us.”
They weren’t messing around.
The crowd exploded, cursing the couple.
Seeing that things were hopeless, Gladys faked
9:02
a lain.
That didn’t fool the police.
((
994
In the end, Rick and Gladys were led away, the crowd hurling insults.
After they were gone, the neighbors gave me
sympathetic looks.
I sold my property and moved far away with my daughter.
Six months later, Rick and Gladys were back in
the news, this time as criminals.
The verdict was in.
Rick put up a fight, but he couldn’t escape
justice.
He and Gladys both got ten years.
I haven’t thought of them since.
He and Gladys both got ten years.
I haven’t thought of them since.
This time, I’m going to enjoy my life with my
daughter.
