LOGINDid you know, Vee?I’ve thought of this more than once. If only our beginning from that night wasn’t so unbearable, how wonderful would it be?… The light from the setting sun spilled towards her from the side, casting a glow on the piece of paper, illuminating the words on it, and giving them a slight shimmer. Just like last year, when she emerged from the ultrasound room in the maternity hospital, weak after a mere two steps, she had to lean against the corridor. She covered her mouth with
Vivian arrived home a little late. She parked the car at the side of the road first, then collected her subscribed newspapers and magazines from the mailbox at her gate. She flipped through the mail as she walked in. To her surprise, she found a letter. It was an envelope made from kraft paper with her name on it.It was a rare handwritten letter with the faint print of a bamboo tree, drawn with Chinese calligraphy ink. The bamboo was tall, straight, and fierce just like the script on the lette
“It’s been three months now, why isn’t the little one moving? When will the baby quicken?” he asked her, “Can it hear me? Will it remember my voice?”He even asked, “Who do you think it’ll look like, Vee? Will it be a girl or a boy?”She knew very well that he was harboring evil intentions, but she gave into him and crumbled anyway. She sobbed and screamed, “Kill me, Sean Jackson. Kill me. I will never give birth to this child even if I die! Never!”He soothed her, “Alright. Don’t give birth
His lower jaw tightened. The lines on his face stiffened icily like the cold edges of a knife. In reality, he had given up long ago. His heart was as dead as ash. However, refusing to accept this, he grasped at everything, hoping to find a straw that could save a life, not to save himself but to save his child’s life. That was how well he knew her. He knew that once she escaped, she would never spare his child. Did he hate her? Yes. He hated how he couldn’t shoot her dead. Love triumphed over ha
“Then, what should we do?” his aide asked.A hero’s end was, inevitably, death. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he was simply plagued with remaining grievances. After a bout of silence, Edward calmly said, “Do something for me. Once that’s done, just slip away. There are no lives in your hands and you aren’t in the cops’ database. No one will notice you.”This aide had received a great debt of gratitude from Edward once, so he was solely loyal to him. He became distressed when he heard this, so
“You deserve it for all of the crimes you’ve committed!” Vivian screamed, losing control. Her emotions felt strangely steady after that scream. She threw the gun away as her sparkling, dark eyes were filled with renewed determination. She stared at him and spoke, enunciating every word, “Sean Jackson and those brothers of yours, you’ve all got your justice. Beaten to death, right? Arrested, was it? But when you willfully hurt others and view their lives as nothing more than weeds, you should hav
“Why are you inquiring so much? You’re not the one anyway,” the man with the cigarette in his mouth chimed in immediately. Edward refused to comment on that. He darted Vivian a look and gave her a mocking smirk. Then, he urged her, “Come over and help me check out the tiles.”Standing there and liste
Noelle transferred the money to Vivian’s bank account rather promptly. It was an astounding amount—enough to buy a particular fruit-themed smartphone—but Vivian ended up purchasing a carbon copy of her old phone.After installing a new SIM card, she waited for Edward’s next move.From her surreptitiou
“Evil! That’s too evil!” the chubby man on the opposite end muttered to himself as well. He looked up to squint at Vivian, then he asked Edward, “Edward, where did you get this girl from?”Edward did not answer the question, but he looked at Vivian with narrowed eyes. She had a calm expression and ap
“Nothing. I just took several pictures of you,” Vivian replied matter-of-factly. Then, she waved her phone and continued, “Don’t worry. As long as you listen to me, I'll delete the pictures.” Noelle had been working here for a while, so she regained her composure very quickly. She queried, “What do







