I Turned Myself Over To The Police

My head rang, and my vision was blurry from the slap. A metallic, sweet taste of blood filled my mouth.

“David, you don’t believe me either?”

I stumbled to my feet. The crowd was pointing and whispering. This made my vision blur even more.

I had no idea what I had done wrong. I could not understand why they were blaming me for everything.

Then, I looked up and saw Margaret standing in the distance. She was staring at me. She slowly walked toward me.

I felt like she was my last hope. I rushed toward her in a frenzy.

I knew Margaret had a fiery temper, but she was always an objective and reasonable person.

If she believed me, maybe there was still a chance to fix this.

“Margaret! You know me! Do you think I would ever hurt Chloe? I’ve always been good to her. I didn’t even know Chloe was coming to meet me.”

I blurted out, but she just stood there and stared at me coldly.

“Why did you hurt Chloe? Did you really kill her? Where is she? Why is she missing?

“The evidence is clear as day. How long are you going to keep denying it? Do you really think I’ll believe you?”

I stared in disbelief at the video Margaret was holding. I played it repeatedly.

The video showed Chloe knocking on the door of my rental apartment. After a while, the door opened, and Chloe skipped excitedly into my apartment.

“How is that possible? I never saw Chloe that day.”

I grabbed Margaret’s phone and watched the surveillance video over and over again.

But there was no denying it. The little girl in the video was definitely Chloe, and the apartment she entered was mine.

“Grace Carter, you’re not even fit to be a human! How could you be so vicious? Why did you hurt Chloe?”

Margaret’s voice was cold, but there was a strange smile on her face.

She lunged at me and slammed me against the wall. Without a second thought, she poured a pot of hot oil onto my face.

“Die, you filthy woman! Give me back my daughter! If you don’t, I’ll make you regret being alive!”

The scorching hot oil ran down my face as it burnt every inch of my skin. I collapsed to the floor and cried out in pain.

I could feel the oil seeping into my skin and clothes. It felt like every inch of me was on fire.

My mouth, fingertips, and scalp were all scorched and swollen from the hot oil. I could not even speak a full sentence. Those who were watching thought that the punishment was not harsh enough.

Even when Emily gave up on my treatment in the hospital, I could not understand where that strange surveillance footage had come from.

In my final days, every moment was filled with excruciating pain.

But luckily, when I opened my eyes again, fate gave me a second chance.

When the car stopped downstairs in the neighborhood, I noticed Emily acting the same way she had in my previous cycle. My once kind and amiable relatives glared at me with disgust.

“Grace, if you want to blame someone, blame me. Please, give Chloe back to me. What did you do to her?”

She scrambled to her feet. She was half squatting and half kneeling. She genuinely looked heartbroken.

By this point, a crowd had gathered. They craned their necks and stared at me curiously.

“Grace, you’re a sensible child. If you’re angry, don’t take it out on a child. Hurry up and bring Chloe here. Otherwise, you could really end up in prison.”