I Was Meant to Fly, but They Clipped My Wings

I finally understood why Diana had been so determined to leave those bloody scratches on me and why they had retreated so quickly once I reached the cafe. It turned out that they already had a contingency plan in place. Diana was doing everything in her power to ensure my destruction.

Mom suddenly woke up due to the commotion. She opened the door and saw the handcuffs on my wrists right away, nearly fainting from the shock.

She still moved to stand in front of me to protect me, saying, "You must have made a mistake, officers! Levi has always been an honors student and even has a commendation for bravery! He's incapable of committing a crime!"

Mom reached out to me with trembling hands, tears streaming down her face.

Those police officers remained completely indifferent. "We'll determine whether your son has committed a crime after a full investigation. You can rest assured that we won't wrong the innocent or let the guilty escape."

Having said that, they pushed me along and began leading me toward the stairs.

Mom rushed after us, weeping as she clung to my hand. "You can't take him away! He just finished his exams and is supposed to start training as a pilot in September! He's going to attend Aeronautical Command University and fly planes! Please don't take him away!"

I could feel my eyes welling up with tears the moment I saw Mom drop to her knees and plead before the police officers. I helped her to her feet and said, "You shouldn't do this, Mom. I need you to listen to me—I'm completely innocent.

"I need you to go find Officer Johnson and Mr. Wagner this instant. I know they'll help me out. I also need you to use my scholarship money to hire a lawyer. I'll get through this, Mom."

Mom nodded frantically, her hand stroking my cheek repeatedly as if she couldn't bear to pull away.

I looked at Mom's graying hair and was struck by the agonizing memory of learning about her death while I was behind bars in my past life.

I reached out and pulled her into a hug, saying, "You have to take care of yourself and remember to take your medicine on time. You have to be there to watch me fly one of those planes, Mom."

Mom kept nodding with tears streaming down her face. "I know, Levi. I know you're innocent in all of this. It wasn't you who did it, so don't confess to anything, Levi."

It was then that one of the police officers ordered, "It's time to go!"

I reluctantly parted from Mom, thinking that in this life I had to save both her and me.

I spotted Diana sitting in a chair once I was brought into the police station. I yelled at her, "Why are you framing me? I didn't do anything to you! Get the police to run a kit. There won't be any evidence because I never touched you.

"How can you say I assaulted you? You were the one who ran up and scratched me! What do you want from me? Who's behind this? You'd better tell me this instant!"