The alarm blared at 7:00 am.

It was the 109th cycle.

Tears streamed down my face as I opened my eyes.

I couldn't let Marilyn get on that school bus anymore. I couldn't wait for her at the entrance of the kindergarten either.

"The bus is here, Mommy," Marilyn called out as always.

I rushed over to her and hugged her tightly, planting messy kisses all over her face.

"You don't have to go to school today, sweetheart. I'm going to take you to the amusement park."

Marilyn cheered ecstatically.

Gabriel walked out of the bedroom with a suspicious look on his face.

"Why are you acting so weirdly today?" he asked.

"I just thought that I should spend more time with her," I answered while lowering my head, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Do whatever you want," he said, shrugging.

He then left for work.

I helped Marilyn put on her prettiest princess dress and took her to the biggest amusement park in the city.

I bought the biggest cotton candy there for her and rode the carousel with her ten times. As I watched her laugh happily, I felt alive again.

I kept a death grip on her hand, but she frowned and complained that I was hurting her. So I loosened my hold, feeling as if a knife were stabbing my heart when I saw the red mark circling her wrist.

I knew that I shouldn't behave like this, but I just couldn't help myself. I was willing to do anything to keep her alive.

The seconds ticked by.

I glanced at my watch. It was almost 3:00 pm.

My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat.

The amusement park was packed with people as they chatted and laughed with each other. I convinced myself that it was safe here—that death couldn't touch us here.

"I want to ride that one, Mommy!" Marilyn exclaimed, pointing at the nearby roller coaster.

"No. It's too dangerous," I said immediately. "Besides, you're too young for that."

"But I want to ride it!" Marilyn whined, acting coy.

Gabriel called me as Marilyn began tugging on my clothes, trying to pull me toward the roller coaster.

"Where are you, Natasha?" he asked, sounding panicked.

"At the amusement park. What's wrong?"

"Taylor's also at the amusement park. She sprained her ankle. Can you look for her and take her to the first-aid station?"

Taylor Shore was one of Gabriel's colleagues. She always presented herself as a harmless and innocent woman in front of me.

"I can't. Marilyn's with me," I said coldly, rejecting his request.

"Just tell her to wait for you there. What could go wrong? Taylor's hurting all by herself," Gabriel said, suddenly raising his voice.

"I've already told you that I'm not going to look for her!"

"Can't you be a little more mature, Natasha? I'm busy working. Do you have to add more to my plate?" he roared furiously into the receiver.

My heart felt utterly hollow at that moment.

In Gabriel's eyes, his colleague was more important than his own daughter.

When I turned to look at Marilyn, I realized that she was nowhere in sight.

My blood froze in my veins.

"Mary? Mary!" I shouted as I frantically searched for her among the crowd.

I finally spotted her a few minutes later.

Marilyn was standing in front of the entrance to the roller coaster. She stood on her tiptoes as she curiously peered past the safety door that was securely locked.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I hurried over to her.

The roller coaster's wheels screeched along the rails as it approached the platform.

Everything that occurred next happened in the blink of an eye.

The safety door suddenly swung open.

Marilyn's tiny body tipped forward with the momentum of the door, and she fell onto the track.

The roller coaster sped past like a flash of lightning.

I didn't even hear Marilyn scream.

The other parkgoers shrieked in horror.

I fell to my knees, staring at the bright red splattered all over the platform.

I looked up and saw Taylor amid the chaotic sea of people. She was holding her phone as she stood nearby, looking utterly calm.

Hadn't she sprained her ankle? Yet she looked like she had no trouble standing at all.

Taylor smiled at me when she noticed me staring at her. Her smile was identical to James' smile.

It was 7:00 am on the 110th cycle.

My entire body was drenched in sweat as I leaped up from bed.

Taylor's and James' smiles were like blades that had plunged themselves into my heart.

I didn't stop Marilyn this time. I even personally packed her bag for her.

"Be good in school, Mary."

"I know, Mommy."

Surprise was etched all over Gabriel's face as he looked at me. "So, you've finally come to your senses."

"I have," I said with a smile. "You mentioned that Taylor wanted to eat my tiramisu, didn't you? I made some today. You can give it to her when you see her at the office."

Gabriel was immensely pleased. He even kissed me before he left the house, saying, "My wife is the best."

My smile disappeared the moment he left.

I didn't go to work, nor did I go to the kindergarten. Instead, I went to James' house.

After going through so many cycles, I had finally identified all the people who were connected to Marilyn's death.

James lived in an old residential area. When I knocked on the door, a haggard-looking woman opened it.

It was his wife, Ava Dawson.

"Are you looking for someone?" she asked.

"I'm Mary's mother. I wanted to thank Mr. Cook for always taking care of my daughter," I explained as I handed the fruit basket that I had prepared beforehand.

Ava led me into the house.

Although it was a tiny place, it was clean and tidy. A memorial photo of James hung on the wall.

My heart plummeted into my gut.

"Mr. Cook…"

"He passed away a year ago," Ava said with bloodshot eyes. "In a car accident."

A car accident a year ago?

There was a loud buzzing sound in my head.

That was impossible! He smiled at me every morning.

"Which accident?" I asked.

"The one that caused a chain-reaction collision a year ago. He swerved to the side to avoid hitting a child, but the steering wheel jammed, and he…"

Ava couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

I felt as if all the blood in my veins had turned to ice.

In the memorial photo, James' expression was stern, and he had a hollow look in his eyes. He looked like a completely different person compared to the man who smiled stiffly at me every morning.

The small memorial shrine on the shelf was covered in a thick layer of dust, making it obvious that it had been a long time since someone had cleaned it.

An inexplicable fear began to spread through my body.

If James had died a year ago, who was the man who drove the bus and smiled at me every morning?

I felt as if my soul had been sucked out of my body when I stepped out of James' home. A terrifying thought formed in my mind.

I rushed over to Gabriel's company. I hadn't even stepped through the entrance when I saw him and Taylor walking out of the building together.

Taylor's arm was locked around Gabriel's as she beamed at him affectionately.

Meanwhile, Gabriel gazed at her with a tenderness that I had never seen before.

I made a beeline for them.

"Gabriel!"

Their smiles stiffened when they saw me.

Gabriel subconsciously tried to push Taylor away, only for her to tighten her hold on him.

"What are you doing here, Nat?" she asked innocently. "Gabe was just telling me that you were feeling under the weather today. I wanted to visit you after work."

Taylor referred to Gabriel as "Gabe" as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What's going on between the two of you?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Don't cause a scene here, Natasha," Gabriel hissed, looking annoyed.

He tried to pull me away, but I freed myself from his hold and pointed at Taylor.

"You! You're the one who did it, aren't you? You're the one who hurt Mary!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Gabriel roared.

"What are you talking about, Nat? You can't frame me for something I didn't do," Taylor blubbered through her tears.

Their colleagues began to whisper among themselves.

"I'm framing you? You didn't sprain your ankle that day at the amusement park. You were lying!"

"I…"

Taylor averted her gaze.

"And Mr. Cook too! He died a year ago, so who's the man who's been driving the bus every morning?" I screamed as if I had lost my mind.

Gabriel's face twisted. "That's enough!" he shouted while grabbing my wrist. "Let's go home!"

He then hauled me into his car.

"You must be sick in the head, Natasha."

"I'm not! You're the one who's sick in the head! You and that woman!"

"Shut up!"

Gabriel slapped me hard across the face, making my ear ring.

"I'm taking you to see a doctor tomorrow," he said coldly.

I burst out laughing as I looked at him. "Sure. Let's go see a doctor. But before we do, let's drop by somewhere else. I want to go to the police station," I said, staring at him without blinking.

In the end, Gabriel couldn't talk me out of going to the police station.

Taylor had tagged along with us. She insisted that she was innocent and that she could prove it.

The police officer who spoke to us was a young man.

I told him everything about the cycles, the deaths, and James' and Taylor's smiles.

I spoke until my throat was parched.

By the end of it, the police officer's stern expression had morphed into a sympathetic one.

Gabriel kept sighing next to me. "My apologies, officer," he said. "My wife… She's not right in the head. She spouts nonsense all the time."

"Don't talk about Nat that way, Gabe," Taylor retorted, pretending to admonish Gabriel. "I'm sure that Nat's not doing it on purpose. She's just too upset."

My fury only burned hotter at her antics.

"Shut your mouth, you despicable woman!"

"Natasha!" Gabriel scolded.

The police officer rapped his knuckles against the table and said, "Please calm down, ma'am."

"I'm very calm!" I exclaimed as I pulled my phone out of my bag and tapped on a video. "I have proof!"

An ominous feeling had festered in my heart when Marilyn and I were at the amusement park during the 109th cycle. So I had pulled out my phone and started recording everything.

The video clearly captured Taylor standing among the crowd, watching as Marilyn fell onto the tracks. She didn't look shocked at all. On the contrary, there was an eerie smile on her face.

The video had also clearly recorded her words when she leaned down to whisper into my ear.

"No one can get in our way this time."

Both the police officer's and Gabriel's faces twisted.

Gabriel stared at Taylor in disbelief, asking, "W-what did you say?"

The color drained from Taylor's face. "I-it's not like that! That's not me! She must have created that video using AI!" she shrieked.

"The tech department can verify if the video was created with AI," the police officer said coldly.

Taylor collapsed onto her seat.

A flurry of complicated emotions crossed Gabriel's eyes when he looked at me.

I thought that I would finally be able to find out what was going on. However, the police officer's next words made me feel as if my entire world had come crashing down.

"We've sent the video to our tech department for verification. However, regarding the cycles and the issue with James Cook that you described, Ms. Wilson…"

He paused and pulled out a file before continuing, "We've also looked into them. The bus driver, James Cook, did indeed pass away in a car accident a year ago. However, we haven't received any reports about your daughter's death."

The police officer looked at me sympathetically. "Not only that, but we also contacted your friends and family, as well as your colleagues and neighbors. Everyone said the same thing. You and Mr. Lopez never had a daughter together."