Ruby Delaney was in the same classroom as me on that day and I could still clearly remember how her whole body trembled when she saw me in pain.

Without a second thought, she dropped her pen in the middle of the exam, abandoning everything to take me to the hospital.

That day, her thin back was drenched with sweat from carrying me.

Yet, the warmth touched my heart.

She had always been a top student, but because she missed the rest of the exam to take me to the hospital, we both ended up failing that year.

From the days of wearing school uniforms to the moment we walked down the aisle in wedding dresses, we had always been there for each other.

She once told me that she cherished me as a family, saying how important and irreplaceable I was.

Because of this, she worked tirelessly to study medicine, dedicating herself to understanding every detail about my chronically weak body to make sure I could live free from illness and pain.

But for all her kindness, it was still her who had to perform the checkup on my daughter.

It was she who pushed my daughter’s body out of the examination room.

And it was her profession that tied her to the horrifying public accusation that I had pushed my daughter into the swimming pool.

I could never understand it before.

What had gone wrong?

But now, sitting here at this moment, it suddenly clicked.

"Clara? Why aren’t you saying anything? Please don’t make me worried."

Ruby’s voice was trembling as she noticed my silence.

It sounded like she was genuinely worried about me.

Ireassured her that I was fine before hanging up.After that, I immediately dialed my secretary's number.

"Do something for me. And remember, don’t tell anyone about this."

After giving my orders, I slowly sat down on the lounge chair by the swimming pool.

With deliberate calm, I picked up my cup of tea and began sipping it. I watched as my daughter struggled weakly as she called for help.

I sat there as she grew weaker and weaker until her strength gave out completely and her small body sank to the bottom of the pool.

Only then did I rise from my seat and leave.

***

I walked out of the house and made my way to the amusement park, a place my daughter and I had visited often together.

When I arrived, a staff member who knew me well greeted me. "Mrs. Prescott, why are you here alone today? Where’s your daughter?"

I replied casually, "She fell into the pool and drowned."

The staff member froze in place and his eyes widened in shock.

Seeing my indifferent expression, the staff member’sface softened and she quickly forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood as she said gently, "Mrs. Prescott, please don’t joke like that. It’s not funnyto say such things."

Seeing that she did not take my words seriously, I did not feel the need to explain further.

At the heart of the park, I stopped and quietly observed a young mother playing joyfully with her child.

Once, my daughter and I had been like that, too.

She would play and I would follow her every move.

She would run ahead and I would chase after her.

She smiled so lovely at that time.

She seemed so happy...

...like a little angel who had graced my life.

She was my love, the very core of my being.

If it were possible, I would have gladly stayed by her side forever.

What a pity.

No amount of yearning could turn back time.

I pulled out my phone, intending to capture the tender scene of the mother and child in front of me.

But just as I lifted the phone, a notification popped up.

The store clerk informed me that a set of limited-edition jewelry Andrew had purchased for me had arrived and they were ready for me to pick it up.

My husband’s love for me was always meticulous and thoughtful, down to the smallest detail.

Just because I admired it briefly during a brand’s launch event, without saying a word, he remembered my gaze and ensured the jewelry was mine the moment it was released.

How could a man be as loving as him?

Back when we were dating, his love for me was intense. This man was so deeply affected by my emotions that even the smallest frown or sigh from me could make him anxious to the point where he lost his appetite.

After we got married, he made me the absolute center of his world. He took the lead in managing everything at home, ensuring I never had to lift a finger or dirty my hands. Not once did he allow me to feel embarrassed under his care.

When he found out I was pregnant, his first instinct was to sign up for a childcare training class to learn every little detail about how to take care of both the baby and me as a mother.

His dedication was so complete thatI did not have to get up even once. Every single day, I could sleep soundly and wake up whenever I wanted, without a worry in the world.

Whenever I felt the urge to share the burden with him, he would tell me that he married me to love me and take care of me.

Andrew always said that as long as I was happy, it was better than anything I could ever do for him.

He would often remind me that his love for me and our daughter was eternal, vowing to protect us from any injustice or pain, no matter the cost.

But that was the man he claimed to be.

In my previous life, our daughter died.

It was like my entire world collapsed into a dark abyss.

After spending about an hour at the amusement park, my phone began ringing. It was Andrew.

He called repeatedly, one call after another, as if something urgent had happened.

I did not pick up, so he sent a text message, [Honey, why didn’t you answer the phone? Where are you? Our daughter fell into the swimming pool and drowned. Come home quickly!]

The text was followed by another, then another. I simply turned off my phone and continued to observe the happiness of the strangers around me.

But as time passed, I noticed that people nearby began to glance in my direction.

Some even pulled out their phones, holding them up discreetly as if recording me while pointing at me.

Sensing that something was wrong, I decided not to linger any longer.

Without hesitation, I quickly got back into my car and turned on my phone.

The moment the screen lit up, countless abusive text messages from unknown numbers popped up one after another, filling my screen with hateful words.

To my shock, my personal information had been exposed across major social platforms.

At this moment, the entire internet seemed to be united in condemning me.

As I scrolled, I noticed several live streams had gone viral and the location of the streams was my home.

In one of the videos, Ruby stood in front of the camera, tears streaming down her face. She was looking at my daughter's lifeless body with an expression of overwhelming grief as she cried out.

"I’ve known Clara Ellingstonfor over ten years. We are as close as sisters. She has always been frail, even as a child and I dedicated myself to studying medicine just so I could take care of her whenever she needed me."

"Today, she called me suddenly, but she didn’t say a word. I was so worried that something might have happened to her, so I rushed to her house immediately to check on her."

"Then, I found her daughter drowned in the swimming pool."

"I understand that, as a mother, Clara bears undeniable responsibility for what happened. Still, I beg everyone to remain calm and not rush to attack her before the truth is fully uncovered."

"I just can’t believe Clara would do something so terrible."

Ruby looked up in tears and pleaded for me in front of the camera.

Despite her emotional appeal, the internet's response was brutal.

The live chat was flooded with comments. Some praised Ruby and called on others to remain rational. Others accused her of being blind to my supposed guilt, saying she had misplaced her faith in someone like me.

The camera then panned to Andrew, who was also present in the livestream. He cradled our daughter's lifeless body in his arms, his head bowed as his shoulders heaved with sobs.

Suddenly, he slapped himself hard across the face.

With a hoarse, choked voice, he cried out, "This is all my fault! If only I hadn’t left for that work project, none of this would have happened!"

"Clara has always loved taking Lila to the amusement park, so I’ve always dreamed of creating a special amusement park just for them, a place where they, as mother and daughter, could make memories together."

"I spent three whole years working tirelessly on this amusement park project."

"For three years, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Clara and Lila would react when they saw the amusement park for the first time."

"Today was supposed to be Clara's birthday and I planned to finish the amusement park today. I wanted to come home quickly to surprise her."

"But after the amusement park was finally completed, my daughter... she was gone..."

As he finished speaking andrew broke down in tears.

The emotion in his voice moved the entire audience, causing the viewers in the live broadcast to feel a deep sense of sympathy.

"Oh my God, how can a man like this even exist? He hasn’t blamed his wife once and yet he takes all the responsibility on himself!"

"But the more he acts like this, the more my heart breaks. Why do good men always seem to end up hurt in the end?"

"In the end, it’s her fault. How can a mother not even take care of her own child? What good is she?"

"Right. How could their daughter be gone and he hadn’t even seen his wife once? Could it be that she ran away because she was afraid of what she had done?"

The livestream’s comment section was filled with all sorts of opinions, but in the end, it all devolved into insults and curses directed at me.

In my past life, I had also faced this kind of harsh criticism.

Back then, it was the death of my daughter, the accusations from Ruby and the fury of Andrew that completely shattered me.

My heart had been torn apart as I watched my life fall apart, leading to my wrongful imprisonment.

In the end, I suffered terribly at the hands of other prisoners, tortured and beaten to death.

In this life, I watched the insults and curses that kept flooding the screen.

Yet, there was no wave of panic or dread in my heart. Instead, I felt some sort of expectation.

I calmly put away my phone and started the car, making my way back home.

When I arrived, I saw the scene of the accident, surrounded by people.

Then, I slowly got out of the car...

As I approached, I could feel every eye on me and the live broadcast cameras instantly locked onto my every move.

My best friend, Ruby Delaney, quickly stepped forward, took my hand and said, "Clara, you're finally here."

"Hurry up and explain to everyone what happened to Lila's death."

"It must have nothing to do with you, right?"

Her eyes were filled with concern and her voice was shaking as she looked at me.

I slowly pulled my hand away from hers and, with a cold detachment, spoke without hesitation, "Lila fell into the swimming pool right in front of me and drowned."

Upon hearing this, Ruby frowned and responded in disbelief. "How is that possible?!"

"If Lila fell into the swimming pool right in front of you, you could have definitely saved her!"

I could not help but sneer at her words before replying bluntly, "She could have been saved."

"But not by me."

The moment my words left my mouth, the air around us seemed to grow tense.

Their gaze felt like a knife trying to tear me apart into pieces.

The next second, the live stream was flooded with frantic, furious comments.

"Damn, I thought this woman was just clueless and couldn't take care of her own child, but I had no idea she was a real monster!"

"This is disgusting. Her daughter fell into the pool right in front of her and she didn’t even try to save her?!"

"I can see no difference between this woman and a murderer."

"What’s worse is that she still acts so confident! It’s infuriating. Can someone at the scene just beat her to death already?"

Not only was the comment section filled with anger, but Andrew also rushed toward me in fury, his eyes wide and blazing with rage.

"Clara Ellingston, why are you doing this?"

"Lila… How could you do this to her?!"

"Did she do something wrong to make you mad? Why did you just watch her die like that?!"

Andrew's eyes reddened, but I remained calm, showing no expression.

"She did nothing wrong."

"Actually, she was a good girl, always well-behaved."

"Before the accident, she came to me with a sweet smile on her face, holding a gift she bought with her ownmoney."

"I know it was a bracelet. I saw it under her pillow."

"She had been hiding it for a long time, just so she could surprise me on my birthday today."

"The bracelet was beautiful and I really loved it."

"At that moment, Lila was like a lively little rabbit, so excited to run towards me with the bracelet in hand."

"But in her excitement, she was so eager that she slipped and fell into the pool and she drowned."

I recounted the details of the incident slowly.

My tone was so calm that it sounded as if I were telling someone else’s story.

Upon hearing this andrew's face twisted in disbelief and agony.

"Since she did nothing wrong, why are you doing this to her?!"

"She's only five!"

"She's a good girl, so how could you bear to do this to her? Why... why did this happen?!"

Andrew shouted those words hysterically.

His whole body trembled with emotion and his expression was a mix of heartbreak and rage.

People around were equally stirred and their emotions rose with the tension in the air.

Everyone around me yelled at me with red, furious eyes, their voices hoarse and filled with rage.

Many of them even threw garbage and spat in my direction.

I was buried beneath a pile of rotting garbage and suffocated by the collective scorn of thousands of people.

As I stood there, surrounded by the hatred in their eyes that seemed to burn with enough intensity to turn me to ash, I could not help but raise the corner of my mouth into a slight smile.

Then, I made a move that no one expected.