I Saved My Child. So Whose Had to Die? Chapter 2

I had just settled Lily in the car. Before I could drive away, a dull thud echoed from the playground.

Thump!

The sound was a fist around my heart, squeezing it still.

I spun around. At the base of the three-story slide, a small form lay twisted, utterly still.

The child was face down. Her pink dress was being swiftly, silently swallowed by a dark, spreading stain beneath her.

Chaos erupted. Screams shredded the air, one after another.

I was frozen, watching in horror. Brandon Sterling poked his head out from the slide and spat down with a gleeful, jagged cackle. "Serves you right! Should've stayed outta my way, you worthless trash! Just die!"

Ms. Peterson rushed over. A single glance at the ground and her face went sheet-white, legs buckling.

Then she saw the pink dress.

Her frightened expression softened into clear relief. She patted her chest and let out a long breath. "Thank goodness. It's only Chloe. That useless child."

Putting on a sweet smile, she called upstairs. "Brandon, honey, come down. You don't need to see this."

Brandon slid down and prodded the girl with his foot. "She's not moving. Lame."

“Don't look, baby," Ms. Peterson cooed, covering his eyes. "It's nothing. Just a little accident. Kids like he...their lives don't cost much."

I stood trembling in the nearby shade.

In my previous life, she'd been exactly the same.

A human life, yet in her words, it was just "cheap," just "poor trash." Her disregard for the child's death was absolute.

To win favor with the Sterling family, she did not hesitate to hide the truth, pushing me to my limit.

I stared at the child lying in the pool of blood. That dress was exactly like my daughter's, the one given for school performances.

Ms. Peterson had clearly mistaken her.

I took a deep breath, then stumbled forward toward the scene.

"An accident! Quick, someone help! Call 911!"

Ms. Peterson heard me and frowned in disgust, immediately blocking my path.

"Ms. Sarah, what are you screaming about? It's just an accident. Do not disturb the other children or Brandon!"

I pointed at the child on the ground, my eyes burning. "Ms. Peterson, that is a child! Get help now!"

Ms. Peterson scoffed and crossed her arms. "Your daughter must have fallen on her own. Brandon is only five. What could he possibly understand? You better not try to use this to extort money."

Brandon hid behind Ms. Peterson and stuck his tongue out at me. "Haha, I pushed her! What are you going to do? My dad is rich. He will just pay you off!"

That vicious tone was exactly the same as in my past life.