Chapter 5

I walked through the crowd at the school gates, my face completely expressionless.

The moment Adrian saw me, his grief turned into rabid fury. He lunged forward, grabbing my collar, screaming:

"Vivian! What did Lily ever do to you?! You were her mother!!"

He cried so hard he could barely breathe, looking exactly like a devastated, innocent father.

In my past life, this act of his was what sealed my fate and sent me to my grave.

I slowly peeled his hands off my collar, my fists clenching.

Seeing my lack of reaction, his crying got louder, playing to the crowd.

The surrounding onlookers glared at me, their eyes burning with hatred.

Evelyn stepped forward, her eyes puffy as she chimed in:

"Vivian! Even if you hated Lily, she was your own flesh and blood! If you hated her so much, why did you even give birth to her?!"

I could hear the collective gasp of the crowd. Several men looked ready to tear me apart, only held back by their wives.

Adrian let out a hollow, tragic laugh, his voice raspy.

"You lied to me this morning. You said you were sick so I would drive her. You planned this all along, didn't you?"

"Vivian, do you even have a soul? Lily was so small! How could you?!"

Suddenly, a half-eaten hotdog sailed through the air and hit my shoulder. It was the old hotdog vendor. He pointed at me, screaming:

"I can't believe I almost called 911 for this monster! You should have died in your bed!"

Soon, other parents began throwing trash, coffee cups, and water bottles at me.

The crowd’s fury was a raging fire.

"Kill her! Kill the monster!"

"If she can do this to her own kid, she’s a threat to society!"

Everyone's anger was manipulated perfectly. The mob mentality was incredibly dangerous.

In my past life, surrounded by my daughter's corpse and my husband's lies, I had lost my mind, unable to utter a single word of defense.

I was beaten, thrown in jail, and strangled.

But in this life? I wasn’t going down.

I looked at the sea of hateful faces and smiled coldly.

"Who said I was the killer?"