Why couldn’t I save my daughter?
The pain hit me like a tidal wave. I could not even find the strength to cry.
When my mother-in-law and Kelvin heard the news, they rushed to the scene.
Seeing my daughter’s lifeless body in my arms, my mother-in-law let out a scream of grief.
Then, as if in a trance, she pushed me aside and wrapped her arms tightly around her granddaughter.
"Clara… my precious girl… how could you die just because Grandma went to the hospital?"
Kelvin fell to his knees, his tears streaming as he reached out to her tremblingly.
"Clara… please get up. Don’t scare Daddy like this."
"Are you mad because Daddy didn’t take you to kindergarten today? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please… come back. You can ask me for anything, anything at all. Just open your eyes…"
As Kelvin spoke, he slapped himself hard across the face, his expression filled with deep regret and pain.
The onlookers around us could not help but sigh and whisper among themselves.
"Everyone in the neighborhood knows what a well-behaved and sensible little girl she was. Clara was always so polite and sweet. Everyone liked her."
"Yes, the whole family adored her. Now that she’s gone… how are they supposed to go on?"
"What a tragedy. How could such a healthy child suddenly drown like that?"
While the crowd murmured, a police officer approached me, holding a surveillance tablet in his hands.
"We reviewed the footage from nearby cameras. It shows you bringing the deceased child to this pond, pushing her in and holding her underwater until she drowned."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
As he spoke, he tapped the screen and began to play the footage for everyone to see.
The video clearly showed me leading my daughter to the pond, dragging her into the water and forcing her down until she stopped moving.
Gasps instantly rose from the crowd.
All eyes turned to me.
Shocked. Furious. Disgusted.
I stood frozen, staring at the footage of a version of myself doing something I had never done.
Everyone stared at me as if they wished to cut me apart right there.
This was exactly like the previous life.
That same crushing despair returned, wrapping itself around my chest like chains.
Before I could speak a word in my own defense, Kelvin stormed forward.
He slapped me across the face hard, his voice trembling with rage.
"Laura Kyle, are you even human?!"