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360words
"Your pre-marital property?You married into our family—it's ours!"
I sneered at the two clowns."You think your word's law?Your family rules trump the whole legal system?"
Out of words, she threw a tantrum,rolling on the ground.
I called 911,reporting them for slander and violating my personal rights.
After a police lecture,they didn't dare to return again.
Lily,fed up with their cramped rental,tried returning to school, only to find out she had been expelled after been absent all the time.
A lifetime ago,she blamed me for failing exams.No matter how"lucky,"without knowledge,could fortune got knowledge into her brain?
Utterly foolish!
Lily vanished.
Police said she was spotted with Jake on surveillance.
From last time,I had already known Jake was relentless,vengeful,and irrational.
Lily,greedy for his cash,became his girlfriend but couldn't break up with him.
Cheating on a maniac like him?She'd pay dearly.
I let it go.My admission letter arrived,and the house was sold.
Before school,I planned to travel.After graduating,I had been working nonstop without a real break—now was my chance to live.
On a train to the northwest,I stopped at cities I liked,staying here and there a few days.
In X City,I saw Lily.
In sweltering heat,she wore a headscarf,limping behind Jake,looking miserable.
I trailed them and called the police—not out of pity,but because a murderer on the loose was dangerous.After all no one who who he might kill next
Police were swift.Jake was caught.As the the person who tipped them off,I gave a statement at the station.
There,I saw Lily.
Her scarf hid a mole that had spread across her chin,black and inflamed from scratching.Her neck was swollen—likely lymph node cancer spread.
Her body was battered from Jake's abuse.
She sat,dazed,like her soul had been beaten out of her body.
During my police interview,she looked up,her vacant eyes sparking.
"Emma,I feel I wasn't meant for this life.Someone tampered with my destiny!"
I didn't respond.
Who can hijack another's life?Your own choices shape your own path.
I just stopped playing savior,respecting what was originally her fate.
After the interview,I resumed traveling.
Police sent Lily home.
A colleague updated me:too late for tests,she had late-stage melanoma,a skin cancer.
