Chapter 9 — Final Record

Ly Hao's voice was full of panic, as if he was standing on the brink with no way back.

"My sister is crazy. She escaped from the mental hospital last night. When we found her, she was standing on the rooftop trying to jump off!"

"She keeps calling your name, saying it will make you regret it for the rest of your life. I beg you, please come here, only you can keep her!"

I tightened my grip on the phone, my mind was blank, only a cold feeling left in my heart gradually spreading throughout my body. Ly Mai... want to jump off the building? Does she intend to use her death to drag me down, leaving me with a life to live in torment?

“Send me the address.”

I spoke very slowly, very coldly, because no matter what game she wanted to play, I had to go to the end and hear her tell the truth from her own mouth. I handed An An over to someone to take care of, then immediately left, with only one thought burning in my heart. I have to know... what happened to my child. The location is an abandoned factory, the wind blows, carrying the cold and rusty smell of a place that has been abandoned by time. On the rooftop, Ly Mai was wearing a thin hospital gown, standing close to the edge, her hair blowing in the wind, her whole body like a leaf about to fall from the branch. A large crowd of people had gathered below, police, firefighters, and her relatives, all in a state of extreme tension. Ly Hao saw me and immediately rushed forward as if he had found a life preserver, his voice choked with fear.

“You're here, hurry up, go talk to my sister, otherwise she'll really jump!”

I looked up at the figure above, with no pity in my heart, only extreme coldness. I took the speaker from the police, the voice carried clearly through the wind.

"Ly Mai, if you want to die, die alone. Don't drag me along, I won't shed a single tear for you."

“I just came here to ask one question, my child, An An… what happened?”

Hearing An An's name, her body trembled slightly, then slowly bent down to look at me, showing a creepy, distorted smile.

“You want to know… then come up here, come alone, I'll tell you.”

The police immediately detained me, warning that she was extremely out of control, but I just pushed their hands away.

“I have to go up.”

I entered the abandoned building, climbed each rusty staircase, each step echoed like a knock on my heart. The wind on the rooftop was so strong that it burned my face. I stopped a few meters away from her and didn't move any further.

“Can we talk now?”

Ly Mai looked at me, her eyes filled with hatred, as if she wanted to tear me into pieces.

"Tinh Tinh, you destroyed everything about me, my family, my husband, even my unborn child... then you don't want to live in peace."

“Don't you love your child the most, so I'll let you see him little by little… become unusual.”

My heart felt like it was being squeezed, my voice was almost screaming.

“What did you do!”

Ly Mai laughed loudly, a dry laugh like a crow calling in the night, sending chills down people's spines.

"I didn't do anything, I just told Dr. Ton Nhue... during the surgery, to use a little more support medicine."

"A drug can cause the fetus to show symptoms of acute hypoxia in a short time, creating the illusion of fetal distress... forcing her to have an operation."

My head seemed to explode for a moment, all sounds around me disappeared.

“What did you… say?”

“I said, your child There was no fetal distress, it was all arranged by me, it was pulled out of your belly… that way.”

"By the way, that medicine has a small side effect. It will slightly damage the newborn's nervous system, which cannot be detected in the early stages."

“But when he grows up, he will be slow, agitated, even violent…becoming a child that no one wants to get close to.”

"That's my last gift for you, Tinh Tinh, your whole life you will have to live with an imperfect child, eroded to madness day by day!"

Her laughter rang out hysterically, her tears flowed down and mixed with the wind, both scary and distorted. Then suddenly, she spread her arms out, like a bird with broken wings, letting herself fall back. I screamed until my voice cracked, but it was all too late. I could only stand there… watching her fall.