- 8.
Mom was back, like nothing had happened.
Last time, she was dragged away by the cops
<
and locked up for three years.
Now she was home, acting normal.
She made herself a bowl of noodles.
She ate slowly, not saying a word.
She was completely calm.
Like she was just getting home from work.
She started scrolling through her phone,
laughing.
I couldn’t understand how she could be so
normal after two people died.
I went back to my room, slammed the door,
and called Detective Chen.
く
“What’s going on with Mom? Why is she
out?”
Chen was in charge of the case. He’d been
asking me about Mom for years. He was the
one who arrested her after Mark died.
He sighed into the phone. “She’s sticking to
her story, saying she only wished Mark well.
We want to find the truth, but we can’t hold
her without proof.”
He paused. “Be careful. You’re living with her
now.”
I hung up, keeping a close eye on Mom.
I barely slept.
Every creak in the nouse maue me jump.
Days went by.
People kept coming to the house, wanting to
know what Mom said.
But she ignored them.
She just did her own thing.
She’d call me for dinner, but that was it.
Life was quiet.
Until a week later.
I was on my phone when the internet went
out.
<
Mom, who was watching a video, went pale.
She grabbed me and dragged me to the
storage room.
Then she turned a lamp, revealing a hidden
tunnel I’d never seen before.
She pushed me inside. “Run! Don’t look
back!” she said.
