Chapter 2

2

When the student announced the girl was gone, Brenda collapsed backward. She looked like the picture of a grieving mother.

The other passengers rushed to support her. Brenda then threw herself at the student's feet.

"There has to be another way! Please, keep trying!"

The student didn't give up. Even though there was no pulse, she started compressions just like I once did.

I tapped her shoulder. "It's over. Let it go."

Tears rolled down the student's face. I knew exactly how that felt―the crushing weight of failure.

Brenda suddenly lunged at me, pushing me so hard I hit the ground. Her eyes were bloodshot and full of rage.

"This is your fault! You stopped her from helping sooner! You killed my daughter!"

The crowd started whispering, looking at me like I was a murderer. They were just bystanders who hadn't lifted a finger.

None of them had even called 911 yet. I let out a cold laugh.

"The kid was dead before we even stopped. You all heard it. Don't you dare pin this on me."

Brenda's fake rage flickered for a second. She looked away, appearing almost guilty.

The girl doing CPR finally stopped. she curled into a ball on the ground, shaking.

She realized that after twenty minutes, there was no hope left. Brenda crawled toward the body and hugged it tight.

A moment later, she grabbed the student's shirt and started punching her. The girl didn't even move; she just kept saying sorry.

It wasn't her fault at all. She was drowning in guilt she didn't deserve.

Brenda wasn't worth a single tear. She was hitting the only person who actually tried to help her.

Seeing my past self in that girl made my blood boil. I marched over and pulled Brenda off her.

"Get used to it," I told the girl. "You did your best."

Brenda turned her venom back toward me. "Did your best? That was a human life!"

"You people act like 'trying' is enough while a family is destroyed!"

In my last life, she said the exact same words to me. But in the end, it was my family that got destroyed.

Some guy in the back was filming everything with his phone. Brenda saw the flash and screamed.

"Stop filming! My daughter is dead! Leave us alone!"

She picked up the body and started walking away. "Lily, baby, let's go home."

Her voice was low, but everyone heard it.