Chapter 3
Andrew quickly replied, "Yeah, when I got there, she was already out from under the rubble. I kicked that beam to make sure it was safe, not to hurt her. It's not like she's accusing me of trying to kill her."
As he spoke, the corners of his eyes reddened. A grown man looking so hurt naturally inspired sympathy.
He went on, "We're husband and wife, and Felix is our kid. If she were still trapped in there, there's no way Felix wouldn't have told me.
"I only did it because I was sure she wasn't inside.
"As for helping Lily, I couldn't find my wife anywhere, and someone else needed help right then.
"But I never thought you'd talk about me like this, Charlotte."
Everyone's eyes went wide.
Everyone was staring at me, trying to figure me out.
Some survivors nodded.
"When she ran over just now, her son wasn't with her. He probably wasn't out yet," one of them said.
"So you ditched your kid and ran for yourself?" someone sneered.
"If you were still stuck in there, your kid would've told his Dad. He only broke that beam after your kid said you were gone," another person chimed in.
Now the cameras all swung around to focus on me.
"I almost fell for your act. How could you badmouth the rescue team and sell out your own husband and kid?" someone shouted.
"You ran out and left your son behind, and now you're mad that your husband helped someone else? Unbelievable!" another person yelled.
Someone hurled things at me and even dumped a bucket of trash on me.
The flashes from the cameras made my eyes sting, and tears sprang to my eyes instantly.
In my previous life, when I was still trapped under the rubble, Felix didn't say anything for me.
And that beam still broke.
But that was all in my previous life. Even if I tried to explain, no one would ever believe me.
So I crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud, my expression contorted in agony.
"Oh my god! Why is there so much blood on her back?" someone shouted.
"Quick! Get her some bandages!" another person yelled.
The lady who'd handed me the alcohol earlier rushed over. Eyes rimmed with tears, I stared straight into the cameras.
I choked out, "I wanted to find someone to help my son. I didn't even have time to worry about my own injuries, and now everyone thinks I ditched him?
"If I wanted to leave him behind, why would I have shielded him with my own body?"
The lady poured alcohol onto my back, and I let out a sobbing scream from the pain.
As the lady comforted me, she turned to the reporters.
She said, "It's true. When she ran over, all she kept saying was 'Save my son'. If I hadn't grabbed her and forced her to get bandaged, she would've passed out from blood loss already."
The alcohol burned my wounds, and every tiny movement made me sob from the pain.
Suddenly, everyone went quiet.
Everyone stared at me, a mother battered and bruised, shaking from the pain, and the pity in their eyes was clear.
Felix looked at my back, a brief flicker of sympathy in his eyes, and turned away, his lips curling with disdain.
"You deserve it. I never asked you to protect me," he muttered.
"What did you just say, you little brat?" someone snapped.
Even though he said it under his breath, someone still heard him.
"Well, they are both cold-blooded. Everyone, get them. Don't let any of those three slip away. We have to expose them for what they are," someone shouted.
"Blast it online so everyone knows to steer clear of them," another person yelled.
"You can't do this," Lily protested.
Andrew instinctively moved to shield Lily, but that only made the crowd angrier.
"You still dare to protect her? Everyone, get them. Big or small, don't let any of them go," someone yelled.
I was helped to sit outside the crowd, eyes rimmed with tears as I watched them.
A barely-there smirk played at the corner of my lips.
I was not the type to break down over a little pain.
In my previous life, when my arms and legs were crushed, I didn't make a sound.
Andrew, were you buying my performance?
As the three of us were being shoved and jostled, someone suddenly yelled over the commotion, "Stop!"
I spun around instantly.
Not far away, a man in a tailored suit stepped out of a luxury sedan.
A helicopter touched down nearby, and rescue team members in uniform piled out.
"What's all this commotion about?" the man barked.
The middle-aged guy in the sharp suit stepped up, putting himself between Andrew and the crowd, but his gaze landed squarely on me.
He said, "Even if he's done something wrong, that's for the law to handle. Since when does someone crying give you all the right to play judge and jury?"
My fists tightened with tension.
Richard Turner had always been Andrew's unshakable support.