Chapter 4

Before the interview, Triệu Tuấn and I were both at a loss.

We had dealt with plenty of psychiatric patients.

Most had been extremely difficult to question.

But this “Lý Ngọc” was nothing like we expected.

Apart from denying that name and calling herself Lý Khiết, she was entirely lucid.

Calmly, she described how she had slipped into the complex, forced the lock at Tiêu Hiểu Nhàn's apartment, and killed the two people inside.

When we asked why, she answered only, “They didn't deserve to live.”

Then she said nothing more.

As for whether she had pushed Hân Hân from the balcony, she admitted it just as calmly.

“I did.”

I couldn't understand.

I could find no motive for killing her own daughter.

From beginning to end, Hân Hân had done nothing wrong.

The world was wrong.

The malicious relatives around her were wrong.

That child didn't deserve to die.

But Lý Khiết said calmly, “She couldn't survive.

“They'd found a tumor in her brain.

“Living would only mean more suffering.

“Besides, no one in this world loved her.”

I froze.

Triệu Tuấn stared for several seconds, then immediately objected.

“Nonsense! Her mother loved her!”

“Because her mother is going to die too.

“Neither of them can go on living.”

For a moment, we were both silent.

We knew Lý Ngọc had been driven to the end of her road.

She had even developed a mental illness.

And Hân Hân, living in that family, had a terminal disease.

It seemed there really was no way forward.

Slowly, I began to understand.

Lý Khiết had come into being to do what Lý Ngọc couldn't bring herself to do.

She was bound to kill Chung Trạch Hoa.

Tiêu Hiểu Nhàn was killed along the way.

She didn't necessarily need to kill Lý Hồng Mai.

Destroying the woman's only son would ensure she never had a grandson.

A living death.

But she had to kill Hân Hân.

She couldn't leave the girl alone in this frightening world to suffer.

At this point, almost the entire case was clear.

It seemed we could close it.

But the most frightening thing was that, based on our experience with previous cases, Lý Ngọc was very likely not to be held criminally responsible.

She would only be subject to compulsory treatment.

In other words, she wouldn't die.

She would keep living.

Living in pain.

No one in this case was fortunate.

But the most unfortunate was still the poor girl who fell.

Because afterward, we found something else.

A video on Lý Ngọc's phone.

A video Lý Khiết had made herself, recording her killing of Hân Hân.

She explained that she wanted Lý Ngọc to see it one day.

To see the cruel truth that she had killed the daughter she loved most with her own hands.

Then Lý Ngọc would kill herself.

And Lý Khiết would disappear with her.

Only then did I understand.

For some people, carrying on living was the hardest thing of all.

Triệu Tuấn and I opened the video together.

When Lý Ngọc came home, Hân Hân was still happy.

She ran over and hugged her, calling brightly, “Mom!”

Then Lý Ngọc—

No.

Lý Khiết.

She suggested, “Let's play on the balcony. We'll stand somewhere high and look farther away.”

Of course, Hân Hân agreed.

She ran ahead.

With her back to the camera, she stepped onto the little chair.

Just as “Lý Ngọc” rushed forward and reached out to push her, the girl suddenly turned around.

The outstretched hand froze in midair.

At that same instant, Hân Hân's eyes widened in surprise. She thrust both hands behind her and gripped the railing.

That was how the handprints had been left.

Her gaze was bewildered.

Clearly, she knew what that outstretched hand had meant to do.

But she only asked, gently and obediently, “Mom... you still love me, don't you?”

“Lý Ngọc” stood motionless for several seconds.

Then she answered, “Of course.

“I'll always love you.”

The blankness left Hân Hân's eyes.

She straightened and spoke in her small child's voice.

“Mom...

“I love you too.”

She even tried to smile.

The image remained still for several seconds.

Her eyes slowly reddened.

Tears filled them.

She knew.

She knew everything.

But because it was her mother, she pretended not to be afraid.

She could have run.

She could have screamed for help.

But because it was her mother, she did nothing.

A few seconds later, “Lý Ngọc” suddenly thrust out her hand and pushed her daughter squarely in the chest.

The little girl didn't resist.

Her small body sailed out like a paper airplane.

There was no scream.

Perhaps there was no fear left either.

Her last words in this world were:

“Mom... I love you too.”

— The End —