May 6, 1974. The day of Lixia.
"You dead little brat, quit putting on an act in front of me! Get your backside up!"
The sharp curse had barely finished when a foot came down hard on Vivienne Goodwin, who was lying on the ground.
It was a heavy kick. Vivienne was already weak all over, and a low groan slipped out of her before she could stop it.
Standing nearby, the middle-aged woman Vivian Goodwin quickly put on a fake show of scolding. "Fiona, easy now. Don’t go too far and really hurt her."
Fiona Marsh didn’t care in the least. "Mom, it’s not like I’d kick her to death. If you ask me, she’s doing this on purpose, trying to let people outside see."
Vivian Goodwin shot a look toward the front gate and lowered her voice. "Forget that for now. Drag her inside first. Don’t let the neighbors catch sight of this."
Though Fiona Marsh was a hundred times unwilling, she still bent down and reached for Vivienne Goodwin.
But the moment her hand touched her, she suddenly felt something was off.
By instinct, she stretched a hand under Vivienne Goodwin’s nose. Her face changed at once, and even her voice started shaking. "No... no breath."
A chill ran straight through Fiona Marsh’s body. With her voice trembling in panic, she blurted out, "Mom, she... she can’t be dead, can she?"
"What?"
The second Vivian Goodwin heard that, she shakily reached out to test Vivienne Goodwin’s breathing herself. When she found there really was no breath left, her eyes went wide and her face turned white as paper.
"Mom, what do we do now?"
Fiona Marsh had completely lost her nerve. She looked at Vivian Goodwin in a fluster, near to falling apart.
The words made Vivian Goodwin’s heart drop hard.
But she forced herself to calm down fast. "Drag her into the room first. Once it’s properly dark, we’ll think of a way to dump her outside. We’ll just say she never came back at all."
Hearing that, Fiona Marsh hesitated. "But she only just got home. What if somebody saw her?"
Vivian Goodwin paused, then said, "That’s easy. We’ll say she came back, grabbed something, and left again."
"Fine. Then let’s get her inside."
Fiona Marsh and Vivian Goodwin grabbed Vivienne Goodwin from either side and hauled her toward the room like she was a sack of grain. The second they got there, they flung her aside, and she hit the floor hard.
Her body slammed against the boards, and the pain made Vivienne snap her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Fiona standing right in front of her. The two of them froze on the spot.
"Ah—"
Fiona let out a shrill scream, so scared her hand jerked loose at once.
Taking that chance, Vivienne pushed herself upright and stared at Fiona with a cold, sharp face.
Fiona came back to herself soon enough. Realizing Vivienne had been faking it, she flew into a rage and spat, "You little bitch, so you were pretending to be dead!"
The moment she finished cursing, she raised her hand and swung for Vivienne's face.
Vivienne's eyes turned dark. She moved even faster and snapped a slap right back across Fiona's face.
With a loud smack, a red handprint bloomed on Fiona's cheek at once.
It had all happened too fast.
The instant Vivian Goodwin saw her daughter get hit, her temper shot straight up, and she lunged at Vivienne.
Vivienne did not hesitate. She lifted her leg and drove a kick straight into Vivian Goodwin's stomach.
With a heavy thud, Vivian Goodwin was sent flying backward into the cabinet, letting out a squeal like a hog being slaughtered.
"You filthy little slut, you dare hit me!"
Fiona had been stunned by the slap. Once she got her wits back, she went mad and threw herself forward again, clawing and flailing.
Vivienne got to her feet in one smooth motion, shifted to the side, and easily dodged Fiona's rush.
The very next second, she struck fast, grabbed Fiona, and slammed her to the floor. Then she pinned her down and started smacking her across the face again and again without mercy.
"Go on, curse me! Keep cursing! Let's see if you still dare run that filthy mouth! You're the cheap one! Your whole damn family is rotten!"
Vivienne spoke as she hit her.
Every word was like a blade, stabbing straight into Fiona's chest.
Fiona Marsh had been beaten so hard she couldn’t fight back at all. All she could do was let out one heart-ripping scream after another.
The moment Vivian Goodwin saw that, she went weak with fright. Her whole body shook. Then her eyes landed on the chair by the side. Without even thinking, she lunged over, grabbed it, and hurled it straight at Vivienne Goodwin.
But Vivienne Goodwin had clearly seen it coming. The instant the chair flew at her, she shifted sideways quick as a cat and dodged it cleanly.
The chair didn’t miss, though.
It slammed right into Fiona Marsh instead.
There was a heavy thud.