Bearing the Brunt

Lena was the head nurse of Central Hospital. If she was there earlier, there might still be time to save her daughter. Because of that tree, Anne didn't die the moment she fell from that tree and into the ground. However, Lena pretended to fall unconscious so she didn't need to give my daughter first aid.

She missed the window to receive any critical medical aid, and she died.

This time, Lena would miss the chance of saving her daughter.

Lena finished her boba tea nervously, glancing at the school's direction. At this time, someone who saw what happened was discussing it as they were passing by. "I heard the one who wanted to jump was someone from one of the senior advanced classes."

"Yeah. I gave it a look just now. And it's a girl, too. Kids nowadays just have too much pressure."

"She can't put things into perspective at this age. What a pity."

"Must be because of the parents. She collapsed because she didn't get into a good university."

Both Anne and Lena were in senior advanced classes. When Lena heard their discussion, she couldn't help but tremble. She immediately ran over and grabbed the passersby by the arm. "What does she look like?"

The passersby were a little surprised, but he didn't mind and tried to recall. "Who can tell when she's so high up?"

"What about the clothes? What colors are they?"

"Blue, I think. Blue shirt and black trousers."

Lena suddenly ran back and grabbed my shoulder, the madness in her eyes apparent. She couldn't wait and asked, "Maya, what are the colors Anne is wearing today?"

I then said, "Blue shirt and black trousers."

Lena immediately relaxed and laughed at me. "I told you that your daughter is going to jump! Tess wore a pair of dark green pants and not black!"

"The one who's about to jump must be your daughter! Haha! She must have done badly on her mock exams, and wanted to jump because Tess's results were so much better and it hurt her pride!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Lena was seriously mentally unstable. But I wasn't any better as I accompanied her waiting for her daughter to jump.

Lena triumphantly got closer to me and said, "You're still sitting here? If you won't go, you won't be able to see your daughter for one last time!"

I calmly sipped from my cup and showed Lena my phone. "See, my daughter's calling me."

Lena spat and rolled her eyes at me. "She's probably telling you her last words. She wanted to jump because of something like this. What a waste of resources. Rubbish."

I picked up Anne's call as Lena stared at me. I didn't forget to put it on speaker so she could hear it.

"Mom, I bought some chicken wings. Can you fry some chicken wings for me tonight?"

Before I could say anything, Lena immediately screamed at the mobile, "Anne! I'm not trying to say anything. It's humiliating to get bad results, but it's even more humiliating to want to jump from a building. Now the firefighters must go to the school, and that affects all the teachers at the school. You're making such a big fuss!"

"What? What are you talking about Aunt Lena? I don't get it. Jump from a building?"

I could already imagine how confused my daughter had to be on the other side.

"Ha, stop acting. Your mom and I know you want to jump from a building. You're calling your mom to tell her your last words, right? Tell me, then. She's listening."

"Wait. No. Why would I want to jump?"

Lena was speechless. "Stop pretending, Anne. Your results are so bad… If you're not the one jumping, don't tell me it's Tess?"

See. Sometimes you really need to shut your mouth. Because it really was Tess who wanted to jump.

"I seriously don't understand what you're trying to say, Aunt Lena. Are you and my mom at the pavilion in our neighborhood? I'll come over right now. Bye, Mom."

After that, Anne hung up.

After a few minutes, she appeared. She was huffing and puffing, obviously sprinting over. "Mom, Aunt Lena, I'm here. When I'm on my way here, I heard someone from the school saying that someone wanted to jump. Are you talking about that just now?"