Take What You Want

Screams, curses, and arguments echoed as the mall descended into chaos.

I stood outside the crowd, watching it all with a heart full of helplessness and sadness. I knew this was all caused by greed and vanity. But there was nothing I could do aside from calling the police.

Paula and Oliver fought desperately for gift boxes in the crowd, and their figures could hardly be seen amid the chaos. They had completely lost their minds, as if they'd forgotten everything around them.

Suddenly, Paula spotted me. Her eyes widened with fury as she ran toward me. "What are you standing there for? Get over here and help! You're completely useless!"

Looking at Paula's twisted face, I felt a wave of strong disgust rise in my heart. "I can barely move. If you want to grab things, do it yourselves."

The moment I finished speaking, Paula raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. "You worthless burden! Carrying a girl and still acting all precious!

"When I was eight months pregnant, I was still working hard on the farm! And nothing happened to me!"

Paula grabbed my hand as she spoke. "Come on! You're coming with me right now! This is like money falling from the sky, and whatever we grab is pure profit!"

I didn't dare struggle too hard, afraid of hurting my unborn child. My cheek burned with pain, but my heart felt even colder. I was filled with rage as I looked at Paula's vicious face.

"Paula, I told you there's nothing worth grabbing in there! Besides, I need to watch our groceries. What if someone takes them?" I covered my cheek, deciding to try calming Paula down first.

Paula glared at me viciously and shouted, "What do you know? Those groceries aren't worth much, but these gift boxes definitely have good stuff inside. Hurry up and come grab some with us!"

Paula snatched the heavy bags from my hands, set them on the ground, and pulled my hand to drag me along. I couldn't resist and stumbled forward several steps.

Oliver walked over to me at that moment, carrying an armload of gift boxes, and chimed in, "Exactly! With this many people, Mom and I can't grab enough by ourselves! You need to help us!"

He also pulled me toward the Christmas tree. The terror of being trampled to death in my previous life washed over me again.

"Oliver! Let go of me! I'm not going!" I said anxiously.

"No way! You have to go! With one more person, we can grab several more boxes! That's all the money!" Paula dragged me forward while I felt like I was suffocating again.

I had a sudden inspiration and quickly clutched my baby bump. "I can't, Oliver! It really hurts. I think the baby's coming!"

"What!" Oliver jumped in shock and began hesitating.

Just then, mall security finally arrived. The guard waved his arms and shouted loudly, "Everyone, stop grabbing! It's too dangerous!

"Please calm down! These gift boxes are all empty. There's nothing in them at all!"

But the mob had already lost control. Someone knocked him down with a hard shove.

The security guard fell awkwardly, his face full of terror and helplessness as he muttered, "This is bad! Something terrible is going to happen."