ManyWriters

Five months pregnant, eight-year-old Tina pushed me down into the ten-meter-deep snake pit again.
Blood flowed from my body, pooling into a stark red puddle.
This was already my seventh 'forced' miscarriage.
"You killed my mom and brother, and the bastards in your belly don't deserve to live either!"
Dozens of snakes swarmed over, greedily lapping up the blood on my body, leaving bite marks deep enough to see bone.
Tina showed no remorse, her eyes as cold as her Snake Charmer father's, her tone mocking:
"Only my mom can give birth to my siblings. You disgusting homewrecker, you'll never replace her in this lifetime!"
"Go ahead and keep having my dad's babies if you dare. Sooner or later, I'll make sure you die in a pool of your own blood!"
Looking at this little girl I had cherished and lovingly cared for over eight years, I suddenly felt exhausted.
"Don't worry, this will be the last time."

Strangers on Different Paths

Is there no reason to refuse, or do you also yearn to trace the footsteps of a former love?


It's laughable that in my eight years with the Thompson family, I never had the chance for a family vacation with all three of us.


"Mr. Thompson, there's no need to tell me these things. I'm leaving right away. As for having a son, please find someone else suitable for that task."


Dashiell furrowed his brow, about to speak, when Jolene came running over with a dead snake in her hands.


It was the female of the two snakes Lily had left behind. The area where the gallbladder should be was hollowed out, and the vital spot seven inches from its head was mutilated beyond recognition by a knife.


She stumbled into Dashiell's arms, panic-stricken:


"Dashiell, I noticed this female snake wasn't eating well yesterday. I went to check on it today, and someone had killed it! Oh, and I found this near its body!"


Chapter 6