Mrs. Royce keeps berating, "Feeling guilty, are you, Lilian? Why are you delete the chat history? Show us your phone! Let's see if you only deleted mine or everyone else's as well! If it's just mine, you're clearly guilty!"
***
"Exactly! Let's have a look!" Once again, the crowd's words became daggers aimed at us.
"She seemed honest, but who knew?"
"Unbelievable. She wouldn't even take small advantages while buying groceries."
"You don't get it. Petty gains are nothing!"
"Plenty of people like to act virtuous while doing shady things."
My mom's chest rose and fell rapidly. Her face turned pale as she muttered intermittently, "I ... I didn't ..."
I panicked, utterly at a loss. Had my rebirth been for nothing? Was I doomed to repeat the same fate?
Eyes rimmed red, I looked at Thomas and pleaded in a low voice, "Can we not talk about this for now? My mom has a heart condition. Regardless of who took the money, this is too much for her to bear today."