Chapter 4

I had nowhere to go and could only return to the orphanage.

The director had already completed his surgery and was still unconscious.

I sat by his bedside, holding his aged hand and crying my heart out.

I knew I couldn't stop. I didn't have time to grieve.

Follow-up treatment and recovery all required money.

I rented a cheap basement partition and started desperately looking for work.

But I had such little education and wasn't even an adult yet. No legitimate place would hire me.

I could only do odd jobs—washing dishes, handing out flyers, helping vendors clean up.

I earned very little, nowhere near enough to fill the hospital's bottomless pit. The overdue payment notices piled up one after another.

The director's condition also kept fluctuating.

At my wit's end, I saw a job advertisement:

[High-altitude glass cleaning, daily pay, $2000-3000 per day.]

I was tempted.

I knew it was dangerous, but I had no choice.

The contact person hesitated when he saw how small and thin I was.

But I begged him, saying I desperately needed money and could do anything.

He finally agreed, gave me an old safety harness, briefly explained a few things, and brought me to the construction site.

I was suspended dozens of meters in the air, tightly gripping a brush and bucket.

Bit by bit, I wiped the massive glass windows.

At first, I was so scared my whole body trembled.

But thinking of the director lying in the hospital bed, I gritted my teeth and endured.

The first day passed safely. After getting paid, I felt for the first time that life had a glimmer of hope.

I went back the second day.

Just as I was almost finished cleaning the top floor windows, thinking about how I could get paid today and buy some good medicine for the director—

I suddenly heard a faint cracking sound from overhead.

Before I could look up—

The next second, the safety rope tied around my waist snapped without warning!

I fell.

The wind howled, whipping my hair upward.

Glass, steel beams, sky...

Everything became hazy, rapidly receding upward.

Time moved both slowly and quickly.

I thought of the director's warm hands.

I thought of the drafty windows at the orphanage in winter.

I thought of Mary following behind me when we were little, saying she wanted to be with me forever.

"BANG—"

After the tremendous sound of impact came boundless silence.

My soul floated free.

I saw the crowd gathering below, heard terrified screams and shouts.

These events from the recent past already felt like they happened in a previous life.

I was finally free.

I no longer had to fear being hated by others or live alone in loneliness.

Until this moment, the only one I couldn't let go of was the director.

Lauren watched the director stumble away, then sat in her chair for a long time without speaking.

Her complexion was terrible, inexplicably anxious.

Andrew also frowned and walked to the window to smoke a cigarette.

"Where did she run off to? She won't get into trouble, will she?"

Lauren sighed, her voice irritated.

The next moment, her phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed my name.

Lauren's tense body instantly relaxed. She quickly answered:

"You finally know to call back? And you got the director to put on this act with you?"

"Such deep scheming! I'm warning you to stop playing these games with me!"

She was about to say more when a voice from the other end interrupted her.

It wasn't my voice. It was a man's voice.

"Hello, this is the police department. Are you Georgina's family?"

"She had an accident at work and fell from a height. She died on impact."

"Please come identify the body as soon as possible."