Chapter 1
“Audrey, why don’t you go hide somewhere?”
“When Butch comes tomorrow, he’ll see it’s just me and Daisy. He won’t touch us.”
Mom, her back stooped, looked at me with a worried expression, pleading.
I shook my head, hearing her words. “No, Mom.”
In my last life, I listened to Mom and hid in the mountains.
Who knew that monster, Butch, would fly into a rage when he didn’t find me? He beat Mom to death with a wooden club.
Neighbors said Mom was bleeding all over, and before she closed her eyes, she was still thinking of me: “If I’m gone, how hard will it be for Audrey to take care of the child alone?”
And Daisy, for biting Butch, was directly thrown into the well.
Her heart-wrenching screams abruptly ceased.
Daisy was gone, her body swollen from the water.
This time, I would never allow such a tragedy to happen again.
I looked at my daughter, gaunt and pale from malnutrition, then at Mom, barely fifty but looking eighty. A decision solidified in my heart!
“Mom, we’re going to the base to find David!”
“Otherwise, even if Butch doesn’t come for us, we’ll starve to death anyway!”
“Alright… alright.” Mom roughly wiped away her tears with her threadbare sleeve.
“Since you’ve decided, Mom supports you.”
“Are we going to find Dad?”
A spark of excitement lit up Daisy’s eyes.
“Yes!” I nodded firmly.
No sooner said than done. I packed the last three potatoes we had in my pocket and set off with Mom and Daisy.
We walked and rested, asking for directions until we finally found Major Miller’s unit, the 211th.
Staring at the solemn, imposing gates of the military base, a sarcastic smile touched my lips.
So, the 211th Unit’s base was this close.
Barely a ten-mile distance, yet David hadn’t come home in three years, not even a single letter.
Did he know that, in those three years, our home had run out of everything?
Mom and I lived by digging wild vegetables and begging every day. My poor daughter, so young, suffered countless stares and insults alongside us.
The entire village bullied us. Butch tried every trick to take advantage of me.
And my husband… was ‘serving his country with utmost loyalty’ barely a stone’s throw from home!
How… ironic!
I held my frail daughter in one arm and supported my limping mother-in-law with the other, walking towards the guard post.
“Officer, who can I help you with?”
“David Miller.”
“Major Miller?” The guard’s eyes flickered with surprise.
“Strange, isn’t the Major an orphan?”
The guard mumbled softly, then as if something clicked, a look of realization flashed in his eyes.
“Ah, I get it! You must be relatives of the Major’s wife!”
I froze.
The Major’s wife?
Then who was I?
Just as I was about to ask, a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind me.
“Audrey!”
I turned to see David Miller.
Compared to when he left, he seemed stronger and more handsome.
“What are you doing here?”
David’s face was filled with shock as he quickly walked towards us.
“Major Miller, they’re relatives of your wife.” The guard eagerly explained.
Hearing this, David’s face turned grim. He pulled us aside.
“This is outrageous! Showing up without a word, acting on your own! What gave you the nerve?!”
David looked utterly displeased.
Mom was stunned, her face etched with confusion.
“Son, who is he talking about? Whose wife?”
David’s face stiffened.
Daisy, oblivious to the tension, excitedly hugged David’s leg: “Are you my dad?”
“Shut up!” David barked, glaring fiercely at Daisy.
Just then, the guard not far away suddenly called out, “Mrs. Miller, you have visitors!”
David quickly pushed Daisy away.
He pushed too hard, and Daisy fell heavily to the ground.