Granting You A Second Life

Li Xiuying felt the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her senses were on overdrive. She could hear her own rapid heartbeat drumming in her ears. Her airways expanded, pupils dilated and her mind rapidly processed millions of stimuli.

Li Xiuying wasn't even aware that her once lifeless eyes were sparkling with vitality.

She knew that she couldn't slow down. She couldn't afford to be seen. This may be her only chance to get away. The fence was now only two meters in front of her. She dived into the rose bushes anterior to the fence. She was sprawled out on her stomach in the soil trying to catch her breath.

Li Xiuying looked towards the house and froze.

She could sort of make out two male figures at the entrance to the back garden. They were dressed in all in black. 'Who are they? What are they doing here right now?!'

Suit 1 started walking towards her location whilst Suit 2 started walking in the opposite direction.

Even though suit 1 was a distance away from Li Xiuying didn't dare to move because of the fear of even any small movement catching his attention. She was concentrating on the man walking towards her. The man in the black suit was quickly eating up the ground with his steps. He was getting closer and closer to where she was hiding.

He seemed to be looking around on the ground as he was walking.

Li Xiuying questioned 'What is he looking for? Could it be that she left obvious footprints in the grass?'

The man paused a mere five meters in front of her.

Li Xiuying's heart rate was rapidly increasing.

Li Xiuying started panicking internally: 'He's looking straight at me! What should I do? How could I have been so stupid and impulsive! I should have waited until it was dark outside!'

Despair marred Li Xiuying's face. Her so-called family had never cared about her whereabouts before. She could go days even weeks without seeing anyone one of them. Her uncle was the only one she was in contact with regularly because he emailed her the daily surgery list. Other than that they would only seek her out when they had a use for her.

Li Xiuying had a sudden realization: 'Wait! They couldn't be looking for me. They don't care about me at all so why would I suddenly rise in importance to them today? Besides they won't be able to track me without my phone.'

Li Xiuying felt herself calm down and turned her attention back to suit 1. He was fiddling with what looked like a walkie-talkie in his hand. He bought it close to his ear.

Li Xiuying listened attentively. She heard some static and then a male voice ringing out.

Male voice: "Make sure you find my wife's earring or you and your brother can collect your last paycheck today."

Li Xiuying eyes widened in surprise. It was the voice of her fiancé. Chen Wei!

Suit 1: "Affirmative, we are now searching the back garden."

A sweet female voice then rang out: "I think it fell somewhere near where we had lunch on Friday".

Who could it be except Li Yu Yan?

The man clipped his walkie-talkie to his belt and walked a few more steps before bending forward and picking up something between his thumb and forefinger. It was an earring.

Li Xiuying gazed at the earring with an intensity that could make a mountain crumble under its pressure.

It was her mother's earring.

When Li Xiuying's parents had passed away she had inherited quite a few things which included a small box of her mother's jewelry.

Her aunt, Li Mei Wu had said she would put the jewelry box inside their safe and Li Xiuying could look at it whenever she wanted.

Only a few days had passed and the house was mysteriously burgled. All the contents of the safe were taken including her mother's jewelry box.

After the burglary, Li Xiuying cried herself to sleep for a whole year. In her previous life, she had truly believed her mother's jewelry was stolen, never to be seen again. However, today the truth was finally revealed. Her mother's jewelry was in the hands of her selfish cousin and despicable aunt.

Li Xiuying clenched her fists. In her mind, she screamed: 'I must get it all back!!!'

Suit 1 signaled to suit 2 to start heading inside. They both made their way back inside the house.

After what seemed like hours, Li Xiuying finally turned away from the house of deception and lies.