"Clang."

The knife slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. A trace of panic flashed in the woman's narrow eyes, quickly replaced by indifference.

The man's body collapsed to the ground, his belly's soft flesh quivering a few times out of inertia, blood gurgling from the wound. He still tried to struggle to his feet, but in the next second, he perished.

The once spacious living room was filled with the smell of blood, its pungent scent nauseating. Yet, she seemed unfazed, greedily staring at the man's blood on her hands, grinning ferociously, her pale face looking sinister and eerie.

As she laughed, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes to her cheeks, and she mumbled to herself: He's finally dead.

"Xing Zhaoping, you never thought you'd die by my hand, did you?"

"I never thought we would end up here either."

"After five years of marriage, it’s finally over between us."

She sat beside the corpse for a while, talking about many things: the trivialities of life, an unscrupulous boss oppressing new recruits, interesting stories from their dates, like a couple in love, whispering pointless sweet nothings.

After about two hours, she stumbled to her feet, standing still for a moment until feeling returned to her legs that had gone numb from being curled up for so long.

From the gaps in the balcony screen, a few tender branches sprouted, full of the vigor of spring. Yet, she wrapped her coat tighter around herself, curling up.

"You all tried everything to come in, not knowing that the people inside were fighting desperately to get out."

She tugged at the corner of her mouth, not knowing who she was speaking to, with only the sound of the wind rustling around her.

After a long while, she pursed her lips and turned back to the bedroom.

She picked up the phone on the bedside table and lit up the screen, which was fairly clean with hardly any extra apps. She fiddled with it for a bit before her finger stopped at the dial pad.

Beep!

"Hello, I want to turn myself in."

"Happiness Garden..."

After making that call, she used up all her strength, collapsing to the ground, staring dazedly out the window at the fresh buds of the little tree after the rain, sinking into deeper despair after rebirth.

As long as that person existed, someone would never have a new life. This was something she had heard someone mention by chance.

So...

Her thoughts wandered, drifting towards a beautiful and free land waving at her, only to hear the wailing of police sirens as the fog cleared.

She knew the dream had ended, but she had no regrets, even if it lasted just a moment, she accepted it.

The handcuffs were cold, but they felt like a lifeline to her. She relaxed, her lips curling up to reveal a few white teeth.

Her smile looked serene, almost like relief, with eyes shining brilliantly without a trace of panic, calm as water.