She was afraid that it would be blood. She still had to take care of her mother. She had to stay alive. If she died, what would happen to her mother?
The fifteen to sixteen-year-old child forced herself to swallow the mouthful of blood back down her throat.
She bit her lip and said weakly, "My mother... My mother is dying. Before she dies, she wants to meet... Mrs. Shaw. My mother said...it's about your daughter who passed away as a baby. She would like to see you."
Mrs. Shaw was stunned when she heard Gloria's words. "What...what did you say?"
"My mother would like to see you." With that, Gloria sped away. If not, she would start coughing blood. She did not want to cough up blood in front of the Shaw family. She was afraid they would make fun of her and further take advantage of her weakness.
That night, she did not return home because she did not want her mother to see her in this state, beaten up like this.
That night, Gloria was in pain and freezing. Her chest was burning, as if it was on fire. She did not know where she could go.
In the darkness, she spotted a haystack. It looked so soft and welcoming, so she lay in the haystack.
Gradually, she lost consciousness, unsure whether it
was because she fell asleep or fainted.
By the time she awoke, the sky was bright again. A middle-aged couple appeared in front of her eyes.
"Dear child, are you awake?" the woman asked.
Gloria did not know where she was. She raised her head and looked around her.
She was in a mud hut. The interior of the house was old and dated, even older than the house where she and her mother lived.
Maybe it was because Goldie was laying on her deathbed, and her illness was killing her slowly but surely, but people usually trusted the words of the dying. Anyway, Old Master Shaw and his wife both believed Goldie.
Mrs. Shaw raised her hand and was about to slap Goldie, but when she saw that Goldie was dying, she asked anxiously, "Where's the child? I’m asking you, where is my daughter!"
Goldie said breathlessly, "She...she's angry at me. She hasn't been home for two or three days. Quick... Go out and look for her."
Hearing Goldie's words, Old Master Shaw and his wife's attention were no longer on Goldie who lay sick in the bed. They turned and left.
Since then, no one bothered to ask whether Goldie was dead or alive. All they did was pull out all the stops and searched high and low for the girl named Gloria Shaw.
But no one knew. At that moment, Gloria was right beside her mother. She held her mother's hand and asked bitterly, "Mom! This is what you wanted to tell the Shaw family?"
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