Chapter 3 Five Years Later

• Five years later.
• The gates of Copper City Penitentiary slowly opened, and out came a gaunt woman. Her hair only extended until her ears, while a long, ugly scar made a line down her forehead.
• It had been a long time since she was graced by the sunlight, so it felt glaring for her. The sunlight blinded her, for she was no longer the Lauren of old, then she held her hand up to block the sunlight.
• “Congratulations on your release, Miss Collins. I hope you’ve learned your lesson and won’t do it again,” Aileen said softly before handing Lauren her possessions back. Then Aileen gave her a hundred bucks.
• “Thank you, Officer Palmer.” Upon receiving her belongings, Lauren smiled at her before leaving the place.
• Looking at Lauren’s back, Aileen sighed. After the five years in jail, she was no longer the top socialite in this city, for all her limbs were broken. Aileen heard she used to be a good pianist and dancer, but with how she was now, none of that seemed to be possible anymore. The newspapers make her out to be a villain, but she doesn’t really seem like one. At least not when I talked to her. What happened, really? Aileen was puzzled.
• Lauren paid the taxi driver the hundred bucks Aileen gave her, then four hours later, she came to Ivory City where Annie used to live. Annie’s neighbor handed the items and a four-year-old girl to Lauren. The adorable girl had a round face and Lauren’s eyes. After thanking the neighbor, Lauren took her child and went to the cemetery in the city. She went up to her grandfather’s tombstone before kneeling in front of it. “I’ve let you down, Grandpa.” Tears streamed down her eyes.
• When her grandfather found out about her sentence, he had a heart attack, which was the cause of his death. Regrettably, she never did see him for the last time. Her father then disowned her and stripped her of any inheritance. After banging her head against the ground three times, she dug up a hole beside Old Mr. Collins’ tombstone and buried the item Annie’s neighbor gave her, then she covered it.
• After saying her goodbyes, she planned to visit Giana’s grave, but it was nowhere to be seen. She must be buried with the Parker ancestors, then.
• “Where are we going, Mommy?” the little girl asked tremulously.
• Lauren paused for a moment. “I’ll take you somewhere we can start over, huh, Riley?”
• “Is Riley my name?” The girl giggled. “Mrs. Wisp calls me Piggy.”
• Lauren was speechless, but she couldn’t do anything about that. “Your name is Riley from now on, Riley Collins.” Maybe you’ll live a better life than I did.
• “Oh, I have a name now, yippee! I knew Mrs. Wisp wouldn’t lie to me. She told me you’d give me a nice name!”
• Her daughter’s innocent smile infected her, and she smiled too. All Lauren wanted to do was to leave this city with her child. She thought she could forget the past if she did that, but money was an issue here. When she was arrested, she only had a ring and her ID with her. She looked at the diamond ring, which was her and Ethan’s wedding ring, but she felt no love toward it.