Chapter 132

Rilla's eyes drilled into Zoey. "How many lies have you told me?"

Zoey smirked. "That's all there is."

"It doesn't matter how much. I've told you everything you wanted to know. I admit, I'm partly to blame for Janet, Faye, and Sadie's suicides. Do what you want with me. I just need to know about Haven!"

Zoey blinked, still playing coy. "I think you should have figured it out by now."

Rilla felt a surge of anger, wanting to strangle Zoey. "I can't guess!"

"Come on, you should be able to. Janet and Olivia told you about Hugh's family, didn't they?" Zoey's voice was icy. "You just don't want to imagine those horrific experiences happening to Haven."

"Sir, just tell me. Honesty is important, especially for a cop." Rilla invoked the cop and honesty, leaving Zoey no choice but to speak. "Alright, I'll tell you. It's just like Olivia said."

"Can I see the video myself?" Rilla interrupted. She needed to see Haven's video with her own eyes to be at peace. She didn't trust anyone else's words.

Zoey firmly refused. "Our cops' intelligence can't be shown to just anyone. Unless you're Haven's family, you have no right. You have no choice but to listen to me or guess yourself. Your call."

"Fine, tell me. But please, no more lies. Thank you." Rilla's sincere gaze hoped to move Zoey.

Robert, standing nearby, couldn't understand Rilla and Haven's friendship. Why did she need to know? Even if she learned the truth, what could it change?

Zoey sighed. "No lies. Haven's fate was worse than Olivia's. Hugh and his family forced her to sleep with Evan to have a child. Afraid the baby might be mentally challenged, they made her sleep with Hugh's father. She couldn't bear the humiliation and chose to end her life. In her video, she mentioned you often. That's why we came to you. She said she regretted not escaping to the ocean with you, that she was sorry, and hoped you would live well."

Rilla listened to Haven's words, tears streaming down her face. The ocean was indeed their shared dream. She knew this time, Zoey wasn't lying. But she had no future left.

For someone who had driven others to suicide, Haven's fate was unbearable. Maybe her intentions were good at first, hoping these kids could have a better future, stopping them from falling into the abyss. She didn't want them to become another Ava or any woman from Willowbrook Village. But her best friend, driven to extreme pain, had taken her own life.

Rilla wept, thinking of all her memories with Haven. She wiped her tears and looked up at Zoey. "Aside from being a cop, do you think what I did was right or wrong?"

Zoey found Rilla's question absurd. "If you think you did nothing wrong, why didn't you die with them? Your fate would have been the same."

"I will, if my parents ever force me to marry someone like Chad or Hugh, I'll end my life too. Even if I know there's no perfect place, it's better than here. I believe people have souls, and death is an escape. Now that they're gone, I have no one to talk to. Sometimes I wish I were dead."

Zoey replied, "In prison, you can make friends and keep talking."

Rilla knew Zoey hated her. How could a cop like someone who incited others to suicide? She didn't care and laughed. "I understand your disdain. I was wrong. They had the courage to die. I should have teamed up with them to kill Hugh and Chad. A few years in prison, and we'd be free, never returning to this hellhole. But why did I hesitate? I don't know. I was the one hurt the most."

"Officer Brown, don't you think we're pathetic? Too scared to kill others, we only hurt ourselves, seeking freedom through self-harm."

Zoey said, "Others might be like that, but you're different. You incited them to suicide."

"Your words are too absolute. If you were me, what would you do? Watch them walk into the abyss?"

It was hard to empathize without experiencing it. If Zoey were in Rilla's shoes, she thought she'd be even more ruthless. She'd form a revenge squad, kill Hugh, then Chad. And Ava too. They all deserved to die. Evil people should be freed from their misery sooner.

"Rilla, in prison, you can read a book called 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being.' As you can see, I'm not highly educated, but I got this from the book: The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment."

Everyone in the world wasn't always doing meaningful things. The time wasted and moments spent with someone could become meaningful later. So, the concept of meaning was too broad. At least, she still couldn't fully grasp it.

Zoey remembered someone named Vernon from high school. When tutoring him, he pulled out a book from a pile of comics, saying he wanted to be a shining star in human history. She thought it was foolish, not on her level. But for the tutoring fee, she clapped and supported his dream. Was she any better than him? They were all just losers.

The victims' experiences were tragic, and heartbreaking. But life was precious. They shouldn't give up climbing the mountain of life because of a small setback.