Finding My Missing Piece

For fifty dollars of overtime pay, I didn't pick up Gabrielle, Gabrielle Fowler, from school.

I couldn't see her for three days and nights, and I only saw a frozen corpse on the ice.

My husband blamed me and divorced me, and I died of guilt and sorrow.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself back on the day Gabrielle went missing.

I rushed to the school to find her, but her homeroom teacher, Hazel Burns, told me that Gabrielle hadn't been to school that day.

Yet in my previous life, she had attended school as usual.

1

I ran from the garment factory all the way to the high school, heading straight for the classroom of Senior Year Class 1.

But I was still too late. There were only a few students on duty in the classroom.

As I went downstairs, Hazel called out from behind. "Are you Gabrielle's mother? Why didn't she attend school today? You are really irresponsible as her parents. We've been trying to reach you and her father, but no one answers. Even if she's a top student, she can't play truant. The college entrance exam is a fierce competition..."

My mind exploded with a buzzing sound, and cold sweat ran down my back.

In my previous life, Gabrielle had attended school normally, and the surveillance camera at the school gate had captured her entering and leaving.

I had just been reborn and hadn't had a chance to check my phone. Clayton Fowler, my husband, was a carpenter, and he had been home without work recently. Why couldn't he answer the phone either?

"Mrs. Fowler? You don't look well. Is Gabrielle okay?" Hazel asked.

"Shut up!" I snapped, leaving Hazel stunned.

Then I ran out of the school.

I would not let anything happen to Gabrielle this time.

2

In my previous life, the autopsy report showed that Gabrielle had multiple fractures and ultimately froze to death on the ice.

When her body was found, it was as hard as a stone, with deep purple skin covered in frost.

The only suspect in the case was a mute.

The day before that incident, a classmate saw the mute pestering Gabrielle outside the school gate, and she looked very impatient.

The police investigated the mute for three months but had to release him as they didn't find any evidence.

Gabrielle's case was eventually closed as an accidental death.

The river was on the outskirts of the city and was rarely visited, especially in winter.

The mute lived nearby.

Later, on New Year's Day, some kids accidentally set off fireworks and accidentally burned down the mute's house.

The kids ran away, and the mute couldn't hear anything. By the time the firefighters arrived, the house was just a shell.

The mute didn't even leave a body behind.

Although the police declared the mute innocent, his tragic death made me feel it was karma.

If he was innocent, then I was the only guilty one.

3

I arrived at the simple brick house on the outskirts. And sure enough, Gabrielle was in it.

She and the mute were sitting face to face at a table. When they saw me at the door, their expressions froze.

My heart was a mix of emotions, and tears welled up as I rushed forward to embrace Gabrielle. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle. I am late."

On that day in my previous life, Gabrielle always took the bus to and from school alone. She suddenly asked me to pick her up after school.

Clayton said, "Your mom has to work. You're seventeen years old, and you still want your mom to pick you up. How can you do that?"

I had to work overtime every day in the factory, as it was near New Year's Day. So I refused Gabrielle in order to get fifty dollars of overtime pay.

I never imagined that I couldn't make up for it in my lifetime due to my absence once.

"Mom, how did you know I was here?" Gabrielle released me and asked.

I remembered her death in my previous life, which couldn't be explained. I wiped away my tears and asked in a sharp tone, "Why didn't you go to school today? What are you doing here with a mute?"

"The pressure from academic learning is too much," Gabrielle said, as her eyes avoided mine. "Besides, he's my friend. He has a name, Jerred Douglas."

Her tone was somewhat displeased. But she didn't know that she would die in a few hours in my previous life.

I looked past her at Jerred, who seemed about her age and was seemingly good-looking.

On the notebook in front of him was a portrait of Gabrielle, where she was smiling happily.

Since Gabrielle went to high school, I hadn't seen such a relaxed smile on her face.

The year she got into high school, I wanted to buy her the latest iPhone, but she said she could use my old phone because her main task was academic learning.

Her grades never worried me. Even without any tutoring, she was always the best throughout the whole school.

I had always wanted to open my own clothing store. She knew I was saving money. I gave her five hundred dollars for her living allowance every month, and she would save half and give it back to me.

Gabrielle was so considerate, so why would she skip school without a word?

Could she fall in love?

I glared at Jerred and pulled Gabrielle away. "From now on, I will pick you up and drop you off every day."

In this life, I would protect Gabrielle with everything I had.

4

Because I was late to work and left early from the factory every day, the factory cut my salary in half.

But I didn't care. As long as Gabrielle was healthy and alive, I could give up everything.

Clayton couldn't stand it anymore. "She's not a kid. What's the point for you to do so? If your salary is cut to nothing, we'll be scraping by."

My daughter also advised me that my work was more important and I didn't have to pick her up every day.

But how could I not worry? In my previous life, I knocked on doors one by one and searched for Gabrielle without eating or drinking for three days and nights.

The alleys of the town echoed with my hoarse and mournful cries as I called Gabrielle's name.

I feared the tragedy would repeat, and I couldn't lose Gabrielle again.

Only after I watched her walk into the school gate and return home could I sleep peacefully.

But it wasn't just me following Gabrielle. Every day, I saw the same figure behind us.

I asked Gabrielle about Jerred.

He was congenitally deaf and mute, and his mother died of massive bleeding when giving birth to him.

His father was a gambler and often disappeared to avoid debt collectors.

His father even gave Jerred the name casually.

If he really wanted to harm Gabrielle, would he follow us so openly?

5