The Silent Witness Chapter 2

"Jason, she's my only daughter."

Mr. Reed's voice had lost its earlier anger. Now it was filled with nothing but despair.

A grown man, crying in front of everyone.

"Lily's been a good girl her whole life. She did well in school, never gave us any trouble."

"But now? She's in a psychiatric hospital. Every day, all she does is call out your name and cry into her pillow. She doesn't even recognize us anymore."

"As her father, watching her like this—I don't even want to live anymore!"

The people around me shot me even darker looks.

Mrs. Reed sniffled, her voice breaking. "All I want now is the truth. I want to find whoever hurt my daughter and clear her name. Then at least when I die, I can face her with a clear conscience."

"You were with her for two years. Even if you don't have feelings anymore, you can't just stand there and watch her suffer without saying a word of truth, can you?"

My fists clenched. My nails dug into my palms. It hurt.

Just then, my academic advisor arrived.

After learning what was going on, his expression darkened. He turned to me, his tone sharp. "Jason, withholding information is the same as being an accomplice! If the perpetrator gets away because you won't talk, that's a crime. You could go to prison for that!"

"You're a college student. Do you understand what a criminal record would mean for you? You'd have a permanent mark on your file. No job prospects, no civil service exams—nothing!"

I looked up at him. "Professor Yang, if you think I've committed a crime, then call the police."

"When they get here, I'll tell them the same thing I'm telling you now—I didn't see anything. What can they do to me?"

Professor Yang's face went even darker.

Mr. Reed's whole body trembled with rage. He pointed at me again, his voice shaking. "Jason, how can you be so cold-blooded? Lily keeps saying your name in the hospital, saying you were right there. She couldn't have been wrong!"

I laughed coldly. "Sir, your daughter can't even recognize her own parents right now. How can you trust what she says?"

"Maybe she's just hallucinating. Maybe she mistook someone else for me. If you really cared about her, you'd be taking care of her instead of standing here harassing me."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the crowd erupted.

"Jason, are you even human? Lily's in that condition and you're talking about her like this?"

"Exactly! Even if she's not lucid, you can't just trash her like that!"

Mr. Reed's face went white with fury. Suddenly, he charged at me and slapped me hard across the face.

My cheek stung instantly.

"I'll beat you to death, you cold-blooded bastard! Lily must have been blind to be with someone like you!"

The students around us murmured their agreement, saying I deserved to be beaten.

I stared at them, laughing coldly to myself.

They didn't actually care about helping Lily. They'd always looked down on me.

After Lily and I got together, they'd gossiped behind my back constantly, saying I wasn't good enough for her.

Now they finally had an excuse to come after me.

I took a deep breath and suddenly smiled.

"You think I wanted to be with Lily?"

"Actually, I've been wanting to break up with her for a while now."

"She's nothing but trouble."