The Christmas Eve this year seemed destined to be boring or rather depressing.
Christina felt as if a stone had been pressed against her chest.She wanted to push the stone away, to
breathe smoothly and freely, but it had always been there, making her nervous and anxious.
".Got it."
Crystal had asked her to go shopping in the East Mall, but then Crystal called to chancel their
appointment, saying that something had happened.
"Alright.I haven't been out for along time.I'll walk around myself, then I'll go back."
Christina held the phone, thought for a moment, and asked curiously, "Crystal, what happened? Did
you happen to meet someone?"
"Could it be Erica again?"
"No, I can handle it myself"
Crystal sounded a little guilty.
"You don't have to be polite to someone like Erica.If you're bullied, just make her pay for it!"
Christina told her so sincerely before hanging up.
In fact, it's not necessary for her to go shopping.
The East Mall was bustling because of the Christmas discount.Most of the people were families or cute
couples.
There were also several stalls selling roses on the stone steps.She did not enter the inner part of the
mall but just walked casually outside.
Night fell earlier in winter.
It was only around four in the afternoon, the sky began to darken.
Then the colorful neon lights in the bustling city lit up one after another, which made Christmas Eve
more romantic.
Shuttling through the crowd, especially when she saw those families passing by her happily, she felt
depressed.
There were some memories that she deliberately wanted to forget and ignore, and she did not dare to
even think of them.
Even if she struggled desperately to recall the memories, it was all in vain.
She had long been tired of running in the mental maze and never been able to find a way out.She
hated the feeling of despair to the extreme.
But it did exist.
All of a sudden, she heard a baby cry.
It was as if the cry had some magical power, Christina immediately sobered up and turned round to
follow the cry.
It was getting late at night, and the night market outside the mall began to set up stalls.
The small businesses were busy, and more and more people were gathering.She ran towards the faint
cry.She ran so fast that her breathing quickened.
As she ran through the rows of stalls, her right arm accidentally bumped into the vendor who was
holding the balloons.
The vendor was caught off guard, "Ah."
As soon as he loosened his hand, a bundle of fifty or sixty colorful balloons flew into the sky.
So many colorful balloons flew into the sky at the same time, making the night sky so beautiful in an
instant.
"Hey, pay for the balloons..."
The vendor was in a daze for a minute before he regained his senses and immediately caught up with
Christina to ask for compensation.
Christina ran very fast.
The Christmas music was playing around the square.
Coupled with the noise here, she did not realize that she was in trouble.
Instead, she kept running to the secluded rows of trees.
It was a place for people to rest in the square.
Under the trees, there were many wooden benches, and there were two strollers next to one of the
benches.
They were left alone by the side.
It was cold and no one was around.
She slowed down and stared at the light blue top-brand baby carriage ten meters ahead.
Her first thought was that the babies must be from wealthy families.
She knew that this kind of baby carriage was very expensive because it was the same as what the
Hopkins family had prepared for her babies in the past.She walked towards them step by step.She
rarely walked so softly for she had never been a gentle and considerate woman.
So, she was definitely not cut out for a good mother.
Her head was in the clouds, especially when the cries coming from the two baby carriages in front of
her were getting closer and closer.
The babies seemed to be afraid and cried loudly.
Who left them in such a secluded place? Their families were definitely not competent parents.
Just like her, they lost their children, too.
Something from the past occurred to her.
She quickened her steps and wanted to run straight to check on the babies.She really wanted to and
couldn't wait to get to them.
"Miss, you made my balloons fly away.You have to pay me for them."
She was stopped and her shoulder was grabbed by a stranger.She turned around in astonishment and
found that she didn't know him.
But he pointed angrily at the gradually darkening sky, "Those balloons, it's all because of you...You
made my balloons fly away.Don't you dare to deny it!"
"I made your balloons fly away?"
"If you want to deny it, let's ask the vendors over there.They all saw it clearly.You just bumped into me,
causing the bundle of balloons in my hand to fly away into the sky!"
He was afraid that she would not pay for it, so he grabbed her shoulder and refused to let her go.She
didn't like being touched by strangers.So she shook her left shoulder and pushed against his chest.
Then she moved quickly and broke free from him.
"You want to run, don't you? There are more than 60 balloons.I'm doing a small business...Today's
Christmas Eve, I can make 600 dollars tonight.You have to pay me, or I'll take you to the police station."
She was a little annoyed by his yelling, "I didn't say that I wouldn't pay you."
She immediately took her purse and looked for cash, but she was used to paying by electronic means,
and there were only more than 300 dollars in her purse.
Of course, the vendor was not satisfied with it.
So they took out their phone and she paid the remaining 300 dollars to him through it.
After confirming the receipt, he muttered, "Be careful when you walk.There are so many people here
today.If you bump into children or the elderly, it won't be as easy as paying with money."
Finally, he turned around and left.
She sighed as she watched him leave.She thought that she had lost money for no reason.
When she turned around, she was shocked to find that the two strollers were missing.
"They just disappeared?"
She frowned and looked around carefully again.
It was relatively secluded here.
In addition, the winter this year seemed particularly cold, and the wind was blowing piercingly.
Only a few people would pass under the trees, especially now.
Except for the flashing lights hanging on these trees, it was cold and lonely here.
Did she have an illusion just now? She didn't know what she was being stubborn about.
She walked around carefully again and finally squatted down.
She turned on the flashlight with her phone and saw a few dents on the grass beside her feet.
"It was where the strollers were placed just now” She thought.
The wheels left a few dents on the lawn.
So, it wasn't her illusion just now.
There were really two strollers parked here, but just within the few minutes that she turned around, they
were taken away.
"Who?!"
She suddenly realized something and turned to the left vigilantly.
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