When she didn’t want to hear any voices, these malicious voices kept pouring into her ears. Mimi was more than just a cat; it had risked its life to save her. They had promised to be together in this lifetime. Mimi was her family, a straw to clutch at in despair, a light in the darkness.
Elisa’s voice had already grown hoarse, with a tearful tone that was hard to listen to, her eyes blurred with tears, her words muddled as she cried out, “Mimi.”
The pain in her chest needed something to fill it. Her hand, clutching Louis’s shirt, slowly fell away, gripping the collar tightly against her chest.
“Elisa.” The person in his arms was ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably from hoarse sobbing to stifled sobs.
After a good cry, Elisa didn’t feel much better. Her muscles were taut, her temples pulsing, her body alternating between hot and cold sensations. She shivered as if in the depths of winter, then felt as if she was being scorched by a fire, her back itching from the heat.
Louis’s heart clenched. He opened his mouth, unable to find the words to calm Elisa down.
Kneeling on one knee, Louis embraced Elisa around the waist and lifted her up.
Elisa’s hollow eyes had no focus, her entire body seemed to have been disassembled and reassembled, weak and limp.
As Louis carried Elisa out of the veterinary hospital, the sky outside had darkened, heavy clouds pressing down, making it hard to breathe.
“I want them dead. I want those who hurt Mimi to die. I want to kill them!” Elisa said each word, her clear eyes now filled with hatred.
Louis felt a sharp pang in his heart. He carefully placed Elisa in the car, one hand supporting the back of her seat, his gaze fixed on her.
“Elisa, believe me, they will face retribution.”
“Retribution?” Elisa closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t believe in karma. Bad people will get what they deserve. I only believe in myself.”
Louis grasped her hands tightly. “Elisa, don’t let them dirty your hands. It’s not worth it.”
Suddenly, Elisa opened her eyes, a mocking expression on her face. “Then tell me, what is worth it? To keep my hands clean, and allow them to harm the ones I love? If I can’t even protect the ones I love, how can I seek purity? I would rather not be clean if it means they can taste the pain Mimi endured! My life has been soiled by humiliation, what’s the point of being clean? If only villains can punish villains, I am willing to become one. I used to be kind, endured everything, but life has taught me one thing: the good are bullied, the meek are trampled.”
She had already died once. She wasn’t afraid of a second time, as long as she could drag these people into hell. Even if it meant getting her hands dirty.
Seeing the madness in Elisa’s bloodshot eyes, Louis’s face turned pale, his hands trembling.
“Mimi would not want you to sacrifice your life for revenge. I believe its last wish was for you to live happily.”
“But it’s already dead, Mimi, it’s dead.” Her eyes were like cracked glass marbles. Elisa couldn’t cry anymore; the tears on her face had dried up, her hair sticking to her face.
Louis gently touched her reddened eyes. His voice was hoarse, with a hint of choking: “I know…”
Elisa shook her head; he didn’t know, no one knew. There is no empathy in this world. Just as he couldn’t feel how much her heart was hurting, she couldn’t feel the torment Mimi endured during those minutes.
“Do you know what I saw when I found Mimi? Bloodstained pliers, gasoline, a lighter, a knife covered in blood and fur. Four teeth had been pulled from Mimi’s mouth; it was filled with either blood or gasoline. Do you know how it endured? How can you expect me to let them go, to keep my hands clean?”
“Hands?” Elisa chuckled through her tears. She lowered her head and opened her right hand, which was covered in blood. The collar in her hand was unrecognizable, the four words on the cat tag obscured by bloodstains.
Elisa moved her thumb to wipe off the blood on the collar. “My hands should have been dirty a long time ago. I shouldn’t have let these people live until now.”
If she dirtied her hands by killing those villains, then couldn’t hands stained with the blood of loved ones be considered clean?
Elisa cradled MContinuing:
Elisa continued to hold Mimi close. The most important thing now was to find a place to bury Mimi. Typically, deceased pets were buried in the family’s yard.
As she looked out the window, passing by a flower and bird market, Elisa asked Louis to stop the car. She entered a flower shop.
She chose sunflower seeds, then went to a pot shop and selected the most beautiful pot.
In her eyes, no matter how Mimi looked, it was the most beautiful cat. Even in death, it deserved the most beautiful pot.
The pot was quite large, so Elisa had the shop staff deliver it to the West District, where she had recently purchased a small villa in Bankshire, which was still under renovation.
She had personally designed much of the interior of this small villa, including a room specifically for Mimi.
It wasn’t finished yet, and she hadn’t taken Mimi to see it, but Mimi had already left her.
In the yard, Elisa gently placed Mimi in the pot, her heart aching. She carefully laid Mimi to rest.
“Mimi…” Her trembling lips tasted the saltiness of tears as soon as she opened her mouth. The taste lingered in the back of her throat, turning bitter, almost nauseating.
Guilt overwhelmed her. If she hadn’t entrusted Mimi to Iris, if she had been capable, if she had resolved these threats and obstacles from the beginning, Mimi wouldn’t have been in trouble.
Elisa hated herself, hated that she took Mimi away and couldn’t protect it.
Mimi had only wanted her to be by its side, but she had entrusted it to others for the sake of work.
Elisa knelt on the ground, gently caressing Mimi’s neck by the pot, her mind filled with the image of three years ago, when Mimi had risked its life in a fire to save her, trying to break through the glass to be with her.
Elisa gently touched Mimi’s ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, crying uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry, Mimi. I couldn’t save you.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t take care of you, couldn’t protect you.”
“Mimi, don’t be a cat in your next life. Being a cat is too painful.”
Elisa carefully caressed the burnt fur, tears falling relentlessly. She couldn’t stop.