She’s Poking the Tiger, and I’m Enjoying the Show Chapter 06

She’s Poking the Tiger, and I’m Enjoying the Show Chapter 06

It took park staff nearly seven minutes to drive the tiger off and make it safe for the paramedics to

move in.

An ambulance sped down the staff access road, and several paramedics in protective gear/rushed to

Aria.

She was still alive.

I could hear her crying weakly, though I couldn’t make out the words.

I had done everything I safely could.

I had warned the park before she ever stepped out of the van.

She was alive, and that was the greatest mercy I could give her.

A patrol vehicle escorted our minivan out of the carnivore enclosure.

When the doors opened in the designated safe area, everyone stumbled out soaked in sweat.

Daniel crouched beside the van, his hands shaking so badly that he couldn’t hold a cigarette between his fingers.

Ethan rushed straight toward me and tried to snatch my phone.

As the department manager and organizer of the outing, he knew he could be held responsible.

“Emma, don’t post that video yet.”

I stepped back.

“I’m not posting it online. I’m giving it to the park and the police.”

His expression changed immediately.

“Do you really have to take this that far? What’s done is done, and Aria is seriously hurt. The company already has a PR disaster to deal with. If you hand that video over, it’ll make all of us look bad.”

I stared at him and almost laughed.

He had said the same things in my first life.

During the investigation, he had shut everyone in a conference room and repeated the same

warnings.

“The company is a victim here, too.”

“Everyone panicked. Don’t make any absolute statements.”

“Don’t say Aria pulled Emma. The camera angle isn’t clear, and a lawsuit won’t help anyone.”

In the end, Aria livestreamed from her hospital room, crying about how she would never forget watching Emma fall out of the van.

Meanwhile, my parents could only clutch my belongings and cry until they were too weak to stand.

This time, I clutched my phone to my chest and watched Ethan warily.

“What exactly makes this look bad?”

“Did I open the door?”

“Did I bring animal treats?”

“Did I get out of the van?”

I wasn’t the one who had anything to be ashamed of.

The people who had egged Aria on were.

Ethan had no answer.

Daniel looked up, his lips trembling.

“Emma… keep that video.”

Ethan shot him a glare.

Daniel lowered his head, and his voice became quieter.

“She ran straight to your door and kept pulling the handle. I saw it.”

Ryan immediately spoke up.

“I saw it, too, but maybe she was only trying to get inside…”

“Then why didn’t she use her own door?” I cut in.

No one answered.

Beyond the safe area, an ambulance sped away with its siren wailing.

Aria was taken to the hospital.

While I was giving my statement in the park’s administration office, pain suddenly flared through

my wrist.

Nooked down.

The skin was unmarked, without any of the bruises Aria’s fingers had left in my first life.

But the pain felt real-a phantom echo of the way I had died.

That evening, Aria’s parents arrived at the park.

The moment her mother saw me, she rushed over with red-rimmed eyes.

“So you’re Emma?”

She pointed at me and screamed.

“My daughter said you wouldn’t open the door! You sat inside and watched while a tiger mauled

her?”

Mrs. Bennett swung at me, but a park security guard stepped between us and caught her wrist before the slap landed.

She continued struggling.

“How could you be so heartless? She was your coworker! What would it have cost you to open the

door?”

I met her eyes, my voice calm.

“The posted rules were clear: keep the doors closed and wait for trained staff. That’s what I did.”

Mr. Bennett’s face darkened.

“Don’t hide behind the rules! She could’ve died. You were the closest person to her. Why didn’t you

help?”

I pulled up the photograph of the park’s safety rules and held it out for them to see.

“First, no one is allowed to get out of a vehicle inside the carnivore enclosure.”

“Second, feeding or provoking the animals is prohibited.”

“Third, if someone gets out in violation of the rules, everyone else must keep the doors closed and wait for trained staff.”

“Fourth, I contacted the park before Aria got out and stayed on the phone with staff afterward.”