MasukErin got to her feet and roughly wiped the blood from her mouth. "That woman was in my mother's way back then, so my mother had her killed."It's the same with April. She was hogging you, so I sent her to her mother's side. "You don't love her anyway, so what's wrong with getting rid of a pest?"Daniel's body swayed.Erin scoffed. "Did you really think I was some innocent little doll? What a joke. I've been lying from the very start. All three of you were just so stupid that you believed me when I started pulling the victim card."She then pointed to my gravestone. "She begged you for help before she died, and you all hung up on her. Can you imagine how much despair she must've felt before she died?" Erin ended her tirade with a little giggle.Bruce lunged forward and grabbed her by the neck.Erin struggled violently, her cheeks flushing a splotchy red."Let go of her, Bruce," Daniel called out.Bruce gritted his teeth as he released her.She collapsed to the ground, gasping f
I watched them from behind.I wanted to speak to them, to reach out somehow.However, they could not hear me at all.Just then, a laugh echoed through the air.It was Erin.They turned to look in unison.She was on her phone as she stood on the other side of the graveyard.Her voice rang with joy. There wasn't a trace of the sorrow she had shown just moments earlier."Do you miss me, honey?"The three men exchanged a look before slowly walking over.I followed them.With the back to the approaching men, Erin continued to talk on the phone. "Yes, I know. I'll head over tonight. Don't worry. The three old coots don't have time to bother about me. I can go anywhere I want."My fathers instantly stopped in their tracks.She let out a gleeful laugh. "That's right. Did you know? April is finally dead! I delivered her straight to her mother myself! Hahaha!"Bruce's knuckles popped with how hard he was clenching his fists.Erin continued, "Did you know what a tragic death it was
Daniel, Bruce, and Jack barged into the room half an hour later.They were frozen with shock upon seeing my corpse.Daniel rushed over and held my body in his arms. His voice trembled as he cried out, "April!"Bruce collapsed onto his knees with his hands over his face.Jack went stark white as he continued standing there.Erin ran over to hug Daniel by the thigh as she hiccupped and sobbed. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn't have..."Daniel did not speak. His entire body quaked as he continued to hold my corpse.Bruce walked over to Erin. "Go home.""But—""Go!"His voice was cold.Erin bit her lip and left.I watched as my fathers huddled around my body.Daniel's tears dripped onto my face as he clung tight to my corpse.Bruce's hands trembled as he knelt nearby.Jack stood at the doorway with his back toward the group."I killed her."Jack’s voice shattered the silence.Daniel looked up at him sharply.Jack turned around to reveal bl
I closed my eyes, letting the cold swallow me whole.I could still hear every word of warmth and concern through the vents.However, that love had never once belonged to me.My body grew heavier with the cold.The pain was now gone. It was completely eradicated from my senses.Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I mustered all my strength and fumbled for it.The screen lit up.It was a call from Jack.I answered it."April, we've found Erin. April? Can you hear me?" Jack's voice echoed. "We'll be letting you out soon."Then, I heard Erin over the phone. "Can I talk to April, Father?""Of course."I heard myself being put on speaker."Are you alright, April?" Erin sounded so very demure. "I was so scared just now, but luckily I was found."Daniel spoke up. "No need to be scared, Erin. I'll protect you."Bruce spoke up as well. "Don't run around anymore, Erin. You scared me to death."Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to them speak, eventually freezing into ice.Silence g
The only response I got was the dial tone of a disconnected call.I was stunned.My phone slid from my fingers and clattered against the floor.He hung up on me.I then called Bruce.The call barely made it past the second ring before he rejected it.My last hope was Jack.The phone kept ringing. Each tone sounded longer than the last, like the countdown to my end.Then, he, too, hung up on me.I stared down at the glowing screen until the light dimmed before I started laughing. Tears dripped onto the ground, mixing with the puddle of blood at my feet.The two men tore my clothing apart.…Time became meaningless. I didn't know if minutes or hours passed—only that every heartbeat hurt.Finally, they left.As I lay on the floor, my entire body ached.My clothes were in tatters while every inch of my body was bruised.The door swung open once more.Erin walked in with a satisfied grin on her face. "How did it feel, April?"I did not respond to her.I no longer had the
Over and over, Erin would set me up. After my fathers punished me, they felt so sorry that they apologized for what happened, yet they would always believe Erin's next lie.I couldn't understand it.Why would they choose to believe a girl they’d only taken in three years ago over the daughter they’d raised for thirteen?At some point, the cooling system in the cold storage had been switched on. The temperature kept dropping.My body began to tremble and shiver.My limbs were numb.I looked up and stared at the dim light bulb.My vision swam.Just then, the door swung open.I thought it might have been my fathers.Instead, Erin walked in. Dressed in a pure white dress with hair sprawled down her back, she looked at me with a gentle smile on her lips."Are you alright, April?"Her voice was so soft and angelic.However, I could hear the malice lurking in her words.When I spoke, my voice was so hoarse that I barely understood what I said. "It's you..."She knelt down befor







