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Chapter 3

Author: Lucy Grove
"Professor Doyle, this doesn't look like an act! Her face is turning blue. Her lips are turning black. Please come home!"

"She did that herself," Mom said without a hint of doubt. "She used to smear ketchup on her face and pretend she was coughing up blood just to get my attention. Don't let her fool you. She's an expert at manipulating people's sympathy."

"No, this time is different!" Peggy begged through tears. "I've watched that child grow up. I can tell when she's faking... at least a little. Please, just listen to me. Call an ambulance!"

"Enough!" Mom snapped, her voice sharp with irritation. "Peggy, I'm the psychology expert. I know my daughter better than you do. I'm in the middle of a critical psychological intervention. Your overreaction will ruin everything I've planned. Leave now and stop interfering."

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The call ended.

Peggy tried again.

A cold automated voice answered.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently busy..."

Mom had blocked her.

Peggy's hand slowly dropped to her side.

Through the glass, she looked at my body one last time.

As she walked away, she kept turning back.

I watched the only person who might've saved me walk away.

The last spark of hope inside me disappeared with her.

Back at the restaurant, Maya licked her ice cream spoon.

"Mom, was that Peggy? What did she want?"

Mom dabbed the corner of her mouth with her napkin, her gentle smile returning.

"Nothing important. Just another fool who fell for your sister's act."

***

"Huh? Why is the door locked from the inside?"

Dad stood outside with his suitcase, jabbing the doorbell again and again.

He'd come home early from a business trip, hoping to surprise his wife and daughters.

The doorbell didn't work.

So he hit the red panic button.

It dangled loose from the wall, wires exposed.

A horrible feeling seized his chest.

With shaking hands, he yanked the spare key from his wallet and shoved it into the lock.

Click.

The door swung open.

The foul stink of waste and death hit him all at once.

Dad froze in the doorway, staring at the middle of the living room.

Then he saw me.

My body was already stiff. My skin was blotched with the unmistakable signs of death.

"Sophie..."

His lips shook. Nothing else came out.

His suitcase crashed to the floor as he stumbled toward me.

"Sophie! What happened?"

His hands trembled as he tried to lift me, but my body was rigid as a board.

He touched my cold, lifeless skin.

No breath.

A scream ripped from his throat.

"Ah!"

My spirit hovered near the ceiling.

I watched the man who'd always seemed unshakable fall apart like a little kid.

Holding my stiff body, he called my name over and over.

The veins in his forehead bulged. Tears and snot ran down his face.

"Lillian! Lillian!"

He suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes burning with rage, and frantically called Mom.

At that moment, Mom was at the city's fanciest mall, helping Maya try on a lace-covered princess dress.

"Mom, this dress is so pretty! I look just like a princess!"

Maya twirled happily in front of the mirror.

"If you like it, we'll buy it."

Mom gazed at her adoringly and picked up her phone to pay.

Dad's name flashed across the screen again and again.

She frowned, glanced at it once, and declined.

"Your father's unbelievable. He never calls during business trips, and now he won't stop."

The call ended.

A few seconds later, another call came in.

This time, from an unknown landline.

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  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 11

    Mom had nothing left.She sold the house, the one packed with proof of her sins, transferred every cent to Dad, and moved into a damp basement apartment with no sunlight.It became the prison she built for herself.The peeling walls were covered in photos of me—from my toddler years to the awkward-smiling teenager I became.Between them, she taped printed security screenshots of every expression she'd misread.Then her guilt turned almost insane.To understand my pain, she hurt her own face in front of the mirror, following medical diagrams and forcing herself through the same unnatural expressions I'd struggled to make.When it got unbearable, she kept going.She wanted pain to drown out guilt.Her whole world became me.Outside, though, the damage she'd created kept spreading.After transferring schools, Maya was iced out.Everyone knew her as the girl who killed her sister.Dad buried himself in work and had no idea how to fix a kid already twisted inside.So Maya foun

  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 10

    The chaos at my funeral blew up online.[Micro-Expression Expert Watches Daughter Die on Security Camera] shot to the top of every trending list.Overnight, Mom went from a respected professor to the most hated woman on the internet.Her university rushed out a statement firing her.The bestselling books once praised as must-reads for reading people disappeared from every major platform.Her sold-out lectures and courses were canceled, and organizers demanded full refunds.In a single night, she fell from the top to rock bottom.Her reputation was gone.People expected her to hire a PR team, fight back, or vanish from the public eye.She did none of it.On the third day of the online firestorm, she uploaded a PDF over ten thousand words long to her verified account.The title read:[A Forensic Analysis of My Misinterpretation of My Daughter Sophie Schneider's Final Micro-Expressions and Death]She didn't defend herself.She turned herself into a warning.Using the academ

  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 9

    My funeral was small, but more people showed up than anyone expected.Relatives stood with red, tear-stained eyes. So did many of Mom's former students. Their faces were a mix of sympathy, curiosity, and morbid fascination.Mom was dressed in black.She looked pale. Hollow.Her trembling hand reached toward my memorial photo at the front of the room.Dad shoved her back.Right in front of everyone, he pulled a thick stack of papers from his bag and hurled them into the air.My medical records.Screenshots of Maya switching the cookies.Photos of me writhing on the floor before I died."Look at them!" Dad's voice cracked. "Look at how this so-called micro-expression expert killed her own daughter, one step at a time!"She mistook her daughter's medical symptoms for lies! She watched her daughter suffocate on the security cameras while she was out enjoying a concert and a fancy dinner!"And look at the daughter she raised! A ten-year-old who figured out how to kill without le

  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 8

    Because Maya was a minor, and no one could prove she knew a peanut allergy could be deadly, the case was ruled an accident.Mom was another story. Her choices had helped lead to my death, so she was released on bail while she waited for trial.Dad brought her home from the station.The second they walked in, the smell from my final moments was still there.The scuff marks from my struggle still scarred the living room floor.But the worst part was the blood under the panic button.My fingernail marks, carved into the tile.My last, desperate cry for help.Mom dropped to the floor with a thud.Her shaking fingers brushed over the dried blood."Ah... Ahhh..."Then she broke.A raw, ugly sob ripped out of her.My spirit hovered nearby, watching her without a trace of sympathy.Mom... isn't it a little late to cry now?Where were you when I needed you most?You were at the concert hall, soaking up everyone's admiration.You were at a restaurant, teaching Maya about sinceri

  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 7

    "Officer, I didn't know. I really didn't know Sophie couldn't eat those cookies..."In another interview room, Maya sobbed in Dad's arms, her small body trembling.Her face was a textbook picture of fear and innocence.Wet lashes. Wide, terrified eyes. The corners of her mouth drooping just enough.If I hadn't known the truth, I might've felt sorry for her too.Mom had been moved to the observation room next door. Watching through the one-way mirror, she suddenly stepped forward like she wanted to rush in and protect her precious Maya.She probably thought it was real emotion.Pure. Flawless."Officer, don't scare her. She's just a kid!"Dad's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the officer questioning her.The officer didn't react."Maya, think carefully. Were Sophie's usual cookies packaged differently from the ones on the table that day?""I... I don't remember..."Maya lowered her head even more, crying harder.Just then, the interview room door opened.Another offic

  • The Last Smile She Misread   Chapter 6

    The screen showed our living room.The HD security footage was brutally clear.In the video, I sat on the rug, opened a package of cookies, and took one bite.Seconds later, my face changed. I grabbed my throat, my expression twisting in unbearable pain.I coughed hard.Then I collapsed onto the floor, rolling, struggling, gasping for air.Mom stared at the screen, instinctively retreating into her theories."L-Look at her hands..." Her voice shook, but she kept going. "They're exaggerated. Classic attention-seeking behav—"Bang!The interrogating officer slammed his hand on the table so hard the water cup jumped."That's what someone looks like when they're suffocating to death! Do you have any common sense at all?"His chest heaved with anger.The footage kept rolling.On the screen, I crawled toward the panic button.Its wires had been cut.With the last of my strength, I slammed the red button.Nothing.The despair on my face...It was absolute.Slowly, I turned

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