Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the Foster house.

My injuries were gone. My soaked dress was dry again, and my broken leg no longer hurt.

I stood in the middle of the living room and looked down at the floor. I had no shadow.

Conrad carried flowers and walked straight through me. He didn't stop or look back.

I followed him into the ballroom. They were setting up the birthday party that had been interrupted the night before.

Mom felt Gemma had been wronged, so first thing that morning, she'd ordered fresh flowers and another cake.

Dad sat on the couch making a phone call.

"Freeze all the cards under Carly's name. They can be reactivated when she comes home and apologizes to Gemma."

I felt my empty pockets. There was no need. I'd never used the card anyway.

Nolan stood by the window and called me several times in a row. Each time he heard the message saying my phone was off, his expression grew darker.

"So now she's using her disappearance to threaten us. Let's see how long she can hide out there."

He opened my contact and sent me a voice message. "Carly, when I told you not to come back last night, I only said it because I was angry. But deliberately staying out of contact this long is childish.

"Come back before midnight tonight and apologize to Gemma. Otherwise, don't ever set foot in our house again."

The message failed to send.

Dad had confiscated my phone the night before and left it in his study. As for the spare phone in the lighthouse, it had sunk into the ocean with the wreckage.

However, Nolan assumed I'd blocked him. He slammed his phone onto the coffee table.

"Fine. If she's so determined, she can stay gone forever."

I stood in front of him and nodded seriously. "Okay."

But he couldn't hear me anymore.

Gemma came downstairs in a new dress. She looked a little pale, and her eyes kept darting toward her phone.

Since early that morning, she'd called the spare phone more than a dozen times, but she still hadn't told the family where I'd gone.

"Is Carly still not back?"

Mom straightened the hem of her dress. "Don't worry about her. She deliberately disappeared on your birthday because she wants the whole family fussing over her."

Gemma bit her lip. "But Carly doesn't understand words spoken in anger."

Nolan gave a dismissive laugh. "She's inflexible, not stupid. She's twenty years old. Do you really think she'd never come back just because of a couple of things I said in anger? Stop making excuses for her."

Gemma's lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing about the lighthouse.

Just then, Conrad came downstairs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Foster, what should we do with Miss Carly's room?"

Dad didn't even look up. "She doesn't want to come back, does she? Clear out her things and turn the room into an art studio for Gemma."

I followed Conrad upstairs.

I didn't have much—a few pieces of clothing with the tags still attached, the old wooden box Grandma Jo had left me, and a notebook I used specifically to record the things my family said.

On the first page was the promise Mom made when she brought me home.

"Carly, this is your home now."

The second page held Dad's words.

"A daughter of the Foster family should never have to worry about anyone else's attitude toward her."

On the last page were only the two lines I'd written the night before: "If Gemma doesn't come back, don't you ever come back either. Even if you die out there, don't bother us."

Conrad turned to the last page, and his expression shifted slightly. He carried the notebook downstairs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Foster, could this be something Miss Carly left..."

"Throw it away." Mom was putting a necklace on Gemma and didn't even turn around. "She deliberately writes down everything we say when we're angry. Isn't that just her way of proving we've mistreated her?"

I watched Conrad close the notebook.

So I was the only one expected to remember the things they'd said.

That evening, the birthday party began again. The lights went out, and twenty candles illuminated Gemma's face.

Mom and Dad stood on either side of her. Nolan personally placed a birthday crown on her head.

The emcee smiled and asked about me, "Didn't the Fosters recently find their biological daughter? Why isn't she here tonight?"

Nolan took the microphone, his tone indifferent. "She couldn't adjust to life here, so she left on her own. Today's Gemma's birthday. There's no need to mention someone irrelevant."

I stood outside the crowd and looked down at my transparent fingers. So I was already someone who didn't matter.

Gemma closed her eyes and made a wish. "I hope our family stays together forever."

Mom pulled her into her arms. Dad smiled and urged her to blow out the candles.

Nolan ruffled her hair. "Don't worry. No one's going to tear us apart."

The instant the candles went out, the ballroom doors suddenly opened. Two police officers stood outside.

Dad frowned and went to meet them. "Today is my daughter's birthday. Whatever this is, come back tomorrow."

The officer in front, Wade Lester, glanced at Gemma, surrounded by the family. "Are Carly Foster's family members here?"

Nolan walked over impatiently. "Did she call the police and say we wouldn't let her come home? Please tell her there's a limit to how far she can take a tantrum."

Officer Lester didn't answer. He took out a clear evidence bag. Inside were my waterlogged ID and the red emergency flare I'd never fired.

The smile slowly froze on Mom's face. "Why do you have Carly's things?"

Officer Lester was silent for a moment.

"This afternoon, rescue workers recovered a woman's body from the collapsed remains of the South Bay lighthouse. The deceased has been identified as Carly Foster."

The ballroom went silent.

The wineglass slipped from Nolan's hand and shattered on the floor.

Mom staggered back a step, as though she hadn't understood. "Who did you say died?"

Officer Lester looked at them. "Carly Foster. Her time of death was 4:17 this morning. There's also something we need to ask the family."

He raised the evidence bag containing the flare.

"Before the lighthouse collapsed, Carly had already reached the emergency equipment. Why did she never send a distress signal before she died?"