Too Late, Dad: I'm Dead Because You Trusted Her

Mary had worked in our house for many years. She knew both Dad's and my tempers and tried to persuade him softly. "Mr. Wade, Ms. Wade is still young. If you talk to her properly, she'll understand."Dad sneered. "Stop making excuses for her. I don't care how stubborn she is. I'll crush that attitude out of her."I really was stubborn. I never backed down or begged for mercy, even when I died. They were animals who deserved to die horribly, and I would never let them look down on me.By the third day I was gone, my teacher, Ms. Anne Taylor, called to ask why I hadn't come to school. She also told Dad that the incident earlier had been fully investigated and confirmed that I hadn't thrown the first punch. The other student had insulted my deceased mother first.Back then, my explanation only earned me a slap from Dad. He kicked me hard and screamed, "Your mother's been dead for ten years, and you're still hiding behind her. Why don't you just go die?"I hit my head on the table, and

Dad couldn't see Sheila's ugly, vicious nature at all. Instead, he used every possible excuse to criticize and suppress me, treating me like an enemy. In his eyes, I was the monster that had destroyed his family's so-called harmony.For some reason, a strange sense of satisfaction rose in my chest. I suddenly wanted to see his expression when he finally learned the truth. However, it didn't matter. He would find out eventually.Several days passed after the body identification notice was released, but there were no leads. The police then began checking nearby schools. It didn't take long for them to trace things back to my school. They learned that I had not shown up for a long time, and that my age and build closely matched those of the deceased.The police called Dad and asked about my situation. He answered a few questions before growing impatient. "Why are you asking all this? Did that ingrate cause trouble again?""We suspect that the recently deceased may be your daughter,

I still remembered how Sheila's eager smile twisted into something vicious as she tightened her hands around my neck. She spat, "Weren't you so arrogant? Go on, show me how arrogant you are now. You damn little bitch. I should have killed you when you were a child. You're trash nobody wants, yet you really thought you were some prestigious heiress?"If Dad had ever shown even a shred of care for me over the past ten years, she never would have treated me like this. They both targeted me, taking every chance to punish me for having no mother.Sheila gave Dad a glass of milk laced with sleeping pills. Once she was sure he had fallen asleep, she slipped quietly out of the room. Dad, who should have been deep in sleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time before slowly sitting up.Over the past few years, it had become routine for Sheila to add sleeping pills to Dad's milk whenever she left at night. However, they seemed to have no effect this time.

Sheila's face flushed red, yet she still forced a smile at Dad and said through clenched teeth, "I hate her. I wish she were dead. So what? Why don't you kill me, then? Richard, the police are still looking for that femur. What do you think will happen if they find it here?"Dad froze. Sheila took the opportunity to shove him aside and collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. "When that happens, you will be the prime suspect in her murder. Everything you have worked for all these years will be destroyed, and you will be branded a criminal for life. If you don't believe me, call the police yourself and see. This bone sculpture is proof enough. At worst, we go down together. If I am ruined, you won't make it out either."When Mary came to clean the house that morning, she found the place in complete disarray, and Dad looked as though he had aged ten years overnight. He sat motionless on the couch, surrounded by a small mountain of cigarette butts.Mary thought he was devastat

Sheila's expression twisted into something vicious. "I waited so long for that first wife of yours to finally die so you could marry me openly. And what did I get? You dragged along a useless little burden. That damn little bitch was just like her dead mother, rotten to the core. She pointed right at my face and called me a homewrecker every single day."No matter how much I beat her, it never worked. Everyone whispered behind my back, saying I stole my way into this family. Everyone looked down on me. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to sew her mouth shut?"You even let that little bitch walk all over me. If you couldn't teach her properly, then I did it for you. She was stubborn as hell. Even after being beaten half to death, she never begged once, but she was afraid of dying. Do you know what she said right before she died? She cried and called for her mom. Hahaha. She actually thought her dead mother would come save her."Did I call for Mom? I didn't remember. How could