All Chapters of The Path of No Return: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

When I regained consciousness, I saw my father walking toward me. I froze in place, unsure of how to react.It was only when he walked through me that I realized that he couldn't see me."Happy birthday, Queenie!"I watched as he patted my cousin, Queenie Anderson's head with a smile and handed her a prettily wrapped-up gift."Thank you, Uncle Ben!"Queenie's birthday was seven days after mine.All of a sudden, it dawned on me that I had been dead for seven days.My family sat around a beautiful cake, celebrating Queenie's birthday.They laughed and spoke to each other merrily.It didn't seem to make a difference to them whether I was there or not.Even when we were kids, Queenie's birthday had been a momentous occasion.No one ever wanted to mention or care about mine.Queenie was just about to blow out her candles when my aunt, Caroline Johnson, asked casually, "Where's Yvonne, Benjamin? Why isn't she here?"My father frowned in disgust when he heard my name. "She hurt

Chapter 2

When I was seven, Dad brought Queenie home.She said that she liked my room, so I was kicked out and sent to sleep in the guest room.Every day, Dad personally drove her to and from school.During parent-teacher conferences, he chose to go to her class instead of mine.Eventually, I became known to my classmates as a bastard with no parents.Aunt Caroline had complained on my behalf before, saying that Dad shouldn't be so biased.However, Dad just said matter-of-factly, "Queenie lost her parents when she was young. What a poor child—how could I not take extra care of her?"He seemed to have forgotten that I had lost my mother at a young age too.Meanwhile, Queenie, whom he'd called obedient and well-behaved, had come into my room on my birthday and stolen the necklace that Mom had left me.I caught up to her at the top of the stairs on the second floor. She raised the necklace in front of me with a sinister expression. "You want this necklace, don't you, Yvonne?"I clenched m

Chapter 3

Queenie returned to her room with a skip in her steps.I followed her into the room that was once mine.The room that Mom had decorated for me no longer looked the same.Queenie lay on the bed and called someone eagerly. "Hey, that old coot Benjamin Linnus agreed!"The person on the other end said something. Queenie sneered in response. "You really didn't let that tart Yvonne out?"A chill ran through me at those words.…The next day, Dad drove Queenie to her competition.During the journey, Dad seemed distracted. He kept glancing at his phone, but he did not do anything.I floated over and saw my name displayed on the screen.Was Dad thinking about calling me?As if reading my mind, he grabbed his phone and placed the call. "Sorry, the number you are calling is…"Before the automated message ended, Dad hung up. His expression was dark, his brows furrowed in anger.It was probably because I'd never missed his calls before.But I was dead now. I would never be able to a

Chapter 4

Sunlight slanted over the corpse. The air was filled with an indescribable stench of decay, so intense it was suffocating.My skin had taken on a sickly grayish-green hue, swollen beyond recognition.The exposed muscles in my wounds had decomposed into a thick, viscous fluid.Time seemed to stop at that moment.Dad's gaze fell upon the barely distinguishable human form before Aunt Caroline. His pupils constricted. He looked like he'd been struck by a hammer. He was deeply shocked. "That's impossible," he mumbled in disbelief.Stumbling forward, he reached out to touch me but shrank back abruptly. "How could this… No… This isn't real…"Aunt Caroline stumbled to her feet and went up to him. She grabbed his arm weakly and demanded, "No matter what, Yvonne is still your daughter. She is Julia's flesh and blood, her only descendent! How could you be so cruel?"Dad pulled his arm out of her grip and shouted in defiance, "Yanis Winchester told me that he had let her out! She escaped fr

Chapter 5

When Dad came back that day, he had yelled at me, his eyes bloodshot. "Why did you lie?"I didn't know what he was talking about. All I could do was cry in fear.Suddenly, he gripped me by the neck with one hand.I couldn't breathe. I tried to push him away, but he was surprisingly strong. No matter how I tried, I couldn't free myself.Unconsciously, I mumbled, "D… Dad…"Just as I thought that he was about to strangle me to death, Aunt Caroline appeared and saved me. "What the hell are you doing, Benjamin?" she demanded, holding me close.Dad pointed at me angrily. "If she hadn't lied, Julia wouldn't have died! She lied to me!""Yvonne's only five. She doesn't know anything! How could you blame a child?""She knew that Julia was at the beach, but she still lied to me. If I had looked for her at the beach, Julia wouldn't have died!"I listened as they argued, but I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was scared.Later, Aunt Caroline brought me to Mo

Chapter 6

Dad quickly put down the box and ran out of the room.Yannis was Dad's assistant. They were around the same age.Dad went up to him and asked, "What happened to Queenie?"Seeing Dad's concern for Queenie, I felt a pang of envy. I was jealous of how she could gain Dad's affection so easily.She didn't even need to do anything for Dad to be so devoted to her. He loved her more than he loved his own daughter.Then again, I couldn't blame him.Head lowered, Yannis said, "Ms. Anderson has been kidnapped. The kidnappers want to speak to you."Hearing this, Dad hurried toward the door. Right before he exited, he turned and asked darkly, "Yannis, did you really let Yvonne out of the basement?"Yannis' eyes flashed briefly with panic, but he quickly masked it. "Yes, Mr. Linnus. I'm sure of it!"Dad gave him another look before leaving.Actually, all he needed to do was check the footage from the surveillance cameras in the basement. He would know, then, that I had never left the basem

Chapter 7

Queenie was stunned for a moment, but she kept up her innocent act. "What are you talking about, Uncle Ben? I don't understand."Without any preamble, Dad told her, "Your kidnapper is Yannis. You were in on it with him."Queenie continued to play dumb. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Uncle Ben."Dad just looked at her and scoffed.His gaze was sharp, locked onto Queenie so she had no escape. "Well then, let me spell it out for you."You invited me to your dance competition that day, planning to have me kidnapped on the way. But things didn’t go as expected, so you and Yannis came up with a new plan. This time, you are the one being kidnapped. You wanted to demand my company's shares as ransom."But you miscalculated one thing. During the video call that day, I noticed something strange—the kidnapper had a mole on his hand, just like Yannis did. It was even on the same finger, the same spot."Dad's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of authority that was ha

Chapter 8

"Why would you do this?" Dad asked, gritting his teeth.Yannis suddenly yelled hysterically, "Linnus Corporation was supposed to be mine! You took it away from me and killed my mother. I've been lying in wait by your side for many years just for a chance to get my revenge!"I thought that Dad would kill him right then and there, but he just said, "You are just an illegitimate bastard. You have no right to claim Linnus Corporation."Then, he turned and signaled to someone outside the door, ignoring Yannis' cursing.A team of police officers swarmed in.The plot twist was so sudden that I could barely process it.I'd spent that night staring at the moon, lost in thought. I didn't know that he had done so many things.I had forgotten how calm and meticulous he could be when he wanted.He just never wanted to be meticulous when it came to me. He didn't want to admit that I was innocent when it came to Mom's death.I followed him back to the Linnus residence and watched as he stumb

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