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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Frozen Out of Love: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

9 Kabanata

Chapter 1 Frozen Out by My Own Brothers

I died shivering in that forgotten walk-in freezer, the cold swallowing me whole. It was only after death claimed me that the truth finally surfaced. Chloe had changed the setting from 14°F to -58°F. The phone I could have used to call for help froze and died with me. Afterward, my soul lingered, tethered to the shadows of my three brothers. For three endless days, I watched them hover around Chloe's hospital bed, as if she were the true victim clinging to life. My oldest brother, Ethan Ellison, blew off a billion-dollar deal just to make her ginger tea himself. My second brother, Mason Ellison, pushed back an international medical conference and stayed by her bedside day and night. My third brother, Logan Ellison, bought out every fireworks display in the city just to make her smile after she woke up. It became a contest between them, each brother vying to outdo the others in showering her with affection. Not a single one remembered I was still entombed in that icy p

Chapter 2 Frozen Out by the Brothers Who Loved a Liar

For hours, laughter echoed through the Ellison Residence, every note bright and deliberate. My brothers made sure I heard every sound. They wanted me to understand that my absence meant nothing to anyone. "Ethan, you worked so hard today. Mason, Logan, you should try some too." Chloe had baked a fresh batch of cookies. She smiled sweetly as she handed them out, then moved behind Ethan and began massaging his shoulders. With a single word, these three men could send the entire city into a panic, yet in her presence, all their fierceness softened, as if they had melted completely. My soul slipped once more behind the frostbitten steel door. My body remained curled in the corner, twisted into a shape no living person should ever have to endure. My skin had taken on a ghastly blue-purple hue, while frost clung to my lashes and tangled through my hair. Still, it was my fingers that suffered most. I had clawed at the door until every nail bent or snapped, blood freezing i

Chapter 3 The Sister Behind the Frozen Door

I couldn't help following my brothers down to the basement. With every step, a heavy pressure settled deeper in my chest. The hallway outside the old walk-in freezer was bitterly cold. Ethan, Mason, and Logan marched straight toward the frost-covered steel door. Ethan kicked it hard. The entire door shuddered with a dull, thunderous boom. "Harper, stop playing dead and get out of here!" His voice echoed through the basement. "You upset Chloe so badly her heart condition flared up. Today, you're getting on your knees and apologizing to her." Inside the freezer, there was only silence. I drifted above, watching anger contort his features. He had no idea that there was no one inside who could answer him anymore. When nothing came from the other side, Mason pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and gave a cold smile. "Still trying to make us feel sorry for you?" His voice was full of contempt. "You think if you stay quiet long enough, we'll cave? In extreme cold, people

Chapter 4 The Message That Froze With Her

Inside the walk-in freezer, ice covered every surface. Waves of thick white fog spilled out, swallowing the air in a ghostly chill. All three of my brothers stopped in their tracks. In the corner, a human-shaped figure was curled against the wall. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her knees, her head lowered, as if shrinking into herself could preserve the last faint trace of warmth in her body. A thin layer of frost covered her skin, which had turned a haunting blue-purple. Her fingers stretched toward the door. Each nail was bent or shattered, dark red blood frozen into jagged shards that traced a desperate path from her fingertips to the steel door three yards away. She had crawled. In her last moments, she had clawed her way, inch by inch, toward the promise of escape. Ethan's eyes widened. His lips trembled, but nothing came out. "Move." Mason pushed past him and strode forward. He crouched beside me and reached for my neck. The second his fingers touched

Chapter 5 The Truth Beneath the Ice

The phone slipped from Mason's hand and hit the frozen floor with a sharp crack. Ethan bent to pick it up, his hands clumsy in a way that seemed almost unlike him. He stared at those seven words for a long time.He stared at those seven words for a long time. Then, his hand started to tremble, the shiver crawling from his fingertips up his arm until every part of him quaked. 'Ethan, I'm so cold. Please save me.' The message failed to send. 'She sent it. She really did ask me for help. She wasn't ignoring me. She wasn't refusing to apologize. 'She was trapped in this frozen hell, typing those words with fingers that must have been too numb to move. And I never saw it. Her phone froze before the message could reach me.' Ethan suddenly remembered what he had said only hours ago when he slammed his own phone onto the table. 'Three days, and not one apology. She really thinks she did nothing wrong?' He doubled over and slammed his fist into the ice. The ice cracked beneat

Chapter 6 The Liar by the Fireplace

In the living room, Chloe was curled up on the couch beneath a cashmere throw, a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. Outwardly, she appeared absorbed in her phone, a faint smile playing on her lips. Yet every few seconds, her gaze darted anxiously toward the staircase. Her brothers had been downstairs too long. She had expected my three brothers to storm downstairs, unleash their anger on me, and return fuming. Then, with perfect timing, she could slip into her sweetest act and bring the ordeal to a close. However, nearly forty minutes had passed. Chloe set down her phone and bit her lower lip. The freezer had been set to -58°F for three days. She knew I might not survive that kind of cold. Still, I had grown up with nothing. Girls like me were supposed to be tough, used to hardship and biting winters. Besides, Chloe had only changed the temperature. She did not lock me in there with her own hands. If something really happened, my three brothers were the ones who locked th

Chapter 7 The Footage That Exposed Her

Patrick moved fast. The Ellison Residence's security system had been custom-built under Ethan's supervision. It was supposed to cover every inch of the property with no blind spots. Even the far corners of the garden had infrared night vision. So of course, the hallway outside the basement freezer had cameras too. The projector screen descended into the living room, its movement slow and deliberate. Patrick fumbled with the cables, his hands trembling so badly he nearly dropped the remote. Chloe remained on her knees, her face drained of color. She parted her lips, desperate to speak, but no words came out. Then, the footage appeared. It was three days ago at 7:47 p.m. On the screen, my three brothers hauled me toward the walk-in freezer. Mason and Logan gripped my arms, one on each side. My heels scraped the floor, leaving jagged, desperate trails. I was fighting. But at seventeen, my joints already ached like those of someone twice my age. How could I possibly fight

Chapter 8 The Funeral No Apology Could Fix

By the time Chloe was led away, every streetlight on the block glowed against the dusk. Red and blue police lights flickered across the mansion's white walls. Two female officers walked on either side of her as they escorted her out. Her hair was tangled, her cheeks wet with tears, and she kept repeating the same words. "Ethan, save me… Mason… Logan… I didn't mean to…" No one replied. The three brothers stood before the living room windows, yet none of them looked out. The police car pulled away. Its taillights vanished into the night, leaving the Ellison Residence in silence once more. Patrick led the funeral home staff down into the basement. I trailed behind them into the freezer. The funeral home workers were no strangers to death, but when the walk-in door opened, even the lead worker paused. He glanced at the body curled in the corner, then at the number still glowing on the control panel. After a long silence, he finally beckoned the others inside. They han

Chapter 9 The Snow That Let Me Go

Chloe's trial moved quickly. The evidence was impossible to ignore. She had lowered the freezer temperature, blocked the vents, and sabotaged my only hope of reaching out. Every link in the chain was unbreakable. On the day the verdict was announced, Logan lingered outside the courthouse, his eyes fixed on the heavy gray sky. A reporter rushed over and shoved a microphone toward him. "Mr. Logan, as a former attorney, what's your reaction to the verdict?" He lowered his gaze and looked at the reporter. "It should've been harsher." He slipped into his car and drove away, never once glancing in the rearview mirror. Afterward, my soul drifted through the Ellison Residence, witnessing late autumn surrender to the deep hush of winter. Ethan locked my old bedroom, preventing anyone from entering, yet every weekend, he unlocked the door himself and sat quietly on the edge of my bed, letting the hours slip by. On the desk sat the second sandalwood carving I never got to finish.

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