All Chapters of They Said Children Don’t Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

I remember it was a weekend morning.Aunt Serena had been saying everything tasted bland lately, so I went out early to buy her favourite breakfast she had been craving.Just as I was about to leave, my baby brother woke up in his bassinet.He was babbling softly.Babies could be a little noisy, and I was afraid he might wake the adults.So I carried the bassinet into my room.It was around seven in the morning.The bakery was just outside the east entrance of our apartment complex, in a strip lined with small breakfast cafés and takeout spots.Usually, there weren’t many people on weekends.But that morning, the line stretched almost all the way back to the entrance of the complex.By the time it was my turn, the rolls still weren’t ready, so I waited another half hour.“A bakery that crowded on a weekend morning?”Of the two police officers in front of me, the younger one, Officer Lane, frowned slightly as he looked at me.I thought about it for a moment, then continued.

Chapter 2

After I finally calmed down, Captain Walsh wrote a few notes in his notebook, then looked up at me.“Keep going.”I took a sip of warm water and forced myself to remember that terrifying morning.“At the time, I rushed over and grabbed my stepmother from behind.”“What time?”“What?”Captain Walsh’s eyes were sharp. “What time did you get home?”“Eight-thirty.”Captain Walsh lowered his head and wrote down a few more lines before telling me to continue.“I pulled my brother away from her.“I don’t know. I don’t know how we fell.”I curled into myself and gripped my hair with both hands as countless fragments flashed through my mind.Serena’s terrifying face.My baby brother’s soft little babbles.And then, the moment everything went wrong.The sound exploded in my head again.“Dad said Aunt Serena hadn’t been managing well after giving birth. He said she had postpartum depression.“I was already being so careful. I didn’t let my brother make noise and bother her.”“If

Chapter 3

The three of us wore black funeral clothes.Serena knelt on the floor, crying until her voice was almost gone.I wanted to comfort her.But every time she saw me, her eyes looked like she wanted to tear me apart.So I could only curl up quietly to the side and watch the people coming and going.There were so many people today.Most of them were adults I had seen before.At Dad and Serena’s wedding.And every time Dad and Mom had fought about divorce.Somehow, it was always the same group of people.“Serena, try to let it go.”“Noah’s death was an accident. Mia has always treated you like her real mother. You can’t blame Noah’s death on her.”The person trying to comfort Serena was still Mrs. Harper.She and Serena worked at the same hospital. Since they were also neighbors, they had always gotten along pretty well.But Serena only stared blankly at Noah’s photo, murmuring to herself.“My Noah. He knew how to smile. He had just learned how to roll over a few days ago.”A

Chapter 4

While I was at school, the police came and took me in for more questioning.It turned out Serena had gone to the station early that morning and turned herself in.She confessed to everything she had done to me over the past year since marrying Dad.The so-called freshly made almond milk she made for me every morning?She said it was to “build my strength,” then made me get up before dawn and grind the nuts myself with an old manual grinder.If I couldn’t finish, I didn’t get to eat that day.The so-called math tutoring?She mixed tens of thousands of soybeans, mung beans, and red beans together, then made me stay up all night sorting them one by one.And her so-called minute-by-minute training?If I took longer than the time she allowed for a shower, she would shut off the hot water.There were many other things like that.Serena had always been a very smart woman.She never beat me openly.She never yelled at me in front of others.In Dad’s eyes, in the neighbors’ eyes,

Chapter 5

Surveillance footage?I knew there were cameras.Back when Mom’s paranoia was at its worst, she had hidden tiny cameras all over the apartment to watch Dad.“Once we recover the footage, we’ll know exactly what happened that morning.”After saying that, the two officers walked away.I swung my legs back and forth and stared blankly at the glass room across from me.I couldn’t see inside.My science teacher had mentioned this kind of glass before.A one-way mirror.Perfect for watching people without being seen.Inside the room, Captain Walsh was watching Mia, who was sitting outside.Not long ago, they had finally found one hidden camera that had never been removed.Unfortunately, the battery had died long ago. It had stopped working before the accident happened.They had said those words in front of Mia on purpose.If she showed even the slightest flaw, they would catch it.After all, she was only nine.As long as there was even one tiny change in her expression, Capta

Chapter 6

The voices outside my room came in broken pieces.The overhead light flickered, casting the whole room in a dull, hazy white.Noah’s bassinet was still in my room.On the day he was born, I had looked at him sleeping beside Serena.His face had been red, tiny, and wrinkled.He could smile at me.He could wrap his tiny fingers around mine.He was my brother.Aside from Dad, he should have been the person closest to me in this world.I hugged my pillow tightly.Still, tears fell onto the fabric.Then I quietly climbed out of bed and moved closer to the door, listening carefully as the voices outside grew lower.“Mia is only nine. She couldn’t have thought that far ahead.”“Serena, I know losing Noah hurts, but it was an accident.”Dad was still trying to comfort Serena.A few minutes later, Serena spoke in a hoarse voice.“I know.”“Daniel, I just want to ask her one thing. Once I get my answer, I won’t make trouble anymore.”When I heard footsteps approaching, I immedi

Chapter 7

Two people had died in our family, one after another.The air in the house seemed to freeze after that.At Serena’s funeral, the people who came were still the same group.At first, they sighed and called it a tragedy.Then they started saying our family was cursed.Some even brought up what had happened years ago.“I always said too many good things happened to Daniel Zimmerman at once. A promotion, a dead wife, and a new one right after.”“That’s what happens when you do wrong. His wife had barely died, and he was already marrying someone else.”“I heard Serena had been involved with him long before that.”Their voices reached Dad.By the time the funeral ended, he looked as if he had aged more than ten years overnight.In the dim yellow light of the living room, he sank deep into the couch.“Mia.”Just as I was about to go back to my room, Dad suddenly called my name.I stood in the middle of the living room and looked straight at him.“When Serena fell…” His voice wa

Chapter 8

The first few final exams went unusually smoothly.On the day of my last exam—Biology—the apartment complex happened to be holding a residents' association meeting.Our neighbors on both sides were not home.When I left that morning, Dad was still asleep.He had been in surgery all night the day before, so I explained the situation to building management for him.At 4:50 that afternoon, after finishing my Biology exam, I returned to the apartment complex.All I saw was crowd after crowd gathered downstairs.The fire had not been put out yet.Thick black smoke poured from the windows of the apartment on fire.And the apartment on fire was ours.I lost my mind and tried to rush into the building, but the neighbors held me back.“My dad! My dad is still inside!”“He hasn’t been doing well lately. He finally took his medicine and fell asleep at home. He’s still in there!”I screamed until my voice broke.Tears and snot covered my face.Mrs. Walker from downstairs held me tig

Chapter 9

Before Mom was sent to prison, she spent some time in county jail.I begged Mrs. Harper to take me to see her.I thought Mom would lose her temper again.I thought she would be like before, grabbing whatever was nearby and throwing it at me.But that time, Mom was very calm.For once, I even saw a gentle side of her.She held my hand and told me she was sorry.She said she would behave in prison, try to earn an early release, and then the two of us could live properly together.I believed her.Because children are born wanting to believe their mothers.But Mom broke her promise.Not long after she was transferred to prison, she died there.Dad told me Mom’s depression had come back, and she simply could not bear the pressure anymore.But my mother had never been sick.That night eleven years ago, when Mom rushed home from the hospital to catch Dad cheating, I was hiding in the closet.It was Mom’s birthday.I had wanted to hide her present in her room and surprise her.

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