Home / After the Fake Heiress Jumped into the Sea / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of After the Fake Heiress Jumped into the Sea: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Surprise! I'm home!"Chloe Carter came through the front door with a skip, dragging a hot-pink suitcase behind her, dressed in a brand-new Chanel suit.Her hair fell over her shoulders in glossy waves. Her makeup was flawless, and every inch of her glowed with youth and energy—a jarring sight in a house that had been smothered in gloom for days.The instant I heard her voice, my spirit froze above the living room.Her suicide had been a lie.I'd never imagined a ghost could such bone-deep cold, yet the hollow space in my chest seemed to be gripped and torn apart all over again.She was alive and perfectly well. Then what had all that punishment been for? What had my death been for?"Chloe!"My mother reacted first. She rushed across the room and crushed Chloe in her arms, bursting into tears."You're alive? You're really alive?"You scared me half to death! Where have you been? Do you have any idea how frantic we were?"My father and my older brother, Ethan, crowded around

Chapter 2

Maybe Chloe's safe return had loosened whatever knot of anger and favoritism had hardened Ethan's heart.Maybe he thought that since Chloe was fine, my punishment could finally end.My spirit drifted after him. I watched my tall, broad-shouldered brother walking ahead of me, and I felt nothing at all.What use was concern that came after my body had already gone cold?The kennel in the backyard looked exactly as it had before I died.A heavy iron chain lay abandoned on the ground. One end was fastened to a wooden post; the clasp at the other was streaked with rust.Ethan stood in front of the kennel a long time without speaking.There was no trace that I'd ever been there, unless despair could linger in the air like a scent."Mrs. Webb!" He straightened and shouted to the housekeeper hanging laundry nearby. "Where is she? Where's the person who was locked in here?"Doreen Webb hurried over with an eager, frightened smile.She'd been the first person to find me after I died. A

Chapter 3

Mom answered the phone. Floating beside her, I heard every word of the calm, official voice on the other end."Hello. Is this the Carter residence? This is the South Precinct. We've recovered the body of an unidentified young woman in a stretch of wasteland in the woods west of the city. Based on our preliminary findings and a comparison with missing-person records, we believe she may be your missing daughter, Grace Carter."The color drained out of Mom's face.Her hand trembled around the phone, and her eyes went straight to Chloe, who was sitting on the rug playing video games with Ethan.At the sound of my name, Chloe looked up. Something unnatural flickered through those wide, innocent eyes and vanished almost before I caught it."Mom, who is it?" she asked carelessly.Before Mom could answer, Chloe seemed to guess what had happened and let out an exaggerated laugh."It isn't one of those scammers, is it? They call all the time claiming something's happened to somebody's rel

Chapter 4

Chloe's words opened the floodgates of their memories.Bitterness rippled through my spirit. It hadn't occurred to me that even death wouldn't stop her from spreading filthy rumors about me.There had never been any inappropriate relationship between me and an older man.Chloe had ordered a mountain of things online but was too lazy to collect them from the parcel center at the entrance to our neighborhood, so she ordered me to go instead.On my way back, staggering under the weight of the boxes, I accidentally bumped into a middle-aged man who was moving house. He caught my arm so I wouldn't fall. That was all.Chloe embroidered that moment into proof that I was meeting an older man in secret.That night I wasn't allowed dinner. I was forced to kneel in the living room and reflect on what I'd supposedly done.Dad called me shameless and said I'd dragged the Carter name through the dirt.Mom said vulgarity was bred into my bones.Now that Chloe had dragged the story up again,

Chapter 5

Bennett's words hit like a bullet, tearing straight through the story Chloe had so carefully woven.They also shattered the Carters' last line of defense—the comforting fiction that none of this had anything to do with them.A criminal investigation.The phrase settled over every one of them with a crushing weight.Their faces went grayer than mine under the morgue lights. The shock in Dad's eyes gave way to fear. Mom stopped her dry, theatrical wailing and stared in disbelief. A violent shudder ran through Ethan, as though someone had emptied a bucket of ice water over his head.Chloe's pupils contracted. Her lips trembled, and for the first time a crack ran through that flawless face."That's...That's a lie!" she shrieked, her voice warping with panic. "She did it to herself! It's got nothing to do with our family!"Bennett glanced at her coldly and ignored the hysterical outburst."The autopsy also shows long-term malnutrition. Apart from traces of water and grass roots, t

Chapter 6

"You ungrateful liar!" Mom lunged at her. "This family has fed you and paid you for years, and you dare stand there and slander us?"An officer caught her before she could land a blow.Doreen had nothing left to lose. She sank down on the floor and wailed."Every soul in my house lives on that paycheck! How could I decide on my own to kill a person?"You can't do something like this and then make me take all the blame! I don't want to go to prison!"For a few minutes, the identification room turned into a spectacle scene of the guilty turning on one another.I hovered in the air and watched without feeling anything.I'd never understood how low a human heart could sink.The two officers traded a look of weary understanding and contempt."Enough," Bennett said. "Take them all in and interview them separately."She turned to her partner. "Danny, apply for a warrant and send a team to the Carter house. Secure the property and collect evidence.""You're searching our house?" Chl

Chapter 7

The entries went on. Chloe and I got older, and her cruelty grew worse.Dad's breathing got heavier with every page. His face went from pale to livid.Mom leaned over his shoulder and read a few entries, then couldn't take any more. She covered her mouth, but a muffled sob broke out of her anyway.Ethan snatched the diary away and raced down the pages. Over and over, he found the records of how Chloe had manipulated him into misunderstanding me, humiliating me, and even hitting me.His eyes went red."No," he whispered, as if he could talk himself out of it. "This isn't true."The sharp crack of a slap cut through the room.Dad had put all his strength into into striking Chloe across the face."You monster!" He pointed at her, shaking with rage. "How did this family raise something as vicious as you? You had us all fooled!""Chloe!" Mom broke down and threw herself at her, clawing at her clothes. "Why would you do that to her? She was your sister! How could you be so cruel?"

Chapter 8

The investigation and trial concluded quickly.The evidence was conclusive, and the facts were clear.Doreen Webb was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for criminally negligent homicide and desecration of a corpse.Mom had directed the prolonged abuse that led to my death. She was convicted of abuse and sentenced to five years.Dad and Ethan, as members of the family who had knowingly allowed the abuse to continue, were convicted as accomplices and sentenced to two years each.As for Chloe, she'd set the entire tragedy in motion. As the instigator, she was expected to receive the heaviest sentence.I floated above the courtroom and watched coldly as they were led into the dock in prison uniforms.They'd aged a decade in a matter of weeks.The Carter family, once so polished and admired, had become the laughingstock of the entire city.I thought that was the end.Then, just before the judge was due to hand down Chloe's sentence, her attorney submitted a document.A pregnan

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