Accueil / The Silence After Yes / Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Chapter 1

I stared into the darkness and whispered, "Mom, are you sure this is the place? You really didn't get it wrong?"A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone."Of course. You said you never refuse, didn't you? Then go find it in the mountains."Just before the call ended, I heard Janice Graham's sweet, playful voice in the background. "Thanks for playing along, Mom. Let's just wait and see. She'll be so scared that she'll come running back. Who would've thought there was actually a fool who couldn't say no? We have to expose this liar!"The call ended.However, I did not dare disobey. I searched through the graveyard inch by inch under the moonlight until a pack of wolves surrounded me.I really was not lying to her. I really could not say no, even if she told me to die.…I had been searching the mountains for three hours. The gravel had torn open my palms, leaving them covered in blood, but I still had not found the necklace Mom had told me to look for.Then my phone

Chapter 2

The howls were getting closer.Terror shot through me. I grabbed the necklace and ran down the mountain as fast as I could.I had not gone more than a few steps when my foot caught on a dead branch. I went down hard, and the necklace slipped from my hand and landed in the mud.I quickly reached for it, but the moment my fingers touched it, a sharp, nauseating smell hit me. It was coming from the necklace.Before, the necklace seemed to have been covered with a special coating that sealed in and concealed the smell. However, after it fell into the mud, the coating was scraped away by the dirt and bits of gravel, and the smell finally escaped.It was strange. It smelled like rotting meat, mixed with the scent of animal blood.Somehow, I knew that smell.A thought suddenly flashed through my mind, and my stomach dropped.I picked up the necklace and held it close to my nose. The smell was even stronger. It was bait, specially designed to attract wolves.Someone had tampered with

Chapter 3

However, instead of hearing concern, Mom's impatient voice came through the phone."Why are you calling again? Did you find the necklace?"The mountain patrol worker froze for a moment, then quickly explained, "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't know anything about a necklace. I found this phone on the mountain, and I wanted to ask if its owner is still up there. Has she made it home? It's dangerous out here at night..."Before he could finish, Mom suddenly cut him off, "Noelle, come out! Stop hiding over there and pretending you're dead!"I knew you were lying! All that nonsense about never being able to refuse people. You're just scared. You don't dare look for the necklace, and you don't dare come home. And now you've even found someone to trick me just to cover up your lie!"There is nothing I hate more in this world than being lied to!"The patrol worker hurriedly tried to explain, "Ma'am, please calm down. We found her phone on the mountain, but we haven't seen her..."Mom acted as

Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the Graham family home.The party had ended hours ago, but the living room was still brightly lit. A mountain of beautifully wrapped gifts sat along the wall. Every single one had my name on it.Dad stood beside the presents, checking his watch for what had to be the hundredth time."Why isn't Noelle home yet?"His brows were tightly furrowed."It's completely dark outside. It takes two hours at most to get from the city to that mountain. Her foster father said she's terrified of the dark and can barely stand being in it. Even if she got delayed on the way, she should be home by now."What if something really happened to her?"As he spoke, he grabbed his coat from the entryway and turned toward the door.However, Mom stepped in front of him. "Where are you going?""I'm going to find Noelle." Dad sounded frantic as he reached for his car keys. "She's a young girl who's been left alone on a mountain in the middle of the night. What if s

Chapter 5

The moment the officer finished speaking, the living room fell completely silent.Mom stared at the bloodstained necklace inside the evidence bag. The color slowly drained from her face. Her lips trembled, but she could not get a single word out."Yes." Dad's voice shook as he answered first. "She's our daughter. What happened to her?"The officer did not answer right away. He simply held out the evidence bag."We found the body of a young woman in an area of Mystic Opal Hill where a pack of wolves had been spotted. This necklace was found beside her."Dad took the evidence bag, his fingers trembling violently. "No."Mom suddenly spoke, her voice sharp and desperate. "That can't be Noelle. She only went out to look for a necklace. How could she be dead? She's old enough to know how to run if she's in danger. She must have made it home on her own.""Ma'am, we found her phone at the bottom of the mountain." The mountain patrol worker standing behind the officers spoke in a low voi

Chapter 6

The police cruiser stopped at the foot of the mountain. Several officers and mountain patrol workers led them up the trail.Mom argued the entire way, "How could there possibly be wolves here? Aren't you mountain patrol? You come through here every day. How could you not have found her?""We found the pack last night and warned her with our whistles.""Any normal person would have run straight down the mountain after hearing that.""Then why didn't you go up and look for her?" Mom demanded sharply. "She was a young girl trapped up there. How could you just leave her?"The patrol worker was silent for a moment before answering quietly."Ma'am, we clearly warned her that there were wolves on the mountain. The pack came over from the neighboring mountain, and there were quite a few of them. We couldn't risk getting too close. We also found her phone and contacted the emergency number right away."Mom's footsteps suddenly stopped. She finally remembered that phone call.Last night,

Chapter 7

The medical examiner carefully removed the necklace from my hand and prepared to place it in an evidence bag.However, the lead investigator suddenly frowned."Wait." He put on a pair of gloves and examined the necklace closely. "There's something unusual on it."Mom's head snapped up. "What is it?""Some kind of animal attractant."The officer's expression hardened. He immediately ordered the area sealed off."There are clear smearing marks on the surface of the necklace. The mud has diluted most of the smell, but traces of the substance are still there. We'll need to take it back for testing to identify exactly what it is."Mom's eyes slowly went blank."There weren't any wolves here before," the mountain patrol worker suddenly said. "At least, we haven't seen a pack around here in the past few years. Those wolves last night came over from the neighboring mountain."Everyone's eyes turned toward the necklace.Dad's face went deathly pale. "You mean someone used the necklace

Chapter 8

After Janice was taken away, Mom remained where she was. She stared at my body and suddenly remembered the day I came home.I had stood in the middle of the unfamiliar living room, surrounded by maids. I was so nervous that my fingers would not stop trembling.I said, "If you don't love me, just tell me. I won't object to it—not even if you want me to leave."Back then, Janice cried and accused me of trying to make them feel guilty, and Mom believed every word she said.She did not believe me.They all thought I was putting on an act. They thought I was deliberately pretending to be sweet and obedient, waiting for them to soften.Mom finally understood now. It had not been an act. It had been the survival instinct I had developed over 16 years from fearing that I would be abandoned.The police had recovered my phone from the mountain. There was still an automatic recording saved on it.The recording began with Mom's voice."If you haven't found it, keep looking. Didn't you say

Chapter 9

The police took the recording back for analysis, and they quickly discovered something strange. The voices in the recording sounded almost exactly like Mom and Dad, but the people speaking those words were not actually them.Janice had used voice-changing software to imitate their voices. She had also recorded the background music from the banquet hall ahead of time.She deliberately made sure I heard those words so that I would believe the Graham family had already decided they did not want me.However, the real family dinner had never been canceled.Dad had even prepared fireworks because he planned to introduce me to everyone himself at the dinner. Mom had also asked the kitchen to prepare all the foods I had mentioned liking during our phone calls.They had only wanted to test me.However, Janice had pushed things further and further until they reached a point none of them could take back.When the police told them what they had discovered, Mom stared at Janice with tremblin

Chapter 10

After Janice's case was over, Mom and Dad sold most of the Graham family's businesses and property.Mom said those things had originally been meant for me to inherit. There was no point keeping them anymore.They used the money from the sale to build a small memorial cemetery for me at the foot of a quiet mountain.On the day my ashes were placed there, Mom wore black and carried my urn for a long, long time.She refused to let anyone else carry it. It was as if, as long as she held me in her arms, I had not truly left her.The cemetery was filled with white flowers.Mom said flowers had always been my favorite when I was little.She even remembered what I had been wearing 16 years ago, on the day I was taken away. I had been wearing a little white dress, and in my hand was a wildflower that someone had stepped on and crushed.Dad had once held me in his arms and promised that when I grew up, he would take me somewhere with a whole sea of flowers.However, after searching for

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