All Chapters of The Daughter They Erased: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

"Caleb, are we going to the beach? That's awesome!"I grinned and called out to my older brother.I remembered Mom saying last month that once the entrance exams were over, the whole family would take a trip to the coast.But Caleb gave me a look of utter disappointment."Lily, you're hopeless."Bang!The front door slammed in my face.I stood alone in the empty hallway, a dull ache spreading through my chest.I didn't understand.Why were Caleb and Mom so angry?Had I said something wrong just now and upset them?All I'd done was ask if we were going to the beach.I tried hard to piece together the scattered fragments of memory in my head.But the harder I tried, the worse my head hurt.Ding!The elevator doors opened, and the motion-sensor lights flickered back on.Jason Parker, my childhood friend, stepped out holding a bouquet of sunflowers.When he saw me crouched outside the door, he stopped, his brows drawing together."Emma says you upset your mom again?"I f

At eight the next morning, a shrill alarm exploded beside my pillow.I jolted upright in bed.I stared at the alarm on my phone screen, gasping for breath.What was I supposed to do?Why had I set this alarm?It had to be something important!I tugged desperately at my hair, trying to chase the eraser away.But my mind was wiped clean. There was nothing there.I was so anxious that tears kept falling, but all I could do was sit dazed on the edge of the bed.At eleven thirty, Mom came home from work.As she changed her shoes, she shouted toward Emma's room, "Emma, sweetheart! Did you submit your applications?"Emma's groggy, just-woke-up voice came from her bedroom, followed by a scream."Oh no! I'm dead! Lily didn't wake me up!"Mom stormed into my room like a madwoman.Smack!The slap knocked me to the floor. My ears rang."Lily! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"You turned in a blank test and ruined your own future, so now you want to drag your sister down with

They searched every corner of the apartment, but I was nowhere to be found.There was even a fine layer of dust on the coffee table. Nobody had been home for days.The smile froze on Caleb's face. He yanked open my closet door.My clothes were all there. So was my suitcase.Mom panicked.Without even taking off her heels, she rushed into the room and started searching everywhere."Lily? Lily!"The apartment was silent.Mom's hands started to shake. She grabbed Caleb's arm."She never came back? It's been two days!"That highway interchange is so far from here. Where did she go?"Her voice was thick with tears."She's sick! She can't find her way anywhere! What if she really forgot the way home?"I shouldn't have made her get out of the car... I shouldn't have left her on the side of the road..."Caleb's face went pale too.He pulled out his phone and fumbled to dial my number."We're sorry. The number you have dialed is currently unavailable."The robotic female voice

In the morgue, Mom wept as though her heart were being torn out, nearly fainting several times.Caleb slumped on the floor as if every ounce of strength had been drained from him.Two officers stepped forward and hauled them to their feet."We're very sorry for your loss. Please come with us to the Major Crimes conference room. We need to brief you on the case."The air in the conference room was so heavy it was suffocating.Mom sagged in her chair, staring blankly at the table.Caleb clutched his head and dug his fingers deep into his hair, on the verge of falling apart.Bang!The conference room door flew open.Jason rushed in, drenched in sweat. When he saw the scene in front of him, his brows knitted tightly."Mrs. Carter, Caleb, what's going on?"The police said on the phone that something happened to Lily? What is she throwing a fit about now?"Jason walked up to the table, still speaking with the same condescension as always."Honestly, you guys just let her do what

Two weeks after the kidnappers were caught, the verdict came down.In court, the kidnappers showed no remorse at all. They insisted, "We didn't mean to kill her! How were we supposed to know she was a head case?"We beat her with the iron bar, and she didn't cry or make a fuss. She just kept her hands clamped over her mouth."Right before she stopped breathing, she was still mumbling something like, 'Sorry, Jason. My brain is broken. I didn't mean to score an eight.' She was crazy."No wonder her own family couldn't stand her!"When Jason heard that, he collapsed in the aisle of the public gallery.He clawed at the floor tiles as fat tears splashed down, and a wail of grief tore from his throat.Mom's eyes rolled back, and she passed out, convulsing.Caleb covered his face and smashed his forehead against the bench in front of him until blood ran down.Both men were sentenced to death on the spot.But for the ones left alive, a life sentence had only just begun.That night,