Chapter 5

Aunt Clara glared at me, her voice dripping with judgment.

"Why does Chloe look so gloomy and awkward? She didn't even greet the guests. Eleanor, you really need to teach this girl some manners."

Eleanor laughed awkwardly, seizing the opportunity to complain.

"Clara, you have no idea. This girl has the strangest temper lately. She lies constantly and always bullies Leo."

"Just a couple of days ago, she insisted that her real parents live inside that broken old fridge in the basement. Can you believe it? She's losing her mind."

The moment Eleanor said this, the relatives started looking at me with weird, mocking expressions.

Uncle Thomas shook his head, looking at me with disapproval.

"Chloe, your parents work so hard to raise you. How can you be so ungrateful? Your brother is successful, and you should be happy for him, instead of making up these ridiculous stories to steal his spotlight."

I stood frozen in the middle of the room, holding the fruit platter with a blank expression.

Seeing all the adults siding with him, Leo’s ego inflated even more.

He jumped up from the sofa, pointing a finger at me.

"Chloe is a total liar! She's still claiming her parents are in that broken fridge! If you don't believe me, I'll drag that fridge out right now and show everyone!"

With that, Leo rallied a few cousins around his age and dashed down to the basement.

A few minutes later, the kids managed to drag the small, single-door, rusty old refrigerator into the center of the living room.

The outer shell was completely rusted, and even the power cord had been cut off at the base. It looked like nothing but a piece of scrap metal.

Richard felt embarrassed by the scene and barked at Leo.

"Alright, Leo, that's enough. Why did you drag this junk up here? Get it out of here!"

But Leo refused to back down. He walked up to the fridge, giving me a smug, challenging look.

"Chloe, didn't you say your real parents are in here? Call them out!"

The relatives burst into laughter.

Aunt Clara covered her mouth, giggling.

"Oh, Leo, stop teasing your sister. She’s just a little liar making things up. How could a real person fit inside a broken fridge?"

I ignored their mocking laughter and kept my eyes glued to the wall clock.

One minute left until noon.

Seeing that I remained silent, Leo assumed I was scared.

To completely humiliate me in front of everyone, he grabbed the handle of the fridge door.

"Watch closely, everyone! I'm going to expose this liar once and for all!"

Leo yanked it open. With a loud, rusty screech, the door swung open.

It was completely empty.

Leo pointed inside, laughing hysterically.

"Hahaha! What a fraud! There's nothing in here!"

The relatives shook their heads. Richard’s face was pitch black as he stood up, marching toward me with his hand raised, ready to slap me.

"How much longer are you going to embarrass us? Go back to your room right now!"

Just as his hand was about to strike my face—

Twelve o'clock sharp.

The unplugged, broken old fridge suddenly erupted with a blinding, piercing white light.

Instantly, the temperature in the living room plummeted to sub-zero.

A thick, visible wave of freezing white fog surged out from the depths of the fridge, instantly covering the entire living room floor.

The laughter died instantly. Richard’s hand froze mid-air.

Leo, who was closest to the fridge, let out a terrified shriek and tried to stumble backward.

But in that exact millisecond, a pair of pale, frostbitten hands shot out of the blinding white light, locking tightly around Leo's neck.