Chapter 4

[How can anyone steal from their own parents? She’s a monster!]

[She took their house and car! Left her elderly parents in debt... She deserves to rot in hell!]

[Why isn't she in jail? Someone find her!]

[She should be locked up for life!]

My company quickly posted a public statement online, saying I had resigned a month ago and that my actions had nothing to do with them.

Dozens of strangers found my number and flooded my phone with abusive texts and calls.

Some people even Photoshopped my face onto funeral portraits and spammed them in the comments.

I couldn't stop it. I could only watch the endless stream of hate notifications light up my dead screen.

I smiled bitterly.

*Well, at least they already made the funeral photos. They’ll need them soon.*

Back home, my parents weren't idle either.

They threw out all my belongings and let Chloe move into my room.

"Since you refuse to come back, your room is Chloe's now."

"We're throwing your stuff out if you don't come get it by tomorrow!"

I didn't have much. Most of it was sentimental—birthday gifts my parents gave me, family photos, and school trophies.

Things they used to display proudly in the living room were now shoved into a trash bag, sitting next to the garbage bin outside.

When Chloe brought her bags in, she "accidentally" knocked over the trash bag.

My things spilled out, mixing with the garbage. Chloe stepped right on them.

The music box my dad had carved for me shattered.

Our family photo was ruined by her dirty boot print.

"Stop! Don't touch that!"

"Those are my memories! You have no right!"

I tried desperately to block her.

But my transparent hands just passed through her body over and over.

Chloe deliberately ground her heel into my photos a few more times.

When my parents opened the door, she quickly feigned panic. "David, Helen, I'm so sorry..."

"I didn't see the bag on the floor."

My parents looked uncomfortable for a second, but then they quickly brushed it off.

"It's fine. It's just trash anyway."

"As long as you didn't hurt yourself."

They welcomed Chloe in, helped her unpack, and cooked her favorite dinner.

They looked so happy.

Like they were the real family.

The next day, when I still didn't show up, my dad sent one last text.

"You really hate us that much, huh?"

"Fine. From this day on, we don't have a daughter!"

And they kept their word. They blocked my number and focused entirely on Chloe, pouring their remaining money into her business.

They treated her like their only daughter.

Until a month later, when the police finally discovered my body.

The officer called my parents.

"Is this the family of Avery Jiang?"

"We found her body in a rental apartment. We need you to come identify her."