Chapter 5

When I first transferred, I had trouble keeping up with the coursework.

My entrance exam scores were dismal, and my parents were called in by the teacher.

“Mr. Walts, Mrs. Walts, Kele’s grades are really bad. You, as parents, need to pay more attention.”

“You can’t just leave your child with us and expect us to handle everything.”

“Eh? I remember that Alice is also your daughter, how can there be such a big difference? Is the education not adequate?”

The teacher handed my parents my report card and earnestly advised them to pay more attention to me.

“Oh, I’m sorry, teacher! Our parenting hasn’t been good enough, we’ll pay more attention from now on,” Dad said, nodding and bowing in front of the teacher.

Mom suddenly grabbed the collar of my shirt, and I nearly stumbled and fell.

She pointed at my head and scolded me: “You ungrateful child, we went through all this trouble to transfer you here, and you can’t even keep up with your studies. Don’t embarrass us!”

“Why are you just standing there? Quickly promise the teacher that you’ll study hard!”

I mustered the courage to look at the teacher and promised that I would catch up with my studies.

“Really, you’re so much worse than Alice. Look at you, always hesitating, and your grades are awful. Can’t you just study properly?”

After we left the office, Mom kept talking.

The echo in the hallway was loud, and Mom’s sharp words pierced through the entire corridor. Teachers from the nearby classrooms poked their heads out to see where the noise was coming from.

I walked to the classroom door, and all my classmates stared at me, either mocking or looking down on me, whispering and pointing.

It felt like ants were crawling on my heart, and my ears buzzed. The good impression I had just built with the new students shattered because of Mom’s harsh words.

When I got home that weekend, Dad said he had invited some family and friends to celebrate my and Sister’s birthday and planned to introduce me as the daughter they had just found.

Mom didn’t object to this.

But Sister wasn’t as talkative as usual, and there was a dark cloud around her.

I knew she was definitely upset.

Soon, it was birthday day. Mom and Dad were busy hosting guests, and I sat nervously, unable to relax.

Everyone gathered in the living room chatting, the atmosphere lively.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. I rushed into the living room and saw Mom sitting on the floor crying, while Dad was on the phone, speaking urgently.

Dad hung up the phone, helped Mom up, and they hurried out. I quickly followed them, but before I could reach their car, it had already driven away.

The guests, sensing something was wrong, quickly said their goodbyes.

After Mom and Dad left, their phones were unreachable, and Sister was also gone.

Cloe and I stayed behind to clean up the house.

The next morning, I had breakfast as usual. Mom and Dad came back from outside. I set down my bowl and kindly asked if they wanted me to serve them food.

Mom suddenly walked up to my bowl, raised her hand, and flipped it onto the floor.

“How can you be so heartless?”

“How can you still eat?”

“Your sister fell off a cliff and is missing, how can you still have the nerve to eat?”

She pointed at me with a hoarse voice, questioning me.

That’s when I noticed Mom’s red eyes and tear-streaked face.

I looked at Dad, but he was sitting motionless, eyes closed, his face showing exhaustion, ignoring the scene here.

“A cliff? How could Sister fall off a cliff?”

I asked, bewildered, trying to process this unbelievable news.

“Don’t ask me, how would I know.”

“It’s such a disaster… we only found the car wreckage and haven’t found Alice.”

After three days of searching, a body was finally found at the bottom of the cliff, and tests confirmed it was the driver, Warwick.

Warwick’s body was found several kilometers from the car, with bloodstains around, possibly dragged by a wild animal.

As for Alice, her body hasn’t been found, and all simulations suggest she’s most likely dead.

But Mom firmly believes Alice is still alive, her eyes always red and swollen from crying.

Later, Dad, without consulting Mom, arranged a grand funeral for Sister.