Chapter 3

A thousand dollars per person?

To hell with their "how things work." This was practically robbery.

When no money was offered, no one wanted to touch them. But as soon as "a thousand dollars" was mentioned, over ten men immediately sprang forward.

That would easily be ten thousand dollars.

I didn't move, suppressing my impatience and raising my voice.

"I've already told you, these aren't my parents' bodies. My parents didn't come back for the holidays this year."

"I don't know who these two people are!"

Liam's expression stiffened.

A cold scoff echoed from the crowd. The woman who had previously defended Liam stepped forward again.

"Stop bluffing! I saw your parents around eight last night! I even said hello to them!"

"You need to come up with a better lie, and plenty of other people saw your parents too!"

A few people next to her also spoke up in agreement.

"I saw them too. We were sitting by the town entrance, chatting, and we all saw your parents. We have no reason to lie to you."

"Exactly. We also saw them. Nobody lies about dead people; it's bad luck. We're not that bored."

Their back-and-forth chatter gave me a headache, but my parents really hadn't come back for the holidays.

My scrutinizing gaze fell on them, but their confident expressions didn't seem fake.

A sudden, unbidden dread began to creep into my heart.

Liam subconsciously let out a sigh of relief, patting my shoulder to comfort me.

"Alex, I know you might have trouble accepting this right now, but everyone has no reason to lie to you, right?"

"If you don't believe it, just make a call. Then you can confirm whether your parents are home or not."

My body began to tremble uncontrollably. Someone in the crowd held out a phone to me.

It displayed a surveillance video from the town entrance. The footage clearly showed my parents appearing in the video, greeting people.

Now I truly panicked. I quickly pulled out my own phone, trembling as I called my dad.

But the phone was off.

A suffocating feeling swelled in my chest, my heart pounding.

My dad's phone was unreachable, so I immediately called my mom, but her phone still went unanswered.

I called five times in a row, but no one picked up.

I took a breath, trying to calm myself, then immediately turned to call my brother, Ben, for one last confirmation.

The phone rang once, then was answered. Ben's voice came through.

"Alex, anything wrong with calling so early?"

I rubbed my stinging eyes, my voice a little hoarse as I asked,

"Ben, did Mom and Dad go back to their old house last night?"

My brother chuckled on the other end, complaining slightly.

"Yeah, last night Dad insisted on going home for some reason—he had a special plan for dinner at home. So, Chloe and I had to drive them back."

"Why? What's up?"

I opened my mouth, but my throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton. The words wouldn't come out.

I quickly wiped my eyes. My little nephew, Leo, was crying in the background, and my brother had already hung up.

Looking at the two bodies, my legs suddenly felt weak.

Liam quickly supported me, comforting me while urging me to pay.

"Alex, it's come to this. It's right to let your parents rest in peace. Don't be too sad."

"How about we pay the men so they can bury your parents, and then we'll talk? It's getting late, and everyone's been up all night with you."

I was trembling with rage. I shoved Liam's hand away and knelt before my parents' bodies.

Staring at the charred corpses, I took several deep breaths before finally pulling back the white sheet covering them, examining them closely to confirm.

I refused to believe they were my parents, but their burnt figures were so indistinct that I couldn't even tell their gender.

I bit down hard on my teeth, struggling to control my emotions. Behind me, Liam's lips curved into a smile, then he put on a facade of false concern.

"There, there, Alex, don't be sad. It's all over now."

Over?

How could it be over? If it weren't for him, how would my house have caught fire? How would my parents have died?

I let out a deep, shaky breath, my hand trembling as I pulled out my phone to call the police.

Liam slapped my phone out of my hand, annoyance in his voice.

"Didn't I say not to call the police? Don't you understand that this matter is closed?"

I rubbed my throbbing temples, ignoring him, and reached down to pick up my phone from the ground. Liam instantly kicked my phone three feet away.

I was so angry I gritted my back teeth, standing up to confront him.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind me.

"Alex, what's everyone gathered here for so early?"

I whirled around. The speakers were my parents. David and Sarah.

So whose bodies were those on the ground?