Chapter 2

My phone was still vibrating.

Vanessa was still sending me messages.

"Rescue workers are trying to recover Mom and Dad's bodies."

"You'd better come here."

Vanessa, who Mom and Dad said was dead, was asking me to go to the mountains.

My throat felt dry.

"Chloe, why are you just standing foolishly by the door?"

Mom's voice suddenly echoed above my head.

She had walked up to me without me hearing a single sound.

I jumped, startled, instinctively locking my phone screen.

Mom grabbed my right hand, the one holding the phone, and stared intently at me.

"Why did I just see Vanessa sending you messages?"

"What did she say?"

Her hand was impossibly cold, completely devoid of warmth.

I remembered the call I'd received on the way home, telling me Mom, Dad, and Vanessa had all drowned in the flood.

My eyes welled up with tears from fright. "Vanessa sent me a message, asking me to go into the mountains to find her."

"Mom, didn't you say she was dead? How can she still be sending me messages?"

My raw honesty seemed to soften Mom's icy expression.

"Someone must be pranking you with Vanessa's phone."

"Don't be scared, come inside. Look, your clothes are all wet."

Mom gently put her arm around my shoulder, guiding me into the house.

I leaned into the cold comfort of her hug.

Since they brought me back from the orphanage five years ago, she had never shown me such tender concern. All her affection and love had always been reserved for Vanessa.

If Mom could always be this kind to me, then whether they were dead or alive didn't matter.

Just then, click.

The front door closed, then locked.

Dad reached out and snatched my phone, while Mom roughly pushed me away.