Chapter 3

Some invisible tether pulled my soul along as I followed them home.

It was Jason’s birthday, but he spent his time carefully cutting a slice of cake for Chris.

Chris was a snake. He treated me horribly when no one else was looking, but now he put on this fake, sweet act.

“Jason, shouldn’t we try to find Alex? He loves cake too,” Chris said with a concerned expression that I knew was completely phony.

The warmth in Jason’s gaze instantly disappeared, replaced by irritation.

“Why are you bringing him up? Didn’t you hear him ignoring my calls earlier?” he snapped.

“For all I care, he can stay gone for the rest of his life.”

Jason’s voice softened as he turned back to Chris.

“Chris, let’s just pretend he’s dead. From now on, you’re my only brother.”

Chris gave him an obedient nod, but I could see the smug, calculating glint in his eyes.

It was the same look he always had after framing me for something and watching Jason tear into me over it.

The cake they ate was strawberry, but Jason wouldn’t even let me say the word “strawberry” around him.

Chris took a bite and complained, “It’s not even good. Jason, you don’t even know what I like.”

His tone was sharp, but Jason just chuckled, his expression soft.

I envied Chris, the way he could throw tantrums and still be doted on.

When you’re the favorite, you can get away with anything.

I, on the other hand, could stay quiet and obedient and still never earn a shred of affection from Jason.

Jason suddenly pulled a small necklace from his pocket, almost like a magician producing a trick.

It was too small for Chris’s neck, so he fastened it around his wrist instead.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I couldn’t hold them back any longer.

That necklace…

It was the one Mom had put around my neck at my first birthday party.

After she died, I used to take it out and look at it whenever I missed her.

But Jason had ripped it from me, saying I wasn’t worthy of wearing it.

I’d begged him to give it back so many times, and he’d always said, “I’ll give it to you when you’re dead.”

And now, here it was, given so effortlessly to Chris.

Well, Jason, I’m dead now. Does that mean you can give it back to me?

The first autopsy report came out the next day, confirming what the coroner had already suspected.

Jason slammed the paper down on his desk, cursing under his breath. “Whoever did this is a goddamn monster.”

“By the way, has anyone come forward to claim the body yet?” he asked his assistant.

When the assistant shook his head, Jason’s anger only grew.

“Unbelievable. What kind of people abandon their own kid like this? When they show up, make sure I give them a piece of my mind.”

The assistant nodded awkwardly.

“We’ll probably have to do a DNA match,” Jason continued. “Go tell the lab to collect the samples.”

Then, he picked up his pencil to resume the sketch he hadn’t finished the day before—my face.

But before he could begin, his phone rang.

Jason’s expression darkened as he listened to the person on the other end.

A few moments later, Uncle Matt walked into the room, his face filled with concern.

“Did you take Alex for cake yesterday?” he asked.

Jason scowled.

“Why do you even care about that useless brat?” he shot back.

“Do you know what his teacher just told me? He’s been skipping school. Three days now!”

“I bust my ass working to pay for his tuition, and this is how he repays me?”

“He better not come back, because if he does, I’m going to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Jason, I didn’t mean to skip school.

But I didn’t have a choice.

Uncle Matt wasn’t angry with me, though. He turned his frustration on Jason instead.

“Jason, that’s enough!” he snapped.

“Alex hasn’t been to school in three days, and you can’t reach him. Don’t you think you should be worried about where he is?”

“What if something’s happened to him? Your parents left him in your care. Is this how you’re honoring their memory? What are you going to tell them when you meet them in heaven?”

Uncle Matt’s voice cracked as his eyes grew red.

Jason opened his mouth to argue but seemed to think better of it and stayed quiet.

After Uncle Matt left, a second autopsy report arrived.

Jason took it from the officer delivering it, but as he read, his face turned ghostly pale.

I drifted closer to see what it said.

There, printed in black and white, were the words:

“A note was found in the victim’s stomach. It contained a single letter: K.”