I was ordered to attend a tutoring session while the fake daughter, Vanessa, was getting ready to head to a mountain spa resort with Mom and Dad.
Vanessa pouted, Chloe’s stuck studying, and I get to go out and have fun? What if she surpasses me in the next exam?
Mom and Dad immediately showered her with reassurances. They promised to find her top-tier private tutors when they got back, ensuring I’d never get a chance to outdo her.
Watching the three of them walk off happily, a dark thought flickered in my mind:
I wished they would just drop dead out there. I didn’t want a family like this.
That evening, as I pushed open the front door, Mom and Dad stood in the living room, covered in mud.
“There was a sudden flood in the mountains. We were accidentally swept away. Vanessa didn’t make it out.”
The next moment, my phone vibrated.
It was a message from Vanessa: “Mom and Dad and I were swept away by the flood. I was lucky enough to be rescued, but Mom and Dad drowned!”
A shiver of dread ran down my spine.
Because on my way home, I had received a call.
A sudden flood in the mountains. Mom, Dad, and Vanessa were all dead, drowned in the deluge!
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.
Before I could even steady myself, there was a loud bang.
Dad violently smashed my phone against the wall. It instantly shattered into pieces.
“Who said you could take your phone to tutoring?”
“Tell me, were you even listening in class, or were you just playing on your phone the whole time?”
Mom stood there, arms crossed, looking at me with undisguised disgust.
This was the Mom and Dad I knew.
So, the gentleness earlier was just a trick to get me inside.
Swallowing down my bitter self-mockery, I obediently apologized, playing along with their accusations.
“I’m sorry, I won’t play on my phone again.”
“Dad, Mom, you must be hungry, right? I’ll go make dinner.”
Years of verbal abuse and physical punishment had taught me that immediate surrender and apology was always the safest route. I had no leverage to stand up to them.
I put down my backpack and hurried to the kitchen, moving through it with practiced ease to find ingredients. Mom and Dad’s eyes were dark and brooding, but seeing me dutifully cooking, they relaxed their watchful eyes on me, taking turns to change their clothes.
Seizing the chance, I rolled up my sleeve and glanced at the smartwatch on my wrist. I had saved up money from odd jobs to buy it in secret.
It could chat and make calls.
I logged into my account, and Vanessa’s messages immediately popped up.
“They still haven’t found Mom and Dad’s bodies. Don’t come over, I’m heading back.”
“I heard that those who drown sometimes return home on a rainy night.”
“You’d better not open the door for just anyone tonight.”
I glanced at the drizzle outside the window, remembering Mom and Dad, covered in mud, when I opened the door earlier.
A wave of icy dread shot through me.
No, I had to get out of here, fast.
However, I checked around and found that all the kitchen and living room windows were locked tight.
I realized Mom and Dad were preventing me from escaping.
I returned to the kitchen, my heart pounding harder and harder with each beat.
Just as my heart was hammering in my chest, I suddenly caught the scent of burning incense.
Mom placed an incense burner with three sticks of incense in the corner of the living room.
“This is incense for warding off evil spirits and protecting our home.”
“Vanessa drowned, there’s no telling if she’ll try to come home on a rainy night like this.”
Dad comforted her, “Once tonight is over and we find her body, we can give her a proper burial.”
They leaned on each other as they walked to the dining table.
I noticed that their legs were stiff as they walked, moving as if they couldn’t bend.
I swallowed hard. “Vanessa’s body hasn’t been found either?”
“No, the flood was too big,” Dad paused, then asked, “Whose body hasn’t been found?”
His gaze was filled with suspicion.
A quiet alarm went off in my head, but I kept my face blank as I replied, “Just the other tourists who were in the mountains with you.”
“I heard the flood was really bad this time, several people died.”
Dad sighed, “Yes, it was.”
After making dinner, while Mom and Dad ate, I continued to secretly check my smartwatch.
Vanessa was still sending me messages, as expected.
“I’m at the entrance of the complex.”
“I can see our house.”
“I didn’t bring my key, hurry and open the door for me!”
The next moment, thump, the front door was knocked on.
Vanessa was back!
I stared at the front door, my peripheral vision catching Mom and Dad eating.
After a long moment, I took a deep breath and walked to the door, gripping the doorknob.
Just as I was about to turn it, an impossibly cold hand suddenly clasped the back of my neck.
I froze instantly.
Mom’s face appeared from behind me, and as she spoke, a chilling breath brushed my face.
“What are you doing?”
My palms were sweating uncontrollably. “I heard someone knocking.”
Mom’s voice was a hollow whisper, “Knocking in the rain, who knows if it’s a person or a ghost.”
“Don’t open it!”
She and Dad stared intently at the front door, their eyes glinting with a sinister coldness, as if preparing for a serious threat.
After two more knocks, the outside fell silent.
But Mom and Dad didn’t move. They just stood there stiffly by the door.
Mom waved her hand. “Go back to your room.”
I grabbed my backpack and ran.
Back in my upstairs bedroom, I shut the door tightly, but still feeling uneasy, I reached to lock it from the inside.
Just as I turned the latch, Dad’s low, menacing voice warned me.
“Chloe, don’t you dare lock that door from the inside.”
“Otherwise, I’ll take the door right off its hinges.”
My breath hitched. I stared fixedly at the door.
I could almost picture their pale faces, pressed tight against the door, listening for any sound from my room. When they sensed my intention to lock the door, they immediately gave their grim warning.
I instinctively held my breath, not daring to move.
It was a full ten minutes before I dared to open my door again.
The lights downstairs were off. In the dim light of the hallway, I didn’t see Mom or Dad.
They must have gone back to their room.
I let out a soft breath, wiping the clammy sweat from my palms.
I carefully closed the door again, locking it this time.
Leaning against the door, I turned on my smartwatch screen.
Vanessa’s message popped up right away.
“Chloe, why aren’t you opening the door for me?”
“It’s raining outside, I’m freezing to death.”
“Hurry up and open the door, I have something important to tell you!”
Was it really her knocking earlier?
Could she still be waiting outside?
I hesitated for a few seconds, then gritted my teeth, crept downstairs, and opened the door.
Vanessa was really standing outside!
Vanessa was soaked to the bone, her face deathly pale.
Blood mixed with rain streamed down her cheeks, leaving streaks of crimson.
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