Chapter 4

"Honey, the police have brought the body down and want us all to identify it," Dad rushed over, looking flustered. "We finally get to go on a vacation, and this happens? What rotten luck."

Mom ignored Dad completely and bolted outside.

A body covered with a white sheet was laid out in the open, and a police officer held up a red pendant, asking, "This is the necklace the victim was wearing. Anyone recognize it?"

Mom pushed through the crowd, and when she caught sight of the pendant, her face drained of color. She stumbled and fell to the ground, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"No... It can't be her." Mom's voice trembled.

Mom was barely coherent as she crawled toward the body, her hands shaking as she lifted the white sheet.

When Mom saw my pale, lifeless face and my frozen body, she finally broke down, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Cheryl, I'm so sorry!"

That pendant was actually an amulet. Mom tried really hard to get it, and there was only one.

She did all that hoping Olivia would stay healthy and never fall ill again.

But Olivia refused to wear anything around her neck. She said it made her uncomfortable, and she would cry and fuss every time Mom tried to put it on her.

Mom had no choice but to give up, so the pendant Olivia didn't want ended up in my hands.

I treated it like a treasure, telling myself Mom had gotten it for me. I wore it for twenty years, never once taking it off.

Dad rushed over when he heard the news. When he saw my lifeless body, his eyes went wide, and he just stood there, frozen in place.

Olivia walked over, not understanding what was happening. She didn't notice anything strange about Dad and complained, "What's the big deal about a corpse? Dad, I'm hungry. Can we go get something to eat?"

Suddenly, a slap echoed through the air. Dad's hand was still trembling as he lowered it, and he looked at Olivia, his eyes full of disbelief, while Olivia stared back, shocked.

He forced out the words, "Are you seriously thinking about eating right now?

"Cheryl is dead! She's dead!"

Dad's voice broke with grief as he shouted, and Olivia was stunned to her core, her whole body jolting in shock.

Olivia stared at my lifeless body, and then crumpled to the ground, trembling all over. She couldn't say a word.

Seeing that all the family members had arrived, the police told the innkeeper to send everyone else back. They needed to cordon off the area.

The coroner said, "From what we can tell, the deceased had a high fever that made her altitude sickness worse. Her brain didn't get enough oxygen, so she passed out up on the mountain and ended up freezing to death.

"If she hadn't been sick when she climbed, the altitude sickness probably wouldn't have hit her so hard. Even if she was short on oxygen, having enough tanks could've kept her alive."

The coroner shared all the findings with Mom, Dad, and Olivia. "Such a young girl, gone just like that... It's really a shame. I'm sorry for your loss."

Even strangers knew people shouldn't climb a mountain when they were sick, but Mom insisted I go up there, all because Olivia wanted it.

Mom always called me a liar and never gave a damn about what I needed.

Now that I was gone for good, wasn't this what she wanted? So why was she crying her eyes out?

"You really left Cheryl up there all alone? What kind of person does that?" Dad yelled.

He wiped his tears away, grabbed Mom by the arm, and hauled her up from the ground. "Does her life mean nothing to you? How could you be so heartless to her?"

"I thought she was making it up," Mom sobbed, barely able to get the words out. "I just wanted her to learn a lesson, to stop lying... I never thought she'd really die."

Mom kept accusing me of lying, but I never lied.

She never bothered to hear me out. She always blamed me, no questions asked. In her eyes, Olivia was the fragile, obedient child who could never possibly lie.

When Olivia was little, Mom was super strict with her. She prepared everything Olivia ate, just so Olivia wouldn't accidentally eat something she was allergic to.

And to make sure I wouldn't tempt Olivia with snacks, Mom wouldn't let me have any either.

My classmate was shocked when she found out I'd never had candy before, so she secretly slipped me a piece.

That piece of candy felt like a rare treasure to me. I didn't want to eat it right away, so I took it home and hid it. But Olivia caught me, and she threatened and coaxed me until I handed it over.

Ever since I was little, I'd been told to let Olivia have her way. So even though it hurt, I just sucked it up and gave her the candy.

But after Olivia ate the candy, she came down with a high fever that night. When Mom questioned her, Olivia, terrified of being scolded, framed me and claimed I'd shoved the candy into her mouth.

Mom lost it, wouldn't let me get a word in, and grabbed a hanger, beating me over and over like she was unloading all her rage onto me.

She left me battered and bruised, and it took a whole month before I was able to go back to school.