Chapter 3

Dad brought Mom over to the Jennings residence.

Caleb was home alone, and the moment he saw Mom, his expression turned stormy. "What are you doing here again? My house isn't a dump for trash."

Dad stormed up to him, grabbed his collar, and his forehead veins bulged. "Are you hiding my daughter? Was it you who bullied Roseanne? Speak up!"

It felt like a knife turning in my chest. I just wished Caleb could show Dad some decency. He had high blood pressure, and stress like this was dangerous for him.

But Caleb hated me so much that even being near someone close to me would set him off like a rabid dog.

He was young and strong and easily shoved Dad aside like it was nothing.

With a mocking smirk, he slowly adjusted his clothes and said, "Who do you think your daughter is? As if I'd waste time hiding her. A nuisance hides on its own, doesn't it?"

I tried to help Dad up, but my hands went right through him. I was completely helpless.

"Mom, please help Dad up. He's not well..." I said.

But Mom didn't hear me, and she didn't even glance at Dad. "I told you not to bring this on yourself. Caleb can't stand your daughter the most these days."

Dad clenched his fists and pounded the floor in frustration. "None of you has any compassion left. Roseanne's just a kid; she only just started university. How can you all treat her like this? How's she supposed to survive this?"

He went on, "I used to pick her up from school for lunch, and she'd always say, 'Dad, don't worry. I'll love you and Mom forever. I love Mom. I love you, too.'"

My dad sat there on the floor, crying like a child.

Caleb finally showed a flicker of uncertainty. "What's wrong with her? Isn't she just hiding because she's too ashamed to show her face?"

"My daughter's so thoughtful. There's no way she'd just disappear for a whole month. She always called, messaged me every day. She wouldn't go silent like this," Dad shot back.

"It's summer break now, and I haven't heard from her in a month. I was gone on a work trip, and when I got back, she was gone. Yvonne, this is all because of you. You only ever think about yourself. You've always been selfish," he said.

Dad had never yelled at Mom like that before. Usually, she was the one scolding him, and he just took it.

Now that it was her being yelled at, she held herself back, her face flushed with anger. She didn't even try to defend herself.

After all, she hadn't seen me in a month either.

I only had one place left to go—Dad's old house that he left to me.

But the whole month passed, and no one saw me there either.

"What if she went traveling or got a job?" Mom mumbled under her breath.

Dad's face went stiff. He looked like he had aged ten years in a second. "I don't blame you for being careless, but you can't be this heartless. Who goes off to work or travel and never makes a single call?"

He paused for a long time, finally managing to steady himself.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, but it couldn't warm the icy tension in the room.

"Sometimes, I really want to crack open your heart and see if it's made of stone," he said.

Guilt swept across his face. "It's my fault, too. I never should've let Roseanne stay with you. And now you don't even want her anymore. Imagine how heartbroken she must be. If something happens to her, I'll never forgive any of you."

After that, Dad dragged a hand down his face. "I can't waste time here. I have to find her."

I noticed Caleb's fingers twitch slightly, like he wanted to stop Dad. But in the end, his hand dropped, limp and defeated.

As if warning himself not to care, he muttered, "Whatever happens to you, you brought it on yourself. Why should I care? Roseanne, this is just another one of your games, isn't it? You want me to worry about you? Keep dreaming."

I was about to follow Dad out, but I stopped and looked back at Caleb.

His throat moved as he swallowed hard, and his fists were clenched tight, veins bulging. He was such a strange man.

My heart tightened, but I acted like nothing happened and followed Dad.

I shouldn't love him. He was a devil, my downfall in this life.

The last people I saw before it all fell apart were Caleb and Serena.

After the online abuse exploded, the university called. They said they didn't want students with a bad reputation. I was expelled.

I tried to explain, but the world didn't always care about the truth. All that mattered was public opinion.

I was devastated, barely holding it together, when I got a text from Caleb. He said he was drunk at a bar and asked me to come pick him up.

I should've hated him by then, but I had loved him all through my teenage years. That kind of feeling didn't fade in half a year.

I was pathetic. I went to get him, only to find him and Serena waiting for me together.

He smirked at me mockingly. "Didn't I tell you she's a pushover? You sent one text from my phone, and she came running."

Serena snickered. "I never thought someone could stoop this low. Caleb, what do we do with her? All those photos and videos of you two really hurt my heart."

Caleb, dressed to the nines, pulled Serena into his arms. He said lazily, "She's all yours. You saw it yourself. I had no choice."

It was exactly what Serena had been waiting for.

They dragged me into a dark alley. Serena pulled me deeper inside.

Caleb stood at the alley entrance, using the rose-red tie I once gave him to bind my wrists.

I had picked that tie as a birthday gift. Now it returned in the cruelest way.

My face was shredded slowly, piece by piece. I screamed and begged for mercy.

Caleb stood there, filming everything on his phone, guarding the alley for Serena.

At that moment, my heart shattered. I wondered if there was anything good left in this world and if life was just endless betrayal and pain.

I stopped fighting back. My heart was completely dead.

When they finally left, arms around each other, I collapsed to the ground, broken.

Before leaving the alley, I looked at my smashed phone in the corner. I couldn't even pick it up.

That last glance chained me to that alley forever. I never walked out of there again.

Right before I was knocked out by someone I couldn't see, I caught a glimpse of Caleb and Serena under the neon lights in the distance, getting cozy with each other.

After that, I never opened my eyes again, at least, not as someone alive.

For a whole month after I died, everything was a blur. My mind was clouded, and I had no memory of anything. Until something pulled me back toward Mom.