Chapter 3

"Let Emily Foster answer the phone," Mom said.

Her words hit me, and my heart turned from warm to ice in a split second.

I'd imagined all sorts of ways Mom might react when she finally knew, the tears, the shock.

But never this. Never disbelief. Never that she simply didn't care.

Not even a flicker of doubt crossed her face.

The grief-stricken staff member was stunned by her response. "Huh?"

Mom's tone was icy. "Emily, I know you're mad that we forgot you at the zoo, but this joke has gone way too far. Just answer the phone and get home."

The staff member tried once more, desperation in his voice. "Ma'am, please listen to me, it's true. Your daughter—"

But this time, it wasn't Mom who cut him off. It was an angry, harsh male voice.

"Emily, you didn't hear a damn word I said, did you? Teaming up to fake this, hoping we'll actually care about you?"

Andrew's scorn rang cold and loud in the empty lobby, jarring enough to make me flinch.

"Who do you think you are? Fake or not, even if you really dropped dead, don't expect us to show up for your corpse."

The staff members frowned, clearly taken aback.

They couldn't believe my own family could actually say something like that.

The staff member pleaded, "Sir, this is real. Emily really is gone. Please—"

Andrew's patience snapped, "Alright then. If you're so sure she's dead, prove it. Send me a photo."

The staff member looked at a loss.

After all, my phone was locked. He could only take incoming calls.

He was just about to explain when Andrew let out a mocking laugh, so sure he'd cracked the case. "Enough. Stop covering for her.

"Emily, you really made a spectacle of yourself out there. Just wait till you crawl home, I'll teach you a lesson."

Mom cut in, her disappointment sharp as a blade. "Emily, how did you end up like this? You've let me down completely."

Even my dad, who usually acted like I didn't exist, finally spoke up. "What's the point? She's not even our real daughter. Does it even matter whether she's alive or dead?"

Andrew's barbed curses don't even faze me.

But every word from my parents felt like a knife twisting in my heart.

My whole soul was shaking.

The pain went beyond anything in my chest.

Even my eyes started to sting with tears.

The staff in the lobby stared, shock written all over their faces.

Now, when they looked at my corpse, their eyes brimmed with sympathy and sorrow.

"Please, just calm down and let me finish." The staff member managed, struggling to keep it together.

"Emily has truly passed away. Because we don't have the password to her phone, we can't take a photo for proof.

"If none of you claim her body, the zoo will take full responsibility. We'll handle all her final arrangements."

He got through the statement, clenching his jaw to keep his temper in check.

After a brief silence, Mom's voice wavered. "How could this be? Andrew, go have a look."

Andrew wasn't as pissed off as before, but he still sounded skeptical.

"Yeah, nice try. You really thought of everything for this story, huh?

"Mom, this has Emily written all over it, just another one of her stupid pranks. No way I'm buying, she's actually dead."

"Andrew, what if this is really happening?" Mom's voice wavered, fear creeping in.

Andrew leaned in and muttered something to calm her down, his eyes cold. Then he turned to the phone, voice full of menace.

"Emily, you'd better fess up and drop the act before I get there. If I catch you screwing with us again, I swear I'll make you regret it for the rest of your miserable life."

"Just spit out the damn address," he growled.

The staff member was about to tell Andrew that I was at the zoo's rescue center.

Of course, that was when the phone decided to die.

At least, before that happened, the staff had already explained everything to Mom.

I just hope she remembers.

The staff in the lobby couldn't help feeling indignant on my behalf.

"Seriously, what's up with that family? Even if she's not their own, do they have to talk like that, so prickly and harsh?" one of them muttered.

"I guess it's just easier for them to believe it's a prank. But once they see the truth with their own eyes, who knows how much guilt and regret will hit them," another sighed.

I managed a faint, bitter smile and let my eyes slide shut, exhaustion weighing heavily on me.

As if Andrew could ever feel a shred of guilt for this.

If he saw me now, he'd probably just look satisfied, maybe even a little proud.

But I couldn't help it. A wisp of hope crept in anyway.

Maybe Andrew would actually feel a pang of sadness seeing me like this. Maybe, for once, he'd care.