Chapter 7
Mom and Dad didn’t even glance at him they just kept walking toward the door. Only when they reached it did Dad ask Mrs. Miller to keep an eye on the kids.
Mrs. Miller agreed, of course.
But she knew damn well that Jake was a total nightmare in this house.
Mrs. Miller was actually the one who taught me that word “nightmare.”
Out of everyone I knew, Mrs. Miller was the only one who loved me.
I floated over to her, looking up:
“Mrs. Miller, good people live to be a hundred. You’re gonna make it to a hundred for sure.”
I wanted to tell Mrs. Miller more stuff.
But somehow, in the blink of an eye, I was suddenly back with Mom and Dad.
Probably because I’m their daughter, I guess.
They drove like maniacs to the hospital.
Pretty quickly, they spotted the cops waiting outside the morgue.
After confirming their identities, the officers led them inside to see my tiny body wrapped in that black bag.
Mom instantly broke down sobbing.
heard her calling out “Emma” and “baby” and “my sweet girl.”
tilted my head, confused.
How weird.
When I was alive, she didn’t love me. But now that I’m dead, suddenly she does?
Dad swayed like he might pass out.
The officer’s voice cut through, all business:
We have surveillance footage showing you abandoned the victim on the highway, which directly led to her being struck by the semi.”
We need both of you to come with us for questioning.”
Mom and Dad exchanged a look, then got hauled off to the police station.
They separated them for interrogation.
realized I could pop up next to either of them whenever I wanted.
I thought about it seriously, then decided to stay with Mom first. Compared to Dad who only cared about Jake, I still liked Mom a tiny bit more.
Even though getting close to Mom always meant Madison would beat the crap out of me.
“What happened in the car? Why did you abandon Emma on the highway? Was this intentional?”
The cop frowned, his voice stern.
Mom was sitting there like a zombie, but when she heard that, her head snapped up.
“No! It wasn’t like that!”
“I can’t really remember… We were all screaming at each other. It was so damn loud.”
yelling at him too.”
“But what does that have to do with Emma? Why did you take it out on a five-year old?”
Mom didn’t hesitate: “How is it not her fault? She’s the one who wouldn’t shut up about going to Universalt”
“According to our investigation, this trip was planned way in advance.”
The officer slid a stack of photos across the table.
“Your daughter posted about it on social media weeks ago.”
The photos showed screenshots from Instagram.
It was Madison’s post:
Birthday wish came true! Mom and Dad are finally taking me to Universal! Would be even better if we could leave the little brat at home lol]
This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment trip. Stop trying to blame other people.”
he cop’s expression turned ice cold:
And because of your abandonment, Emma is dead. You’re looking at serious criminal charges.”
Tom’s face went even whiter.
I didn’t know… I really didn’t know…”
he shook her head, her voice barely a whisper: “Emma was never as good as Jake and Madison. She lied all the time, stole money.”
I just couldn’t handle her anymore. But sometimes she’d be so quiet, like she wasn’t even there, so…”
