Chapter 3

As she gently told Lily to rest, my mom received a call from Eddie.

"Eddie, when does your business trip end? Your sister is waiting for you to watch her match!" Before he could even respond, she rushed to ask.

The day I was brought home, Mom and Dad stayed with a sobbing Lily. Only Eddie held my hand, brought me inside, and told me not to be afraid. The only warmth I ever felt in that house came from him.

On the other end of the phone, Eddie paused in surprise. "Is it Emily’s math competition? Isn’t that next month?"

Mom cut him off angrily. "Oh my, not Emily again! Lily is the sister you've known for years! How many times do I have to tell you? Emily was raised outside and filled with bad habits. She doesn’t deserve to be part of the Lambert family."

I could hear Eddie sigh, as if he could not understand Mom’s hostility toward me. "Mom, sometimes you shouldn’t believe everything Lily says. Emily is kind and hardworking. If you paid more attention to her, you’d see that.

"I just called Emily, but she didn’t answer. She hasn’t responded to the texts I sent a few days ago either. Isn’t she home?"

Mom scoffed coldly. "She can come and go as she pleases. I’m not going to keep her on a leash, am I? She’s probably out causing trouble again. Tomorrow is Lily’s tennis match. If you can’t make it, that’s fine."

After a pause, she added harshly, "Tell Emily that if she doesn’t show up for Lily’s match tomorrow, she better not come home at all. Honestly, it’s better if she’s not here."

Eddie tried to defend me, but she coldly hung up on him.

Dad walked in just as she was fuming. Seeing her upset, he asked, "Is it the case? Is the body difficult?"

Mom shook her head and complained, "It’s not the body. It’s Emily again. She probably called Eddie to complain, and now he is playing along with her disappearing act."

Dad let out a heavy breath. "She knows we’re busy, but she’s still pulling these stunts. So irresponsible! I’ll call her and straighten this out right now."

But every time he called, it went straight to voicemail.

"Ungrateful girl. We would’ve been better off never finding her. All she does is bring trouble!"

Standing nearby, Chester overheard everything. He sighed and said, "Back when Emily was kidnapped, the two of you took a year off work to find her. Now that she’s back, it’s like she’s your enemy."

I bit my lip, bitterness filling my mouth.

The girl they brought home was not the one they had imagined. I was shy, awkward, and lacking in manners.

When I was fifteen and finally reunited with them, my parents sat in the grand living room. They were holding a sobbing Lily and comforting her with patience.

I stood there in patched-up clothes, staring down at my worn rubber shoes with a toe sticking out.

Lily stopped crying when she saw me. She pretended to be innocent and asked, "Who’s this little beggar?"

My parents’ expressions darkened. It was not because of what Lily said, but because of me. Their disappointing daughter did not meet their expectations.

"Mr. Lambert, Dr. Zimmer, I checked the records, and there haven’t been any missing persons reports filed in the last couple of days," a police officer said, approaching with the report in hand.

"Could the family not even notice their daughter’s missing? Maybe things aren’t great at home?

"Can you believe some parents wouldn’t even care about their child going missing?"

Hearing the murmurs around me, I could not help but feel a wave of sadness. It was so heavy that I could barely breathe.

My parents were worried about the victim’s family for not filing a report in time, feeling sympathy for them.

Yet they never once considered whether I was safe during the days I had been missing.

Back when I was kidnapped, they were willing to abandon their jobs to search for me. But now, they assumed my disappearance was just a ploy for attention.

Maybe I never should have returned to the Lambert family after being found.

This was Lily’s home, not mine.

The years when they cared most about me had long been taken over by Lily.

The love and affection that should have been mine would never come my way again.