\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two police officers stood at the door, badges in hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could that be?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah went blank. This had to be some kind of mistake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t done anything wrong. How could I be connected to a homicide?\u201d,\u00a0<\/p>\n
The officers looked past her and scanned the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre all the kids home?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they\u2019re all in their rooms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She even went to check on Mason and Chloe to prove it. She had genuinely forgotten she had a third child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The officer pressed on, his gaze unyielding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre all your kids here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when Sarah remembered the youngest daughter she\u2019d never bothered with. A flash of panic\u00a0<\/p>\n
crossed her face, but she smoothed it over fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy youngest is staying with relatives for a few days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The officer watched her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a call. A girl was found dead there, at the abandoned construction site not far from here. Witnesses\u00a0<\/p>\n
identified her as your daughter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cImpossible!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s voice cracked, her knees buckling under her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just went to stay somewhere for a few days! How could she be dead? It can\u2019t be her! I talked to her\u00a0<\/p>\n
yesterday!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She grabbed her phone and dialed Ruby Vance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beep. Beep. Beep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence on the other end said everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPick up! Pick up!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
55.56%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah hurled her phone to the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The crash made Mason yank his door open. When he saw the police, hope flashed across his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers! She gave her away! My mom gave Lily away! You have to find her!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words hit like a punch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The police took Sarah down to the station. David showed up as soon as he heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 9:42 this morning, we got a call from a resident. Their dog wouldn\u2019t stop barking. They followed it and\u00a0<\/p>\n
found a girl\u2019s body at the bottom of an abandoned building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, it looks like an accidental fall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA witness at the scene said the girl was your daughter, Lily. We need you to come and identify the body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The officers took them to the morgue. David kept Sarah on her feet, but she wouldn\u2019t step inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficer, that can\u2019t be my daughter. She\u2019s being dramatic. She\u2019s doing this for attention! She\u2019s just jealous of\u00a0<\/p>\n
her brother and wants to scare me. She\u2019s probably off upstate somewhere right now\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah kept talking, refusing to go in. David braced himself and pulled her inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah stood still in front of the body under the white sheet. The medical examiner pulled the sheet back\u00a0<\/p>\n
without a word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My face was a mask of dried, dark blood. It was caked around my eyes and mouth, distorting my features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A guttural, animalistic scream tore from her throat. The sound filled the room as her legs gave out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
David made himself look at my face. The moment he recognized me, he staggered back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice came out raw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2026 it\u2019s my daughter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that, Sarah lurched to her feet and started pounding his chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid! You can\u2019t even recognize your own daughter? This isn\u2019t her. You\u2019ve always loved your ex-wife\u2019s kid more than ours. You probably wish you\u2019d never had Lily with me!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
David didn\u2019t know what else to do. He slapped her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s enough! Get it together!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sharp crack of flesh against flesh silenced her. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
55.56%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Mom, I don\u2019t want to be stuck in the middle anymore by Mark Twain 5 \u00a0 Chapter 5\u00a0 Two police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sweet-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}