Chapter 2

Twelve hours later, firefighters found me in the ruins.

I still had a faint heartbeat.

They rushed me to Hart Medical Center.

My mother had just returned from Evelyn’s engagement party. She was still wearing her evening gown when the hospital called her into the emergency room.

She was the best trauma surgeon in the hospital.

She was also the last person who ever touched me.

She did not recognize me.

My face had been destroyed by the fire, and burns covered more than ninety percent of my body.

The nurse’s eyes turned red as she cut away my burned clothes.

“She’s so young.”

My mother looked at me with pity.

“Her parents will be devastated when they find out.”

I almost wanted to laugh.

Mom, you already know.

You just do not know that I am the one lying here.

Three years ago, when I first entered the Hart estate, I had stood this close to her.

I wore a faded jacket. I was so nervous that I did not know what to do with my hands.

I thought my mother would hug me.

Evelyn cried first.

She threw herself into my mother’s arms.

“Mom, now that your biological daughter is back, are you going to stop loving me?”

My mother walked straight past me and held her tightly.

“Of course not. No matter what happens, you will always be the daughter I love most.”

No one hugged me that day.

Now my mother finally touched my forehead gently.

I could no longer feel it.

The heart monitor gave a long, sharp tone.

The nurse stopped moving.

My mother remained silent for several seconds before she spoke.

“Time of death is 9:47 a.m.”

Then she pulled a white sheet over me.

While the nurse gathered my belongings, she noticed that my right hand was tightly closed.

It took her several attempts to force my fingers open.

A burned and twisted metal badge lay in my blackened palm.

The design on the front had almost disappeared. Only part of the Hart family crest was still visible.

Ash completely covered the number and the owner’s initials on the back.

My mother gave it one look.

“Give it to the police.”

She did not recognize the badge.

She never wondered why I had held it so tightly before I died.

Outside the emergency room, my father was speaking to the police.

The abandoned clinic belonged to the Hart family.

Someone had been locked inside and killed in a fire, so he had to deal with the investigation himself.

When my mother came out, he looked at her.

“Did she make it?”

My mother shook her head.

“She didn’t survive.”

My father frowned.

“She had to die in a clinic owned by the Hart family. This will become a problem if the media finds out.”

My mother patted his shoulder.

“Don’t say that. She was only a young woman. She looked about the same age as Claire and Evelyn. It’s terrible that she died in an arson attack.”

At the mention of my name, my father took out his phone and called me again.

There was no answer.

His expression finally changed.

“Claire hasn’t been home since last night.”

My mother looked at his phone.

At that moment, Evelyn called from the hotel.

She asked a few questions about the burn victim. Then she spoke softly.

“Has Claire still not come home?”

My mother answered her.

“She hasn’t. Her phone is off too.”

Evelyn was silent for a moment.

“She may really be angry this time. You didn’t leave the engagement party last night, so she must think her plan failed. Claire once said that if no one believed her, she would hide until everyone regretted it.”

My father frowned.

“When did she say that?”

“A few days ago.”

Evelyn lowered her voice.

The tension slowly left my mother’s face.

“I knew it. She’s using her disappearance to frighten us again.”

My father still looked uncertain.

“She has never ignored us for an entire night.”

My mother’s voice turned cold.

“She failed to stop the engagement, so of course she plans to hide longer this time. Once she realizes no one is going to look for her, she’ll come home on her own.”

The call ended.

They did not contact the police.

They did not try calling me again.

They believed I was hiding somewhere, waiting for them to give in.

This time, I was not hiding.

I was lying beneath the white sheet my mother had just pulled over me.