Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Daniel smiled and nodded, promising to do just that.
To keep Victoria happy, no one at the Thanksgiving table mentioned my disappearance.
Suddenly, a loud, insistent knocking came from the front door.
Daniel’s dull eyes instantly brightened. He bolted to the door to open it.
He was sure it was me. He thought I’d heard about Victoria’s pregnancy, finally come to my senses, and returned to celebrate with everyone.
But when the door swung open, the person standing there was not who he expected.
It was my best friend, Sarah Johnson.
Sarah stood with her arms crossed, her sharp gaze sweeping over Daniel from head to toe. “Where’s Emily?” she asked bluntly.
Sarah and I had been friends since elementary school. She’d had a tough childhood. After her mom divorced and remarried, she was left with her alcoholic father.
That upbringing had forged her into someone tough as nails—blunt and fiery. But with me, she was always gentle. No matter what happened, she was the first to stand in front of me.
“She’s not here. Look for her somewhere else,” Victoria said, peeking out from behind Daniel as she tried to shut the door.
But Sarah was faster. She blocked the door with her hand, shoved it open, and stormed inside, yelling, “Em? Are you home?”
“Get out of my house! That idiot isn’t here!” Victoria shrieked, lunging at Sarah to push her out.
The two immediately started grappling, and the scene descended into chaos.
“Sarah, calm down! Emily isn’t home!” Daniel yelled, trying to push Sarah away while shielding Victoria.
Seeing Daniel still protecting Victoria, Sarah’s anger exploded.
She swung her hand back and delivered a resounding slap across Daniel’s face.
The blow was so forceful it snapped his head to the side, a bright red handprint instantly blooming on his cheek.
“Daniel, have you no shame? You dump Emily at your engagement party and immediately get with her sister. Emily loved you with all her heart, and this is how you treat her!”
“You and Victoria are a disgusting pair! And you two,” she snarled, turning to my parents, “with your blatant favoritism! I hope you all get what you deserve!”
Sarah was trembling with rage. “If anything happens to Emily, I swear, I will put every single one of you in jail!”
Everyone in the room was stunned into silence by her righteous fury.
No one dared to stop her. They could only watch as she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
That night, it took Daniel a long time to calm a shaken Victoria down and get her to sleep. He sat in the living room with my parents.
He couldn’t shake his unease. “Mom, Dad,” he began, “Emily’s been gone for so long. Do you think something might have actually happened to her?”
My parents just bowed their heads, silent.
They knew how unfair this was to me. But what was done was done. All they could do was hope I would come back soon so they could find a way to make it up to me later.
They had no idea that I no longer needed any form of compensation.
My body was already decomposing in that small cabin in Oregon, waiting to be discovered by a local hunter.
The next morning, Daniel got a call from the police.
“Hello, is this a relative of Emily Carter? Her body was discovered a month ago in a cabin in Oregon. We need you to come to the station to identify her.”
