A servant who was still cleaning up answered trembling:
“Young master, didn’t you tell us to get rid of it? You said it was too filthy…”
At this point, another servant fearfully held out a phone.
“Young master, we also found Miss Rachel’s phone in the cellar. We charged it a bit and it turns on now.”
I looked at that phone. Even though my heart had turned cold as ice, I still couldn’t help shedding silent tears.
That was the phone I had clung to in my final moments before death, desperately trying to send messages begging for help.
But there was no signal in that cellar, so of course the messages never sent to my brother’s phone.
I could only watch the red exclamation marks pile up by each unsent message as I died in despair in that cellar.
James snatched my phone.
The lock screen password was a combination of my three brothers‘ birthdays.
“That wretched girl, leaving without even taking her phone. How was she planning to get money?”
James‘ heart was clearly starting to guess at something. He spoke faster and faster.
His eyes were rimmed with red as he quickly unlocked the phone and scrolled to our chat history.
“Big brother, I was wrong. I’ll admit my mistake. Please let me out. I can’t breathe in here.”
“Big brother, please let me out. I’m suffocating. It’s so hard to breathe.”
“Big brother…”
Seeing these unsent messages, James felt his vision go dark. He collapsed to the ground.
Lily hurried over, but as soon as she touched James, he violently shoved her away.
“Get away from me!”
James‘ hoarse shout made Lily fall back in fear. After blinking a few times, tears began streaming from her eyes.
But her calculated act didn’t elicit even a shred of sympathy from James this time.
He stared at the trembling servants with bloodshot eyes and roared:
*
“The body – where did you put the body that was in here?”
The servants all shrank back. Finally one servant steeled himself to answer:
“Young master, the third young master said it was too dirty and told us to burn it!”
“We just finished burning it…”
When James heard this, he felt his vision blur. His legs went weak.
Ring ring ring…
Just then, the phone James was clutching tightly rang.
I glanced at it – it was a call from William.
As soon as James answered, William’s tearful voice came through:
<
“Rachel, thank goodness you picked up. I’m so sorry, we misunderstood you…”
James felt his head spinning.
William’s crying voice continued:
“Rachel, little sister, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Are you angry? It’s all big brother’s fault for not realizing sooner. Everything was that damned Lily framing you!”
“That day Lily deliberately gave you the allergen. I was wrong to doubt you!”
“Rachel, say something. Let big brother hear your voice. Can you forgive me?”
I stood to the side and let out a cold laugh.
William was a rising music star. I had put in a lot of effort behind the scenes for him, composing quite a few hit songs,
That very morning, Lily had given me that packet of allergen seasoning. I thought everything was finally going to get better,
Especially that day – I had written a song as a gift for William’s two–year debut anniversary.
Who could have guessed that because of Lily’s false accusations, I would be dragged into that cellar by my brothers and ultimately suffocate
to death inside.
Fortunately, I had been so excited that I told the studio members about the song in advance. So those studio members also knew about the seasoning packet Lily gave me.
But if William had gone to the studio a little earlier, couldn’t he have discovered the truth sooner?
I shook my head coldly. Affection that comes too late is worth less than grass.
At this point, James clutched his chest and staggered back several steps.
He had misjudged Rachel. It was all Lily’s own scheming.
James‘ eyes dimmed as he said with a bitter smile: “William, it’s me.”
William’s anxious and regretful voice came through the phone:
“James, give the phone to Rachel. Let me apologize to her properly first!”
James felt like his heart was being squeezed. He cried out in anguish:
“It’s Rachel’s phone. It was left behind in the cellar!”
After a long silence, William’s voice suddenly trembled as he asked:
“Rachel… then where did Rachel go…”
“James, wait for me. I’m coming home!”
Lily’s face also grew increasingly unsightly, cold sweat dampening her temples.
“Big brother, please let me explain…”
But as soon as Lily got these few words out, James viciously kicked her, sending her flying.
Then James furiously shouted: “Hold her down!”
A group of servants immediately pinned Lily to the ground.
As James leaned against the wall for support, still clutching my phone tightly in his hand, it rang again.
<
migny po nyong m
I glanced over – it was a call from Henry.
Henry was a genius painter who loved all kinds of beautiful colors.
Four days ago, I had specially found an extremely rare cinnabar pigment for him, knowing he would love it.
I never imagined I would die before Henry discovered this surprise.
James answered the call. Henry’s tone on the other end had softened a bit:
“Alright Rachel, stop being angry. You did do something wrong, but wherever you are, come back quickly. I’ll protect you.”
As Henry kept rambling on, James coldly cut in:
“Henry, that body – did you order it to be burned?”
“That was very likely our sister!”
The voice on the other end suddenly went silent.
But a moment later, Henry’s voice began to tremble:
“It can’t be… that really was…”
“No, it’s impossible. Rachel couldn’t have turned into that. How could she become that filthy thing just from being in the cellar for three days?”
“It’s absolutely impossible. I’m coming back. We’ll do a DNA test. Hair should be enough to test. That definitely couldn’t have been our sister.”
With that, he hung up.
James collapsed to his knees, sobbing in anguish. Not long after, a servant steeled himself to bring out an urn.
“Young master, these should be the young miss’s ashes.”
James still clung to one last shred of hope. He coldly corrected the servant before him, enunciating each word:
“What do you mean that’s my sister?”
“Rachel Harper, our sister, has just gone missing. She’s not dead!”
At this point, a servant stepped forward and slowly handed James a DNA report.
“Young master, as soon as the third young master said to burn it, we took the initiative to do a DNA comparison.”
“The DNA test results in this report confirm it was the young miss.”
“Young master, please accept our condolences.”
James felt like he had been struck by lightning.
He stood frozen in place for over ten minutes. Then his gaze suddenly fell on Lily, who was still being restrained by the servants.
“Bring me all of this girl’s belongings.”
“William just said this was all your false accusation against Rachel?”
Lily suddenly started struggling. “Big brother, I’m innocent! I didn’t cause big sister’s death!”
She panicked because her phone contained plenty of evidence left behind after framing me.
James quickly obtained all of Lily’s things. He rapidly went through them and unlocked Lily’s phone.
