Frozen in Heartache

There Is a Dead Woman in Your Freezer

Sam's angry voice rang out, followed closely by Nancy's soft, soothing murmurs trying to calm him down.

'Sam, have you completely forgotten I'm stuck in the freezer? You wouldn't even bother opening it to check, would you?' I sadly thought to myself.

As if to confirm my suspicions, he suddenly spoke again. "It's probably Katerina throwing another tantrum and deliberately stuffing the freezer with spoiled meat. Don't worry. I won't hold you guys responsible this time.

"Just clean out the freezer and bring up some soup. I need to make sure Nancy is well taken care of."

Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Someone from the first floor, if you're not busy, go and locate Katerina. Make sure she isn't causing trouble outside again. She's been throwing tantrums for long enough."

I stared at the intercom broadcasting his voice, and for a moment, I felt the urge to smash it into pieces.

'Sam, if your brain is useless, why not donate it? What makes you so certain that I can escape by myself? Or in your heart, do you really think so little of me that whether I'm dead or not isn't even worth mentioning?' I mused bitterly.

I kept wandering around the villa, waiting for them to realize I was dead.

After all, I still remembered that Sam said I was to suffer alongside Nancy.

I was dead, yet Nancy was still being treated like a precious pregnant woman. How could something so unfair be happening?

No matter what, I wouldn't fade away until she was buried alongside me.

Sam was a fool. He naively believed the child in Nancy's belly to be his. Every day, he slaved away, playing the role of her doting servant, and treated her like his God. Let him keep at it. The more he cherished her now, the deeper his despair would be later.

'Sam, what will you do when you realize that the pregnancy test isn't hers, but mine? Will you still be this happy? Or will you be relieved that I'm gone?' I thought.

I was sitting idly by their bed, feeling bored while watching them act all lovey-dovey, when Sam's phone rang. To my surprise, it was my grandmother calling.

She was not too skilled with phones, so after several unanswered "hellos," Sam snapped. "Old woman, if you need something, go find your granddaughter. Why are you calling me?"

Fortunately, it seemed she didn't hear him and simply raised her voice to ask, "Sam, where's Katerina? She hasn't visited me in so long. What's she so busy with?"

My heart suddenly tightened.

"Grandma, why do you even remember me now?" I muttered to myself. "Back when I was still around, you barely recognized me."

Sam's voice was sharp with impatience. "Old hag, tell Katerina to stop acting and come back home to apologize to Nancy. Does she think I'm an idiot, sending people to pull stunts like this?"

This time, Katerina's grandmother seemed to catch his words, and her voice became frantic. "Give me back my granddaughter! What have you done to her?"

Sam hung up and then promptly blocked her number.

I felt a surge of panic. How could he block her?

After the Sawyer Family went bankrupt, my grandmother's mind began to fade, slipping in and out of confusion. The only two phone numbers she had saved were mine and Sam's.

Yet, she would never be able to reach me anymore. She only had Sam now.

How could he block her number just like that? I remembered, when we were kids, my grandmother always treated Sam kindly.

Just as Sam put down the phone, it rang again.

Without even glancing at the screen, he exploded in frustration. "Enough already! What's your problem now? Your granddaughter isn't my responsibility! Do you think I tied her up and stopped her from coming to see you?"

There was a pause on the other end before the voice of an older man sounded. "Is this Mr. Sam Whitaker? We've found a woman's body inside the freezer you disposed of a few days ago. We need your cooperation for an investigation."

Sam was shocked. "What did you just say?"

"There's a mutilated woman's body in your freezer. Were you aware of this?" the man repeated.