Their Perfect Lie, My Unseen Truth

Tentu, saya akan menambahkan POV (Point of View) ke setiap bab sesuai dengan permintaan Anda, tanpa mengubah format atau konten lainnya. My parents stood over my unrecognizable body in the marsh, complaining that I hadn't returned their calls. To my father, the lead detective, and my mother, the Chief Medical Examiner, I was just another "Jane Doe" who made bad life choices. While I watched as a ghost, my mother scoffed at the silver bracelet on my wrist-the one I made for her-calling it "tacky street trash." They spent the morning dissecting my injuries, all while praising my adopted sister, Hope, and grumbling about how I was "acting out" by missing her violin recital. They called me irresponsible and ungrateful, unaware that I had been kidnapped and murdered as revenge for one of my father's old cases. I screamed silently as they dismissed my death as the result of a "rebellious lifestyle." The insults only stopped when they found the waterproof capsule in my stomach. My father' s hands trembled as he read the note inside: "An eye for an eye, Detective Hood." Then, my mother saw the scar on my flank-the unmistakable mark of the kidney donation I had given to their perfect daughter.

Chapters

Chapter 2

Fawn POV

The chill of their indifference seeped into my very essence. I was a ghost, unable to feel the cold marsh water, yet their words, their dismissive glances, they cut deeper than any physical sensation. I was here, right in front of them, and for them, I was nobody. Just another Jane Doe.

Erasmo, his eyes narrowed in concentration, turned to his wife. "Deb, what are we looking at here? Initial findings?"

Deborah gestured towards my body with a gloved hand, her voice a low, clinical drone. "Blunt force trauma to the head, extensive. Multiple stab wounds, post-mortem mutilation to obscure identity. Body was dumped here, not killed here. Rigor mortis is fairly advanced, but the water temperature complicates an exact timeline."

She didn't miss a beat. She described the horrors inflicted upon me as if she were reading from a textbook, her voice flat, devoid of emotion. I was a specimen, a case study.

"This is professional work, Erasmo," she continued, her gaze sweeping over me once more. "Or someone trying to make it look professional. They wanted her unrecognizable, wanted to make sure she couldn't be easily traced."

Erasmo nodded, his jaw tight. He pulled out a cigarette, his movements jerky, a rare sign of agitation. He lit it, the flame a brief, defiant spark against the creeping dawn. He inhaled deeply, the smoke a grey plume against the pale sky.

Your daughter is dead, I thought, my voice a silent scream in the vast emptiness around them. And you're worried about the case. About the professional challenge.

"Detective Hood," a younger officer said, stepping forward cautiously, "smoking is prohibited within the crime scene perimeter."

Erasmo glared at him, a silent command to back off. The officer stammered an apology and retreated.

"This victim... does she look familiar to either of you?" the officer asked, hoping to appeal to their human side.

Deborah scoffed. "Hardly. Most young women with tattoos and dyed hair tend to blend together in this city. She looks like all the others who frequent those underground clubs, the ones who think rebellion is a fashion statement."

Erasmo exhaled a stream of smoke. "Rebellious, ungrateful. Always running off, getting into trouble. Probably another one who ghosted her family because she couldn't handle responsibility."

Sergeant Miller, Erasmo's long-time partner, stepped in. His face was etched with concern. "Erasmo, maybe you should take a break. You look exhausted. It's been a long week, and this… this is a rough one."

Erasmo waved him off. "I'm fine. Just... sick of seeing these tragedies. Kids these days, no respect for anything. My Fawn, for instance. Always chasing after some fleeting artistic dream, ignoring her responsibilities."

He paused, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. He coughed, a dry, hacking sound. "She used to bring me coffee, you know. When I worked late. Strong, black, just how I liked it." He trailed off, his gaze fixed on the muddy ground.

You remember that? I gasped, a surge of something akin to hope, then a fresh wave of despair. You remember the coffee, but not the child who made it for you.

Sergeant Miller gently put a hand on Erasmo's shoulder. "Erasmo, Fawn is different. She's got a good heart, just... a bit lost sometimes. You know how these young artists are."

"Lost?" Deborah sneered, pushing a stray hair from her face. "She's deliberately choosing to be difficult. Missing Hope's recital. Again. The biggest night of Hope's life, and Fawn decided to vanish. Just like she always does when someone else needs the spotlight."

"Honestly, Erasmo," Deborah continued, her voice rising slightly in exasperation, "I don't know why you even bother with that child. She never appreciates anything. Hope, on the other hand, she' s grateful, she' s talented, she' s everything we hoped for."

My non-existent heart twisted. That was it. My place in their world. The shadow, the disappointment, the one who couldn't measure up to the golden child.

"She knew how important that recital was," Erasmo chimed in, his voice hardening. "She knew. But no, Fawn always has to make a statement. Always has to be the problem."

I wasn't making a statement, I screamed, a silent echo in the marsh. I was trying to call you. I was trying to tell you I was in trouble. But you ignored every call, every text, because you thought I was acting out again.

The chilling truth was, I wasn't just missing Hope's recital. I was already gone. When Hope was bowing to thunderous applause, accepting flowers and accolades, I was already cold, already broken.

My body, lying right there, disfigured and unrecognizable, was the silent testament to their neglect. They were complaining about my absence, about my "ghosting" the family, while the very ghost they were speaking of lay at their feet. The irony was a suffocating blanket, heavy and final.

Continue to next part

Naomi Ray would do anything to prevent her mother from dying in the hospital even though it involves stealing A fifty million dollars worth cufflinks from her best friend boss. What happens when this man turn out to be someone more dangerous than she thought. Enzo Vitale is a ruthless billionaire boss, who doesn't show mercy and he is the talk of the town. Everyone says he is dangerous, and had never seen him up close before. Until Naomi Ray made the most terrible mistake stealing from him.

Action Billionaire Modern

9.3

Ex - Husband's Late Redemption

9.3

After the divorce, I took my bruised and exhausted self to a charming little town in the south. I assumed a new identity, got a different phone, and cut all connections with my frenetic life in London. Everyone thought I had died in that notorious crisis that rocked the military world. For three years, white lilies appeared on my grave without fail. Then, one day, the glass door of my café swung open, and in walked someone I knew. Stunned, he asked why I hadn't returned if I was still alive. Didn't I know that Graham Ortiz had been consumed with guilt over me, nearly ending his own life? Graham Ortiz, my ex-husband, was a military man who had a rivalry spanning more than twenty years with a fellow soldier. They had vowed never to marry, battling each other until old age. But Graham fell in love with me the moment he saw me, pursued me tirelessly, and eventually, I became his wife.

Action Modern Romance

9.1

FRACTURED Goodness

9.1

Amélie Rousseau grows up believing that honesty, hard work, and faith will save her from poverty. Paris proves her wrong. Despite her brilliance, every door stays closed-until the day Clara Duval, the woman Amélie once helped, steals her future through lies, favors, and corruption. When Amélie dares to speak up, the system silences her and laughs. That is when Monsieur Lefèvre offers her a way out. Under his guidance, Amélie learns the true language of power-deception, loyalty, and sacrifice. One lie leads to another, and soon she rises in the same world that once rejected her. But Julien Moreau, the man who loves the girl she used to be, watches her change. At the height of her success, Amélie must choose: destroy Julien to protect her empire, or expose the corruption and lose everything. Because in Paris, goodness is not free- and survival always demands a price.

Action Adventure LitRPG

7.2

Give Me Your Life, My Beloved Wife

7.2

She is a cunning princess. She accidentally binds the wrong person, causing the devil to come. He is a ruthless business leader. A contract imprisons her, and a game called revenge begins. He hated her, but he refused to kill her... Love is a poison. Although it was highly toxic, Alice still looked up and drank it. Her life has three memories. They only cry for that man and laugh for that man.

Action Modern Romance

7.3

He Chose The Nanny, I Chose Revenge

7.3

Clara came home from a fourteen-hour board meeting to the sound of a piercing scream in the playroom. When she rushed in, she found her husband, Chadwick, kneeling on the floor in a panic. But he wasn't looking at their five-year-old son, Leo, who had a massive bleeding welt on his forehead. Instead, Chadwick was trembling as he held the nanny's daughter, Autumn, who barely had a microscopic scratch. "She needs ice. And antibacterial ointment," Chadwick snapped, carrying the nanny's daughter away and leaving his bleeding son behind. From that moment, the nightmare only escalated. Chadwick ordered Clara to cook a three-hour meal for the nanny's kid, threw away Leo's favorite toys because Autumn sneezed, and even secretly took the nanny and her daughter on Leo's promised Disney trip. The final humiliation came at the Met Gala. Right before their sponsor speech, Chadwick received a frantic call from the nanny claiming Autumn was having a panic attack. He abandoned Clara in front of hundreds of flashing cameras, sprinting out of the ballroom. Clara stood completely alone, the humiliation eating through her veins like acid. She couldn't understand how a father could call the nanny's kid his "little princess" while watching his own son cry. Why was he treating his own flesh and blood like garbage just to play savior to another woman's child? Suddenly, the blinding camera flashes were blocked by a massive shadow. Erasmo Chase, the heir to New York's largest financial dynasty, stepped out of the darkness and shielded her. "A man like that is unworthy of your grief, Ms. Best," he whispered, pressing a silk handkerchief into her trembling hand. Looking at the sharp profile of the powerful man beside her, Clara's shock hardened into a lethal, cold fury. She was going to dump her family's shares, crash the board, and make Chadwick lose absolutely everything.

Action Modern Mystery

7.1

Her Vicious Art, His Dark Obsession

7.1

For ten years, my family kept me locked away, forcing me to play the part of a broken, mentally unstable girl. They controlled me with sedatives and treated me like a ghost in my own home, a prisoner in a gilded cage. But I had a secret. I was a world-famous anonymous artist with a hidden fortune, and I had an escape plan. On the day of my cousin's wedding, my rebellion was accidentally witnessed by a dangerous stranger who saw the predator beneath my fragile mask. To silence him, I dragged him into a dark closet. The encounter turned raw and reckless, a violent collision I used as the perfect cover for my escape. I vanished with a new name and a one-way ticket to a new life, leaving him with nothing but a bloodstain and the bitter taste of betrayal. I thought I was free, that I had successfully buried the girl I was forced to be and the man I was forced to use. Three months later, on a superyacht in Monaco, he found me. He wasn't just some wealthy guest; he was the ruthless head of a powerful crime syndicate, and I was trapped in his private penthouse. He locked the door, his eyes black with possessive rage. "The game is over," he whispered. "This time, you're not running."

Action Billionaire Mystery

Their Perfect Lie, My Unseen Truth

Chapter 2

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