Chapter 13 My Body Has Finally Been Found

• Let it go?
• What had Carter ever let go of?
• I was completely confused, and Luke's expression only darkened further.
• Not far away, Anna stood proudly surrounded by the Sanders family. My mother, Tara, kept showering her with praise. "Anna, you're amazing. Just a few paintings, and you made billions.
• "Unlike Chloe, that useless girl. When she was little, her teachers said she had talent, but I never saw her produce anything worth mentioning. She's not even a fraction of what you are."
• Ethan chimed in, "By the way, has anyone heard from Chloe? I can't get through to her. That girl's getting more and more irresponsible, always making the family worry."
• "I heard she went to Cloudville.
• "Dad, Mom, I told you a long time ago not to spoil her so much. She made a mess of things and just took off without saying a word. She's so selfish.
• "Dad, Mom, Ethan, don't get too mad. Maybe Chloe just wanted some time to clear her head.
• "When she comes back, you better make her apologize!
• "If you ask me, she needs a good beating to finally learn her lesson."
• Seeing Anna's fake, sweet face, I wanted to rip off that hypocritical mask of hers right then and there.
• Everyone fell for her act. Not only did they not doubt her for a second, but they hung on her every word, completely trusting her.
• I could tolerate my lover's betrayal, but I couldn't stand the cold, harsh words from my own family.
• I was Tara's daughter too—she carried me for nine months. How could she be so cruel to me?
• I had always loved painting. That one day, on Anna's birthday, Tara suddenly stormed into my studio in a rage. She poured paint all over my work and ripped the canvases apart with her own hands.
• She yelled that Anna had nearly died, and how could I, heartless and ungrateful, continue painting as if nothing had happened? She called me a cold-blooded, heartless little monster.
• It was then that I realized she had harbored resentment toward me for a long time. She thought I should've been the one to disappear, not Anna.
• This whole mess had been caused by Anna and Luke, yet they blamed me for everything without even trying to understand what had really happened.
• And now, even after I had died, they weren't in any hurry to find me. Instead, they were plotting to beat me up when I came back.
• I touched my face. Not a single tear, yet it hurt so much inside.
• At some point, heavy snow started falling again. The white flakes drifted down, just like what I had seen right before I died.
• When would they finally realize that I was already dead?
• Before long, the events at the gallery were all over the news. Both Anna and I were trending.
• ChloeExposed
• GeniusArtistTurnsOutToBeRichHeiress
• DisgustingChloe
• PricelessPaintings
• MsAnnaBeautifulAndGenerousDonates3Billion
• The public's opinion was completely one-sided.
• I stood behind Luke, watching as he scrolled through his phone. The deeper he went, the more his brows furrowed.
• Anna clung to Luke's arm and said, "Luke, I didn't expect things to blow up like this. Maybe we should have the trending posts taken down?"
• "Taken down? Why should they be?" It was Tara who spoke up.
• Her makeup was glamorous, and she wore luxurious clothes, but her words were as cold as ice.
• "The netizens aren't wrong. Chloe did take credit for work that wasn't hers, and now that the truth's come out, she deserves it. If she didn't want this, she shouldn't have done it in the first place. Everyone's praising our Anna for being beautiful and kind. Why spend money to take down a trending topic that's only helping Anna's reputation?"
• As she said this, she held Anna's hand. "Our Anna is going to be a world-renowned artist, someone whose name will go down in history."
• "Mom's right. Chloe brought this on herself. The worse she looks, the more perfect Anna will seem. Controversy only brings more attention, and more people will know about Anna. In the future, she'll be even more famous."
• Even after my death, with my body barely cold and my reputation ruined, my family still wanted to squeeze out every last bit of value I had, using me to pave the way for Anna.
• When I painted, Tara would say I was wasting time, that I was selfish for not caring about the future of the Sanders family, and that I was throwing away my life on something useless.
• But now, she was so proud, praising Anna's talent and success, even if it meant trampling over my corpse to lift her up.
• It turned out Tara never hated painting—she just loved Anna, and no matter what Anna did, it was always right in her eyes.
• I had survived the betrayal of a lover, but nothing prepared me for the pain of being backstabbed by my own family.
• Anna turned her head toward Luke. "Luke, what do you think? Should we take down the trending posts? After all, Chloe is still your wife. If she sees it in Cloudville, she might feel really hurt."
• Luke had been a little irritated before, but when he remembered that I had left for Cloudville without saying a word, a cold, dark look crossed his eyes.
• "Hurt? She brought this on herself. Leave it up. If she's embarrassed, she can come back sooner!"
• Luke spoke coldly, with not a hint of concern for me.
• After all these years growing up together, all I'd earned was nothing more than being told, "She brought it on herself."
• Both the Sanders and Boltons had the power to take the posts down, but they'd rather sacrifice my reputation for Anna's sake.
• Is this what family is supposed to be?
• I curled up in the corner, listening to their heartless remarks, watching as they laughed together, a picture-perfect family.
• In that moment, I realized I was the one who was supposed to disappear all along.
• I don't know how much time passed, but when I finally lifted my head, I noticed the scenery had changed.
• Luke and the Sanders were gone, and I found myself in a place that looked like a basement.
• It was dark and damp.
• Where was I? I had never been here before.
• I looked around and saw that I was standing in a long, dimly lit hallway. The stone walls had cracks from age, as if they'd been worn down over the years.
• The faint light from the candles flickered over me, but there was no shadow on the walls.
• There wasn't a single person around. The silence was eerie.
• At the end of the hallway, there seemed to be a stone chamber. I quickly made my way toward it.
• From a distance, I could see a stone bed. There was a woman lying on it.
• Who would be lying here, in a place like this?
• The closer I got, the faster my heart pounded.
• When my vision finally cleared, I saw her.
• She had no breath left in her body. Her chest didn't rise or fall, and her eyes were tightly shut. The woman lying there … was me.