Murder in the Mystery Novel Chapter 1

My sister is dead.

Torn into pieces, flushed down the drain.

The police searched for three days and only found a snippet of her pinky finger –

Still wearing the strawberry hair tie I gave her for her birthday.

No one in our family seemed sad, except for me.

Mom made me a strawberry cake, and Dad put an arm around my shoulder, whispering, “Don’t be scared, we’re here for you.”

But just a week ago, they’d twisted my hair and cursed me, calling me a “worthless freeloader,”

Saying they should have just dumped me somewhere and left me to rot.

As the funeral incense burned late into the night, my phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a timed message.

Sender: My Sister.

“Sis, I found out Mom and Dad’s secret, they’re not even—”

It poured rain at Lily’s funeral.

I stood under a black umbrella, watching the small casket slowly lowered into the earth, and couldn't stop the tears.

It felt like just days ago, Lily and I were playing games together, those moments still so vivid.

Now, she was gone, separated by life and death.

I wished so badly that this was all a terrible dream.

“My deepest condolences,” the relatives recited their platitudes mechanically, like NPCs completing a quest.

I turned to look at Mom and Dad standing next to me.

Mom wore a black suit, her makeup so perfect it looked like she was going to a gala;

Dad stared blankly at the tombstone, his eyes hollow, as if looking at an ordinary rock.

There wasn't a trace of grief on their faces.

Ding-dong, my phone buzzed. It was Lily’s timed text message.

“Sis, I found out Mom and Dad’s secret, they’re not even—”

The message cut off abruptly right there.

I felt a chill crawl over me and looked up, only to find Mom and Dad staring intently at me.

I stood frozen, afraid to move.