Chapter 4
787words
I felt like I could hear the frantic beating of his heart.
But he kept digging, digging like a madman.
The phone's ringtone from my belly grew louder, that familiar nursery rhyme.
When Dad had his episodes, Mom and I would softly sing this song to calm him.
Little bugs fly, little bugs fly, who are you missing…
Dad's whole body began to tremble.
He pulled my stiff, paint-and-doll-material-encased body into a fierce embrace.
Of course, my shattered leg joints hung loose, like a doll carelessly broken by a child.
Right then, Dad's heart was convulsing.
But I couldn't feel a single ounce of warmth anymore.
Because just moments before, I'd finally stopped breathing.
I was dead.
Now, I watched him hold my body, grieving but unable to shed tears.
He seemed afraid to tear the coating from my face, but the phone in my belly kept ringing.
Finally, he gently started peeling the material from my face.
My skin came with it.
He flinched, not daring to move further.
But soon he saw it—mixed into the coating on me were scraps of the shredded doll's fabric, with a button from a family photo of the three of us.
How happy we'd looked once.
His eyes reddened. The veins on his hands stood out.
Gritting his teeth, he tore the entire patch of skin from my face.
I watched Dad, wanting to hug him…
But I couldn't. He knelt by the dirt like a statue, gently stroking my face.
Only now did I realize my face wasn't whole. The glued-shut eyelids were torn off too.
He didn't move, until someone called to him from behind.
"Sir, it seems the young lady was keeping something from you…"
"She's been in the country the whole time, never left. That's why our people at the airport never found her."
"She was afraid you'd have an episode because of her, so she never told you."
"But we discovered she's been secretly following everything about you. Even when you were… inside, she'd often visit you on the sly…"
"At the hospital, there are records of her visiting you late at night when you were admitted, bringing you soup and food."
...
The phone's sound grew fainter!
He listened to his subordinate's report.
Suddenly, with a choked cry, he vomited a spray of blood onto my face and body.
He fumbled over me in a panic.
There wasn't a single undamaged part left. I could no longer love him.
"Chloe, my Chloe!"
"Ah!"
Bloody tears streamed from Dad's eyes.
The subordinates were terrified!
"Sir, are you okay!"
"This isn't… Ah, the young lady is dea—"
Slap!The subordinate was knocked to the ground.
"Chloe's not dead! My Chloe's not dead!"
He roared wildly, "Baby Chloe, it's okay, Daddy's here, you're okay!"
"Daddy won't let anything happen to you!"
He took off his suit jacket and draped it over my corpse.
I wept in the air as I watched him,
but he moved like a corpse himself, slowly walking into the villa's main hall.
He ordered his men to lock the doors.
No one inside was to leave.
"Find out… how my Chloe was…"
My heart ached, but I was powerless.
Amber and the guests saw Dad enter and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Darling, is Chloe here?"
Dad's face was bloodless, his reply stiff. "Chloe is sleeping."
Amber: "Should we have someone look after her? Let's continue the ceremony."
My father still wouldn't let go. When she tried to remove the jacket covering me,
he glared at her with pure venom.
"Don't touch it!!"
As the man whose sneeze could shake Portsmouth, his roar silenced everyone.
The ceremony proceeded, my corpse still in his arms.
Bloodstains and mud, impossible to wipe off, smeared his face and clothes.
The whole scene was unnerving.
Some people whispered. Amber's face was also pale.
She probably understood now—this man's heart had always belonged to his daughter.
But she forced herself to act gentle.
"I told you, it's all that slut's fault for ruining our big day!"
"Should I hold Chloe? After all, I'll be her mother now!"
But Dad still showed no intention of letting go.
Only I could see his legs trembling slightly, his fists clenched white-knuckled, a vein throbbing on the back of his neck.
I used to hide, afraid Dad would lose control, hurt others or himself because of me.
Now, I wished I could just wake up!
Before long, a subordinate approached, his face grim and heavy!
He whispered something in Dad's ear.
Dad carried me out to the balcony.
He watched the surveillance footage his man pulled up.
