Part 3

I followed my brother all the way home.

On the way, he bought Rochelle's favorite sunflowers and picked out Rochelle's favorite durian cake.

My brother called Rochelle several times with satisfaction, but no one answered. So, he panicked and was afraid that something might happen to Rochelle. As a result, he overtook her ten times and cut her off eight times along the way.

Since I was in the passenger seat, I could clearly sense my brother's inner panic. But then, I felt a bit disappointed that he didn’t show that expression when I didn’t answer his call some time ago.

After arriving, my brother got out of the car and ran home. His hand stopped on the door handle, shaking but not daring to use force.

"Rochelle." My brother's voice was shaking.

I had only seen that kind of panic on his face when my parents died.

Soon, the door opened with a click. Rochelle rubbed her sleepy eyes. Her eyes full of aggravation when he asked, "Brother, what took you so long? Did you forget what day it is today?"

I envy Rochelle for being able to blame her brother without restraint. Those who are loved were always fearless. Unlike me, I could only weakly pray for a birthday blessing from my brother but couldn’t get it in the end.

When my brother confirmed that Rochelle was fine, his whole body relaxed. Then, he hugged Rochelle tightly as if he had regained what he had lost while saying, "Rochelle, why didn't you answer the call? I was scared to death."

"Brother, I'm sorry, I fell asleep waiting for you."

Rochelle was full of apology, her voice choked with sobs.

My brother was most afraid of Rochelle crying, so he immediately coaxed her in a gentle voice, “Rochelle, I will never forget such an important day."

My brother pulled out an old jewelry box from his pocket like a magic trick and said happily, “Happy birthday, my lovely Rochelle."

When I saw what was in the box, I rushed to grab it like madman, but I couldn't stop my brother from taking out the jade pendant and putting it around Rochelle's neck.

That was obviously a birthday gift my mother bought me. Why gave it to Rochelle?

Since my brother missed my mother so much, I was willing to let him hold the jade pendant to send his thoughts. But, why did he give it to Rochelle in the end?

Rochelle knew the meaning of the jade pendant and refused to take it at first. But then, she caressed the jade pendant lightly with her hand, half joy and half sorrow, while saying, “Thank you, Brother. But this jade pendant is a birthday gift from my aunt to Hollie. I can't take it. If Hollie comes back and sees it…. "

Then, take it off, you bitch!

I had had enough of her fake attitude.

My brother immediately interrupted her in displeasure, “This is my mother's relic. Hollie has nothing to do with her."

His statement was really insulting to me. It was better for him to scold me than to do that.

A smug smile flashed in Rochelle's eyes, but then she pretended to care about me again and said, "Brother, does Hollie still refuse to go home? It’s been so many years. Have you contacted her lately?”

It was all thanks to you, I could float home.

Thinking of the agony of capital punishment on my body, I couldn't help but want to strangle Rochelle to death.

"What’s the point of talking about her on your birthday? It will give you bad luck."

My brother never concealed his dislike for me, but he took out his mobile anyway.

Rochelle suddenly clutched her chest in distress and said, "Brother, I…. I feel so sick."

My brother, who was just gloomy because of me, immediately put away his mobile and changed his face to one of eager concern when asking, "Rochelle, what's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"Brother, my heart hurts. I feel like I'm dying."

Hearing that, he immediately picked up Rochelle and wanted to take her to the hospital, but was rejected by Rochelle.

"Brother, don’t toss it. It is an old problem."

Anger and guilt kept changing on my brother's face. He was angry about the car accident I caused and felt guilty that I implicated Rochelle.

After all, the only one that knew Rochelle had no aftereffects at all was me, so she could be always pretending in front of everyone.

But my brother fell for her tricks and trusted her completely.

Part of me expected my brother to find out the truth soon, but another part of me feared that he would.

Part 4

The next day, my brother received a call and hurriedly made breakfast for Rochelle before leaving.

As a result, Rochelle asked him worriedly, “Brother, is there any clue on that body-shredding case?”

My brother nodded without hesitation and explained, “The murderer was very arrogant and sent a threatening letter directly.”

Rochelle exclaimed, “Isn’t this too arrogant? Brother, you must be careful when you go out.”

“You should too, Rochelle, I suspect the murderer is the same person who killed my father. If you find anything unusual recently, you must seek help immediately.”

Rochelle nodded hurriedly. Then she glanced at her mobile with a pale face and hesitantly said, “Brother, let me tell Hollie too, in case that person gets mad and hurts her….”

“Don’t worry about her. If that person wants to take action, it must be the two of us. You know, she’s just a loser and not worth dealing with.”

A loser?

It turned out I was just a loser for him.

I couldn’t help but laugh through the tears.

After that, my brother rushed to the police station. After seeing him coming, Henry handed him a drawing.

“The Technical Division has expedited identification and found that the blood belongs to one of the deceased.”

The painting was a flower painted with my blood, lifelike. If it weren’t for the unpleasant fishy smell, it would almost be a fine masterpiece.

My brother stared at the painting, completely secretive.

At the moment, the Recovery Division had the latest report, “Captain, we cleared out the bodies of two people overnight. We have made a rough guess at the moment, but one of the deceased is missing two pieces.”

After hearing that, Henry hurriedly took my brother to the studio. It stood to reason that the murderer would not dump the body alone for two separate pieces, unless those two pieces were as crucial a point in breaking the game as the skull.

My brother stared at the missing parts of the body in trance. Maybe the murderer did it intentionally, or maybe he wasn’t skilled enough in dismemberment, since the red birthmark on the bottom of my foot left a little edge.

The corpse had taken on a giant view and the birthmark was somewhat distorted, only vaguely visible as the red birthmarks that should be there.

The other missing piece was my wrist.

When I was a kid, I fell off a tree and got a cross scar on my hand.

If these two pieces were complete, I believed my brother would be able to immediately identify the deceased without the need for a skull or DNA.

My brother turned his eyes away forcefully and continued to stare at the Red Spider Lily in his hand.

His eyes were dim and his voice was hoarse when asking, “Captain, can I access my mother’s car accident case from back in the day?”

The scene of the car accident that killed my mother and my aunt so tragically also had a character that just scribbled ‘Red Spider Lily.’ However, in the end, the case was checked out and closed as an accident.

At the time, the appearance of the Red Spider Lily flower had attracted great attention from my brother and Captain Henry.

Even if one was a painting and the other was a character, which seemed unrelated, Henry believed in my brother’s intuition about the case.

My brother flipped through the case file, compared the two pictures, then exclaimed, “No way… I must have guessed wrong.”

Henry didn’t understand what he meant by this, so he asked, “Zachary, have you made an inference?”

My brother immediately shook his head and explained, “It could just be a coincidence, or Hollie couldn’t have survived back then.”

Henry knew that my brother would get easily agitated when he mentioned me, so he tentatively asked him, “Have you been in contact with Hollie recently? It’s best to remind her about this.”

My brother looked up in displeasure and stated, “Captain Henry, didn’t I tell you? She has nothing to do with me.”

Henry immediately pursued a question, “In other words, she has never contacted you since that day?”

My brother became more and more puzzled.

“I’m sick of her. Why do you keep asking about her?”

I laughed bitterly on the sidelines. Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about me bothering you anymore, brother.

“Captain, experts from the province’s Major Crimes Unit are here and asking to see Mr. Fuentes.”

The female police officer ran in to report, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

“Looking for me?”

“Yes, he specifically asked for Mr. Fuentes.”

Henry glanced at my brother with a frown on his face before ordering him, “Zachary, hurry up, come and see them. I’ll let you know if there’s any new progress about the case.”

In the reception room, the team leader, Eugene Johns, asked him with a serious look on his face, “Mr. Fuentes, have you contacted your sister recently?”

My brother was puzzled when she heard about it, so he couldn’t help asking, “We had breakfast together this morning. What are you….”

“It’s not your cousin, it’s your biological sister, Hollie Fuentez.”

My brother immediately showed disdain and said angrily, “Did she cause trouble outside again? Seeing how anxious you are, did she kill someone?”