My birthday was on the same day as the death anniversary of my mother, Sarah Mitchell.

After Sarah died, I no longer celebrated my birthday.

When I was forced to call my father, George Jensen, the murderer had a gun to my head.

"Dad, today is my eighteenth birthday. Can you come and celebrate my birthday with me?"

However, George didn't notice anything unusual, and all that came through was an angry rant filled with hatred.

"You killed your mother, but you were shameless enough to ask me to celebrate your birthday. Why weren't you the one who died?"

I heard George celebrating his adopted the coming of age for his adopted daughter a second before the phone was hung up.

Later that night, numerous body parts were found in the trunk of the police car that had been sent for examination.

George was recalled overnight.

The body parts were pieced together by the forensic doctor for two days and nights.

George stayed up all night sorting through the clues, but he didn't realize that the person who died was none other than the daughter he hated the most.

——

It was early in the morning when George arrived at the police station, and he asked for information with an anxious look on his face.

"Where was the body found? How long has she been dead?"

Looking at George's shirt with residue of the cake that he hadn't wiped off, the detective, Samuel Whitman, looked apologetic.

"We just found out that the police car was driven back in the afternoon. We contacted the man who delivered the car first, but he had long since been knocked out and thrown into the gutter, and the monitoring on the road happened to be serviced, so we had no clues at all.

"They just brought the body to the police station so blatantly, which was a great provocation to the authority of the police."

The murderer's arrogance became a thorn that stuck into everyone's heart.

George looked quite somber.

At that moment, Samuel said in a hushed voice, "I'm sorry to interrupt your birthday for Eleanor."

At the sound of my name, George's serious eyes showed strong disgust and hatred.

"Who would celebrate the birthday for a murderer? Don't mention her in front of me!"

I was floating in the air aside, feeling heartbroken to the point of numbness.

From the day Sarah died, I lost my father at the same time.

George had moved to another house and he had adopted a daughter.

She was my age.

Before my body was found, he was celebrating his adopted daughter's eighteenth birthday.

George wouldn't give me, a murderer in his eyes, any attention, but he would celebrate the birthday of his adopted daughter, to whom he was not related, on the anniversary of Sarah's death.

If George knew that I, the murderer, had ruined the birthday party he had prepared so carefully, he might hate me even more.

But there was always a glimmer of hope in my mind that George would forgive me the moment he saw me die.

Samuel froze. He tried to say something, but he was interrupted by George.

"Show me the body, and autopsy it now!"

Samuel was the best detective in the city, and he had solved countless major criminal investigation cases together with Sarah.

It had been two full days and nights since the moment Samuel had stepped through the door.

My body was finally almost completely pieced together.

The only thing missing was my right hand.

George sighed as he looked at the body that had been pieced together, and the muddled clues left him scratching his head.

There had been no progress on the case for the past two days. George's eyes were filled with fatigue as he lit a cigarette.

"The deceased may have just reached adulthood, but she was chronically malnourished with skinny bones and multiple fractures all over her body, and those wounds were all enough to be fatal. She was badly torn between her legs, so it was obvious that she had suffered inhuman abuse before her death, especially since she had many cigarette butts stuck in the crevices of her bones...

"Now the body lacked the right hand, most likely because there were clues left on the right hand from the murderer."

Hearing the forensic doctor's autopsy results, Samuel couldn't help but curse angrily, "Damn it! Bastards! Are they still regarded as human beings?"

George looked up and said feebly, "And they had been using drugs to keep the victim conscious before she died, so she was still conscious when she was injured."

All the detectives present were shocked by it, and such inhumane retaliation was close to genocide.

I felt so upset inside.

George was truly amazing.

For the past eight full hours, I had watched soberly as the murderer had left scars all over my body.

I watched as she lit a cigarette and shoved it into every crevice of my bones in order to hide her tracks.

She even used sticks to cause lacerations that confused others' sight.

I could clearly feel every piece of my skin being cut.

I thought, "Dad, Mom, it really hurts."

George, however, suddenly touched my neck in the next second.

I held my breath for a moment.

Was he going to find out?

I had never taken off the necklace that Sarah gave me when she was alive.

"There seems to be abrasions here, so the deceased was most likely strangled around the neck with a thin cord."

I smiled helplessly, remembering that my necklace had been yanked off by her a long time ago. Now there was nothing on my neck but knife marks and traces of acid corrosion.

The police officers present frowned tightly.

This should be the second tragic case in ten years.

The previous psychopathic murderer had already been killed in public ten years ago, but it took a full year for public outrage to barely subside.

I could still remember the panic caused by that murderer.

He killed hundreds of children in quick succession. At that time, for my safety, George was away on a case, and Sarah took time off work to stay at home with me all the time.

It was also the final memory of love I had of my parents.

George took the cigarette butts he had removed from the crevices of my body and handed them to Samuel, saying sternly, "Check on them to see if there's any DNA residue on them. I can't tell right now how long this has been in the victim's body and if it's been washed away by bodily fluids, but it's the only clue."

With that, he turned around and looked at the other side.

"Also, see if anyone has come to report a crime recently. If a girl from a family is reported missing, pay more attention to it.

"The deceased's blood has been sent for data comparison, but the results may take at least three days to come out."

As he finished speaking, George's cell phone rang.

"George, the birthday present I sent Eleanor was returned. Why did she refuse it? Is Eleanor with you?"

That was my aunt, Audrey Mitchell.

Audrey was the only one who cared about me after Sarah died.

Only Audrey would wish me a happy birthday every year on it.

But George immediately became impatient when he heard my name.

"Don't mention her in front of me. How could I possibly let her stay here?

"Maybe she felt ashamed to accept your gift. If it weren't for her, how could your sister have died? I can't believe you gave her a birthday present."

Audrey used to transfer money to me behind George's back all these years. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't have lived to be eighteen.

In fact, all the money Audrey transferred to me was deposited on my other bank card, and I never wanted to live on other people's charity.

In particular, Audrey got married later and had her own daughter.

I couldn't disturb her life anymore.

Hearing George's voice filled with anger, Audrey said hesitantly, "I gave it to her just once. After all, an eighteenth birthday is an important thing, and she'll be an adult and live on her own afterward, but I suddenly couldn't contact Eleanor. After all, Eleanor is my sister's own daughter."

She was interrupted by George directly and impatiently before she could finish her sentence.

"Come on, stop talking about her. I don't know where she's been fooling around, and it has nothing to do with me. The only daughter I have is Jennifer!"

Jennifer Mitchell was the name George gave her the day he adopted her.

She had the same last name as Sarah.

George said I didn't deserve to be Sarah's daughter.

He even tried to break off paternity with me several times. If Audrey hadn't stopped him, I would have been an orphan.

At this moment, Audrey sighed helplessly upon hearing this.

Audrey was reluctant and still tried to find out where I was, but she was ruthlessly stopped by George.

"Don't ask me about her, and I don't know any ungrateful person like her. It's amazing that she is so ashamed to have lived until she was eighteen years old!"

With that, George hung up indifferently and relit a cigarette for himself.

Samuel heard everything beside him and sighed, "It's been ten years since Sarah died. Eleanor was innocent, but she suffered enough when you left her outside for ten years."

As Samuel finished speaking, George's tired eyes were filled with tears.

"It's been ten years, but the way Sarah left unwillingly is still clear in my mind. There's no way I'm going to forget that until Eleanor dies in front of me. Otherwise, I'll always do nothing but hate her.

"If it weren't for her, there was no way I'd be separated from the woman I loved. Do you know how envious I felt when I walked down the street during Christmas and saw other people's families together?"

George's words made me feel heartbroken, and I also felt icy cold all over.

It had been ten years, and I cried my innocence in front of George at first.

Later, I confessed that I had killed Sarah and just asked him to look at me.

But I failed to awaken George's love for me.

I thought, "Dad, now that you've finally gotten what you wanted, and I won't even be in the world anymore.

The last trace of Mom in this world has disappeared."

The police officers in the office gradually dispersed to check for clues. George had just finished a cup of coffee when his cell phone rang again.

"Hello, this is Wendy Foster, Eleanor's class teacher. She hasn't been to school for two days, so is there something going on at home?"

Upon hearing that, George frowned again just as he relaxed.

"Didn't I tell you that? Don't ask me about her, and I'm not her father! Leave me alone and it won't even matter to me if she dies out there!"

George hissed grumpily after two days without a break.

Wendy was stunned by the curse, and all she could do was apologize and hang up the phone.

Samuel was looking through the case files when he heard George's rant and stopped what he was doing.

He looked up with tiredness in his eyes.

"Didn't Eleanor go to school for two days? She's not a naughty girl, so is she in trouble for something?"

George said indifferently, "I don't want to hear about her anymore. Samuel, will you stop talking about her? Every time I hear her name, Sarah's death comes back to me."

Samuel hesitated and didn't say another word.

There were sudden noisy voices of men outside.

"My daughter is missing. Will you help me look for her? She just applied to college, and I haven't heard from her for a whole day. My daughter is very sensible, and she never bothers me, so something must have happened to her!"

His voice echoed throughout the office, and George and Samuel looked at each other and immediately rushed out.

"Hello, when did your daughter go missing? Are there any distinguishing features on her?"

I gently floated over to them, watching the anxiety and concern fill the man's face.

The sorrow in my heart almost overwhelmed my sanity.

So this was what a father's love was like.

The man in front of us thought about it for a while and choked back a sob. "My daughter is about 5.3 feet, and she is pretty. She was outstanding and well-behaved at school, she never made me worry about anything, and she would always tell me wherever she had gone. Before she disappeared, she said she was going on a trip to relax with her classmates, but I couldn't get in touch with her anymore!"

His voice was getting lower and lower, and a middle-aged man was crying to the point of breaking down in front of us.

Samuel's eyes widened as he turned around to look at George.

I was also 5.3 feet tall, exactly the same as this man's daughter.

After a while, he hesitantly said, "We just found a girl's body."

Hearing this, the man opened his mouth wide in surprise, unable to make any sound.

His entire body instantly became powerless.

The policeman beside him helped the man to his feet, his face instantly pale.

"Can I see her?"

He was almost helped to the door of the morgue by two policemen, incapable of even standing up.

The moment he was ready to open the door, the man's cell phone rang.

His daughter's name was clearly displayed on the screen of his cell phone.

He pressed the phone several times before it was connected.

A cheerful voice of a girl came from the other side. "Dad, the plane just landed. My cell phone ran out of battery, and I was afraid you'd be worried, so now I'm charging it at the store down the road."

The man helplessly held his cell phone in an instant, looking guilty.

"I'm glad you're alright. It's nice that you're fine, and I was almost scared to death."

With that, the man finally got relieved. With the strength regained in his body, he held onto the wall and walked out towards the door.

As the man left, he turned back toward the police officers and apologized.

"I'm really sorry. My wife has passed away a long time ago, and this is the only daughter I have left. She's the only support I have left to stay alive. I'm sorry for interrupting your work, and I'll leave now."

George looked at his departing back in thought.

"People are missing frequently near the end of high school. We always want clues to the deceased, but we don't want to see the desperate eyes of parents who find their children dead."

Hearing George's words, I curled up helplessly in the corner.

I thought, "Dad, no one will be desperate.

No one would care if I had died."

Samuel frowned and said with concern, "Eleanor has been missing for so long. Why don't you call her and make sure she's okay?"

Saying this, George became impatient and frowned tightly once again.

"I was worried about these innocent and sensible children, but it would be better for her to die outside!"

George's eyes were filled with hatred for me.

His angry look turned gentle at the sight of the name displayed on his phone.

"Hello? Baby, did you miss me?"

At this moment, George had a gentle smile on his face, and his eyes were filled with kindness.

I didn't have to guess to know it was Jennifer calling.

He never showed me a smile.

At this moment, he kept caring about his adopted daughter.

"I've been working on a case lately, and it's been kind of a hassle, so I don't even have time to celebrate your birthday. Will it be okay if I make it up to you when this case is over?

"You should lock the doors and windows and eat on time when you're alone at home these days. I've already prepared your meals for the week and put them in the refrigerator before I left home, so remember to heat them up when you eat them.

"Also, you shouldn't go out these days. Now that it's a high incidence of missing girls on summer vacation, and I'm worried about it. If you really have to go out, just send me the location and license plate number of the taxi anytime, okay?"

I was just watching from the corner as George made no secret of his love for another person who was not related to him by blood.

He seemed to talk for a long time, so long that all I could see behind me was his mouth opening and closing, but I couldn't hear him.

The call was interrupted by the doorkeeper who walked in.

"George, here's a delivery for you.

"There's a bow on the outside, so it could be a small gift."

George frowned in confusion and took the delivery in his hand.

He tilted his head and put his cell phone between his ear and neck in surprise. "Jennifer, did you get me a present?

"Your health, safety and happiness are all I wish for."

He smiled as he said that and was ready to open the delivery.

My heart was beating ever faster as I looked at the box.

There were still dried blood stains on the bottom of the box.

I shuddered uncontrollably.

Jennifer, on the other side of the phone, however, said, "No, Dad, was it a present from Eleanor? I thought I saw her holding a box the other day, but she ignored me when I asked her."

Hearing Jennifer's aggrieved voice, George instantly became indifferent, each wrinkle on his face tinged with anger.

Then, George slammed the delivery right off the table and onto the floor.

"How did she dare to ignore you? Shame on her! I'll scold her now!"

With that, George immediately hung up the phone and kicked the delivery to the side of the trash can.

Samuel entered with his lunch box and placed George's lunch on his desk.

"George, what's going on?"

George looked through it before he found my number.

"It's alright. I'm going to see what Eleanor wants."

He pressed the dialing button, but there was no answer after a long time.

George's patience was wearing thin.

The phone was automatically hung up with a no answer message.

Samuel looked at George's cell phone in confusion.

"Didn't Eleanor answer the phone? No way."

George said indifferently, "I think she's really out of her mind! She didn't even answer my calls, and she still had the nerve to send me a delivery, but I don't need her fake kindness!"

When he finished speaking, he bent down and was ready to throw the delivery into the trash can.

Samuel, however, caught a glimpse of dried blood at the bottom of the box.

He immediately shouted, "Wait! There's something wrong with this delivery."

As Samuel spoke, he picked up the craft knife from the table and walked vigilantly to the trash can.

He bent down and plunged the craft knife into the black tape.

My heart almost jumped out of my throat.

I thought, "Dad, you're about to find out.

I really didn't lie to you."