“Winona,” she called out, stopping her. “Don’t tell Mother and Father…”
She replied coldly, “Of course.”
“Today is Justin’s birthday and Nathan still isn’t back?” My parents, dressed elegantly, looked displeased.
“He disappears all the time, but on Justin’s birthday, too? Does he think the whole world revolves around him?”
My mother sounded impatient. “Just forget about him.”
The party began. She raised her glass high and announced proudly, “Today is my son’s birthday!”
“My son-in-law, Justin Meyer, is the only true heir of the Miller Family. The treasure of our home.”
Someone in the crowd said, “Then what about Nathan?”
Mother smiled faintly. “Him? He doesn’t even count as one of us.”
Just then, the giant LED screen behind them flickered.
It was supposed to be a 360° slideshow of Justin’s best photos, but the images suddenly vanished, replaced by a breaking news broadcast.
[A Dying Message Written in Blood Found in Snowy Mountains]
Mother was about to scold the stagehands for switching the wrong channel.
But before anyone could move, the screen filled with a swirl of white snow. Amidst the snow, a single red line of blood appeared.
[In my next life, I will never be part of the Miller family again.]
