Ghost Me Once More And I’m Gone Chapter 05
Inside was a DNA paternity report.
The conclusion was unmistakable.
Emma Miller and Robert Miller were biologically father and daughter.
Ethan looked confused.
“Mr. Miller, why would Emma leave this for you?”
But all the color had drained from my parents’ faces.
A long time passed before Dad finally spoke, his eyes red.
“Emma… really is my daughter.”
Mom slammed her hand against the table and burst into tears.
“I told you! I told you all those years ago! You were the one who kept suspecting me!”
“I begged you to get a DNA test, but you were too afraid. And because of your suspicion, Emma suffered her whole childhood!”
Even Chloe froze.
The Ghost Game had never been only about a spoiled little girl’s childhood whim.
The deeper reason went back to a major crisis in my parents’ marriage before I was born.
One day, Dad came home from work early and saw one of Mom’s male coworkers dropping her off.
Less than two weeks later, Mom found out she was pregnant.
They had a huge fight but never truly resolved anything.
They fought, stayed together, and never spoke about it honestly again.
But the suspicion never left Dad.
For years, he had wondered whether I was really his daughter.
When he drank, the doubt turned into anger.
The entire house lived under the weight of it.
And little by little, everyone silently agreed that I was the extra one.
So when Chloe invented the Ghost Game, they indulged her.
If they pretended I didn’t exist, then all the uncomfortable questions could disappear with me.
Everyone felt better.
Everyone except me.
Dad wiped his tears and carefully folded the report.
“Come on. We’re finding Emma.”
“We have to apologize.”
“We’re the ones who owe her.”
Mom nodded at once.
“We’ll bring her home. No one will ever ignore her again.”
Ethan grabbed his car keys.
“I’m coming too.”
Only Chloe stayed where she was, clearly unhappy.
My parents and Ethan searched every nearby neighborhood.
Nothing.
“Her phone’s off. She blocked us everywhere.”
“What if something happened to her?”
All three of them went pale.
Then Ethan remembered my office.
He turned the car around.
On the way there, he missed three turns.
Because he had never bothered to learn how to get to my workplace.
Rain began hitting the windshield.
And Ethan suddenly remembered the last time it had rained this hard.
I had texted and asked him to pick me up.
He hadn’t come.
Chloe had bought too much at the mall and needed a ride.
Once again, I had been the option he chose to abandon.
At the front desk of my company, they waited while an employee made a call.
A few minutes later, she shook her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry. Emma Miller no longer works at our U.S. headquarters.”
“She has officially transferred to the London office.”
All three of them stared at her.
“London?”
A city on the other side of the Atlantic.
And I had simply left.
Mom clutched her chest.
“That far away… and she didn’t say a word to us.”
Dad steadied her.
For once, Ethan said nothing.
He only walked faster toward the exit.
“No. I have to bring her back.”
When they eventually returned home, they discovered that the tiny attic room was already empty.
All that remained were the dress Ethan had bought and the gifts that had never suited me in the first place.
Watching everyone who had once revolved around her now fall apart because of me, Chloe finally snapped.
She grabbed a glass and hurled it to the floor.
“She left, so what? Why are you all acting like the world ended?”
“This house is better without her! I hope she never comes back!”
Smack.
Dad slapped her across the face.
“Shut up! She is your sister!”
For the first time, Mom didn’t rush to comfort her either.
“We spoiled you. We let you get away with too much, and we were wrong.”
“This house belongs to Emma too.”
“If you can’t handle that, then you can move out.”
Their guilt had finally turned into anger.
Chloe held her cheek and looked at Ethan.
“You’re still on my side, right?”
Ethan stared at the candy on the table and the anniversary bracelet engraved with the wrong initials.
Something tightened in his chest.
For the first time, he realized just how long he had been ignoring Emma.
“No one should be on your side.”
“I’ve indulged you for twenty years.”
“Emma is the one who needs me now.”
Chloe laughed through her tears.
“I grew up with you too! Why do you love her and not me?”
Ethan’s face darkened.
“Love doesn’t work that way. You don’t get someone just because you want them.”
“Fine! You’re all choosing her now? Then I’m leaving!”
She stormed upstairs to pack.
For the first time, the house became frighteningly quiet.