They Pretended I Didn’t Exist for Twenty Years… So I Disappeared Chapter 05

They Pretended I Didn’t Exist for Twenty Years… So I Disappeared Chapter 05

There were only two things inside the package.

One was a copy of my police statement, bearing an official stamp.

The other was the medical record documenting my miscarriage.

Just two thin sheets of paper.

Ethan stood there reading them for almost ten minutes.

“Sir? Sir?”

The courier finally snapped him out of it.

“I was told Lily Foster was staying here. Did I come to the wrong place? I…”

“No,” Ethan said hoarsely. “You’re in the right place.”

He looked up. “Where is the woman who asked you to deliver this?”

The courier met Ethan’s bloodshot stare and visibly flinched.

“I-I don’t know.”

Then he asked nervously, “Sir, are you okay? Do you need help?”

Ethan suddenly lost his balance and collapsed to the floor.

The two sheets of paper drifted down beside him.

They weighed almost nothing, but they hit Ethan like two boulders, leaving his head ringing.

So it had all been true,

Every time I’d told him I’d been assaulted and lost the baby, I’d been telling the truth.

He couldn’t believe it.

Worse, he couldn’t believe what he’d done each time I had tried to tell him.

“Ethan? What’s wrong?”

Lily, Ryan, and Mason had just returned from shopping.

The moment the courier saw Lily, he looked relieved.

“Are you Lily Foster? Someone sent you a gift.”

Ryan spotted the documents first.

He picked them up out of curiosity.

Then his entire body went rigid.

Mason looked confused.

“What is wrong with everybody?”

He snatched the papers from Ryan’s hands.

“A gift? Don’t tell me Claire sent it. Let me see what it is.”

The instant Mason read the reports, he dropped them in shock.

Lily stared at them.

“What is it? Why are all of you acting like that?”

She already knew it couldn’t be good.

Somehow, though, a strange excitement still stirred inside her.

She bent down, picked up the reports, and froze.

The courier handed her a small note.

“The woman who asked me to deliver this said I had to make sure you got this note too.”

Then he hurried away.

There was only one sentence on the note.

[My gift to you for the Invisible Game: Ethan Hale is yours forever.]

Lily clenched the note in her fist.

She glanced at Ethan.

She suppressed her excitement and put on a concerned expression.

“How could all of this be such a coincidence? Claire’s probably pulling some kind of stunt.”

She paused. “Maybe we should ask the police.”

At the word police, Ethan looked as if he’d been thrown a lifeline.

“Right… the police.”

But the moment they arrived at the police station, the last of Ethan’s hope disappeared.

The officer kept my information private.

Still, when she heard why they had come, she couldn’t hide her anger on my behalf.

“So Claire had a boyfriend? Do you have any idea she was almost sexually assaulted twice?”

After that, Ethan barely heard what the officer was saying.

Ryan was the one who kept enough of his composure to demand, “Then where is she? Where is

my sister?”

“Your sister?”

The officer gave him a cold look.

“What kind of brother ignores his own sister like that? And what kind of boyfriend ignores his girlfriend when she’s begging for help? What right do any of you have to go looking for her

now?”

Ryan staggered backward.

Mason caught him before he fell.

Before Ryan could recover, Ethan dropped to his knees in front of the officer.

“I’m begging you… please. Please tell me where she is.”

His entire body shook.

At last, the officer sighed.

“She reported the assault immediately. But I’m sorry. At Claire’s request, I can’t tell you where

she is.”

All the strength seemed to drain out of Ethan.

He collapsed onto the floor.

Only then did Lily fully understand the message in my note.

She hid her satisfaction and turned to Ethan.

“Ethan… if Claire doesn’t want to see us, she must have her reasons.”

“Maybe we should give her time to calm down. Once she’s had time to think, she’ll… she’ll

contact us on her own.”

Ethan said nothing.

The silence in the police station stretched so long that Lily swallowed nervously.

Finally, Ethan spoke.

“You’re right. I should give her time. But before I do that, there are a few things I need to deal

with.”