Watching My Fake Sister Dig Her Own Grave Chapter 06

Watching My Fake Sister Dig Her Own Grave Chapter 06

I woke up in the hospital.

White ceiling. Smell of disinfectant.

IV in my right hand. The stumps freshly bandaged.

Mom was asleep with her head on the edge of the bed. Dad sat on the couch, phone in hand but not looking at it. Reid stood by the window, back to me.

I shifted. Mom woke instantly.

“Wren. She grabbed my hand. “You’re awake.”

Dad and Reid crowded around.

“How do you feel?’ Dad asked.

“Okay,” I said, voice hoarse. “How long was I out?”

“Ten hours,” Mom said. “The doctor said exhaustion, hypothermia, and the new injuries- She couldn’t finish.

I remembered. The pipe. The cigarette. The pain.

‘What about those men?” I asked.

‘Locked up, Reid said, voice flat. ‘All four of them.”

“And Serena.” Dad paused. “Police brought her in too.”

A beat of silence.

“What did she say?” I asked.

Mom wiped her eyes. “She said they threatened her. That they came to her and said they’d hurt the whole family if she didn’t pay.”

“Claims she didn’t think they’d actually go through with it,” Dad continued. “Said she was just trying to protect us.”

I looked at them.

‘Do you believe her?”

No one answered.

“Police have the transfer records, Reid said. “But her lawyer says that doesn’t prove she meant for anyone to get hurt. Says she was a victim of coercion.”

“Victim.”

Something cracked open in my chest.

Twelve years.

Maya’s face. The other kids’ faces.

All dead.

And Serena-the one who sent me back to those men-was calling herself a victim.

Tears came before I could stop them.

Not the quiet kind.

‘She’s not a victim!” My voice shook. ‘She hired them! She wanted me dead!”

Mom pulled me close. “Baby, I know-

“You don’t know.” I pushed her back. “None of you know.”

“They broke my legs. Destroyed my ear. Took my eye. They kept us in cages and beat us when we cried.”

My voice cracked.

“Maya got crushed by a beam trying to save me. The other kids burned to death. I promised them I’d make those people pay.”

I looked at all of them.

“Now those men are locked up. But Serena-the one who sent me back-she gets to call herself a victim?”

Reid crouched in front of me, held my hands. “Wren-”

“She paid them.” I looked at him. “On the raft. Scar Face showed me the texts. Her name, her transfer. She told them to take me and make it look like an

accident.

“We know,” Dad said quietly. “But-”

“You don’t believe me.”

“It’s not that,” Mom said quickly. “We need proof. Her lawyer is good. If it’s just the men’s word against hers, she’ll claim coercion, claim she was threatened

into it-

“I have proof,” I said.

All three of them went still.

“What proof?” Reid asked.

“Everything. Audio, video, all of it.”

“How did you-” Dad started.

“I want to give it directly to the police,” I said. “In front of her.”

Mom and Dad looked at each other.

“The doctor said you need at least three days of rest- Mom started.

‘I need to go now,” I said. “I can’t wait.”

“Wren-”

‘I made a promise.” My voice dropped. “To Maya. To all of them. They’ve been waiting long enough.”

The room went quiet.

Finally Dad nodded. “I’ll go find the doctor.”

I’ll get the car,” Reid said.

Mom squeezed my hand and didn’t let go.

An hour later, I was wheeled out of the hospital.

Prosthetics off-the wounds still needed time. Prosthetic eye out too-the socket was inflamed, a few more days before I could wear it. Gauze over my right eye. Loose clothes Mom had brought from home.

I looked worse than before.

When the cat pulled up to the station, I saw another car already in the lot.

Serena’s.

She was still inside it.

“Ready?” Reid asked.

I took a breath. “Yeah.”

He pushed the wheelchair. Mom and Dad followed.

Inside, the detective on the case was waiting. An officer looked up. “Your parents said you have new evidence?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I want to present it in person.”

“In person?”

“In front of Serena,” I said. “She has a right to know.”

The officer thought for a moment. “We can arrange that. You sure you’re up for it?”

“I’m sure.”

Ten minutes later, I was wheeled into the interrogation room.

Table. Chairs. One-way mirror.

And Serena.

She sat across from me, her lawyer beside her. When she saw me, her eyes went red.

“Wren,” her voice trembled. “I’m so sorry, I really-”

“Don’t speak,” her lawyer cut in.

The officer sat down and switched on the recorder. “Let’s begin. Wren, you said you have evidence?”

I nodded.

Serena’s eyes stayed on me. Fear there, but underneath it-hope.

She was betting I had nothing.

“Please go ahead,” the officer said.

I raised my hand and pointed to my right eye, still covered in gauze.

‘It’s here.