“……what?”
“Noah is missing, he went out to work five months ago and no one has seen him since he got home, I think he’s been kidnapped, Miss White. Please help me!”
“…What….”
Is she lying backwards to hide Noah?
If so, the look on Julia Esperd’s face was devastating; she crawled over to me on her knees and dared to take my hand.
I sharply slapped her hand away, disgusted by her behaviour. The touch of Julia Esperd’s flesh was horrible.
I didn’t take my eyes off her, though, to see if she was trying to confuse me.
“Noah Esperd, where are you hiding him?”
“I didn’t hide him. Please find him. I’ve looked everywhere and he’s not showing up. He’s not running away from home……. It’s no use going to the police, they say he’s not a minor, just a simple runaway…….”
Julia Esperd started to put her words together in a reasonably logical manner, but my anger drowned out by her words.
I was getting angrier and angrier. My mood sank, and at the same time, hatred bubbled beneath the surface.
It didn’t matter if her words were true or false. All that mattered to me was that she was begging me.
“Bullshit.”
To me, she doesn’t deserve this, how dare she, how low does she think I am, how low does she think her morals are, to say this.
How can she ask me to find him when I’m living with heart disease for the rest of my life because of her?
“You can call me a bitch.”
She looks up, her blue eyes flashing.
“If you have Kravitz’s power, you’ll find Noah, and I’m begging you, he must have been kidnapped.”
“What do they gain by kidnapping a nobody?”
“The law says Noah is Mr White’s illegitimate son.”
” The law of the land does not recognise illegitimacy.”
“He’s Mr White’s son-”
“Enough!”
I gritted my teeth. As I growled with rage, I was about to have an abnormal breathing episode.
But I didn’t want to look as sick as I felt in front of Julia Esford, so I held back my anger until my palms turned white.
It’s disgusting. The mother mocked me and the son murdered me.
I grabbed her by the throat, lifted her up, and shoved her against the wall. Julia Esford’s face hit the wall with a thud, tears streaming down her face. She could barely speak.
“I’m sorry……. But Noah is Mr White’s son.”
My heart sank.
“……ha.”
The weight drained from her shoulders. This was a woman for whom being angry was pointless.
Thump. Thud.
A harsh knocking sounded outside. When she didn’t answer, a concerned Scott called for her.
With a shaky breath, she released her grip on the woman’s throat. My eyes dancing with anxiety, I reached for the doorknob.
But before I could pull, the door swung open. My eyes were blinded by the blurry backlight. I squinted and called to Scott.
“Let’s go. I don’t know what you expected. I’m disappointed in you.”
I grabbed Scott’s hand and we walked. It’s a long way to the carriage, and he picks me up, unable to look at me as I shake with weakness.
“Noah Esford is missing.”
“He must be runaway. There’s no hope for him in this house. He’s got nothing but debt and sickness from his failed business, and if he’s ambitious, he’s run away.”
“You said he had unusually high grades in elementary school?”
Among the information Scott gave me was Noah Esford’s school report card. It said he was bright and eager to learn. He was eager to learn.
“At least I know he and I aren’t brother and sister.”
I hate studying.
Scott frowned slightly at the next statement. I tried to break the ice, but it didn’t work.
“Scott. our biological father may be there. If he’s a prominent figure, hiding might be possible.”
“At least not a high-profile one, because Kravitz is digging for information at every turn, and what do you want to do when you find him?”
“……Wait a minute. I forgot to give her a meds.”
“Drugs?”
“she have to stay alive until my mission is completed.”
Like Isaac, who bled to death in front of me, Julia must bleed to death in front of Noah Esford.
I was reluctant to go there myself, but I wanted to hand her the pills and warn her.
“we had only come about a hundred meters from Julia Ashford’s house when I left Scott behind and headed back to her house.”
I’m the one who’s going to destroy your life, just as you’ve destroyed other people’s homes on your own terms.
“Noah, be careful.”
My hand stopped on the doorknob at the sound of a woman’s voice from inside. I reflexively stifled a gasp.
“They’re looking for you.”
“They are?”
The low voice belonged to a man. The man’s voice was younger and healthier than Julia Esperd’s.
A sense of shame overwhelmed me at having been deceived.
“Noah, don’t come here anymore. They don’t know where you are, and I think the change of identity worked.”
“Did they come and do something to you? Are you okay?”
“Nothing happened. I’m just glad you came round while I was next door for a while…….”
“Who came? Was it the first of the White family?”
“It was ……employee. Nothing really happened, so don’t mind him.”
who is she hiding from me?
“Mother.”
My mouth drops open at the sound of a man’s voice, Noah Esford’s.
I wanted to call Scott right now, to capture Noah Esper, to make Julia scream. My stomach twisted, and I felt a dull ache in the pit of my stomach.
“Hold on. This is not the time.
At the most appropriate time, I will erase those hats as if they never existed in this world, and they will taste hell on earth before they die.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better. Don’t worry. You’re thinner than before. Is your work hard?”
“It’s probably because I’m still growing taller, but the work is worth it.”
My heart thudded in my chest at the sound of his words. My breath caught in my throat from the tension in my stomach.
“You’ll do well on your entrance exams and-”
Their voices cut off. I knew they were aware of this because I had often shared secret words with them.
I broke down and stood right in front of the door. Soon the door opened and the woman appeared.
“I see you haven’t gone to …… yet.”
Upon recognising me, Julia Esford instantly paled. I noticed that her eyes were trembling unsteadily. And the slightest nibble of her dry lips with her teeth.
The man who killed me is just a few steps away. I forced my hands to stop shaking and pretended to be okay.
“I forgot something.”
I pulled a small pill packet from my arm and tossed it to her.
“It’s medicine. We should see each other again.”
I should have been looking around in there, but instead I felt my body shrink and my gaze drop to the floor.
I remember the sensation of being stabbed five times. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to forget the horrible sensation.
“……Miss White?”
My eyes widened and I glared at the woman who had committed the unspeakable sin. I pressed my lips tightly together, emphasising each word.
“Please, don’t die.”
Because a dying hell is not for you.
* * *
“I’m thinking about getting into Iodes.”
In the evening, my family had different reactions to my earlier statement.
Susan was concerned, saying it was too much for my health, while Scott, who’d asked for the information, laughed heartily. My step-sister Amanda said no way, and Aaron said…….
“Haha, you wanted to go to school, I’ll just give you one of my properties and you can think about getting in.”
He didn’t forget to mention that he was the richest of the siblings. If the other siblings were present, their reactions would have been similar.
“Is my aunt going to school, too? With me?”
“Isaac. She’s going to a different school, and when she goes there, she won’t be able to play with Isaac as much anymore, okay?”
“I’ll be there.”
Isaac will be twenty years old and a grandfather, but he will always be a small, precious child to me.
“Even as my throat was cut and blood was flowing, the child’s reassurance, saying it was okay, came to mind, and tears welled up.”
“Oh, my God, Carly. Not being able to go to school is nothing to cry about.”
I was a screamer when I was angry, but I rarely cried, so Susan came over to me in a panic.
Since I was on the verge of tears, I decided to give it a try.
“I’m over eighteen. I want to go to school at least once. Just for one semester. Why do you think I’m creating the Scarlet White Foundation? It’s my way of trying to find some satisfaction since I can’t go to school.”
“Hmm.”
Aaron groaned, then asked cautiously.
“Iodes is a top one per cent school. How do you get in?”
“There’s donor admissions.”
“In fact, all the administrative preparations are already done, and it was decided that I would enroll at Iodes. Now, telling my family is just an announcement. It was so difficult to quietly prepare for this without Scott knowing.”
“It’s just one semester, and then I’m out.”
One semester is enough time to kill Noah Esford.
“It’s not something to be taken lightly. It could get John booked by the council.”
“It’s no light matter for me either. It’s something I want to do before I die.”
“Carly!”
Scott sensibly covered Isaac’s ears. I spoke dryly.
“No one knows when or how my health will deteriorate. Even a minor illness could be fatal for me.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t go to more crowded places.”
“But there’s no point in staying at home. There’s no value in a life of survival.”
Amanda patted Susan on the back. Scott’s face clouded over. Aaron crossed his arms and looked serious, and Susan looked like she might cry at any moment. Only Isaac smiled faintly.
“That’s great! You’ve always been bored of being stuck at home! If you go to school, you’ll get to play ball and sneak snacks with your friends just like me, right? I say yes!”
“Okay. Apple pie. Auntie has lots of things to do when she goes to school, and she’ll only do things that are more fun than you.”
Eventually, two days later, the whole family agreed.
Things moved quickly. I would stay at a nearby cottage for the three days I had classes and spend Fridays and weekends with my family.
* * *
When I arrived in Iodes, my assigned helper student was waiting for me.
In exchange for a special scholarship, a student in the same grade would help a student with a disability like mine throughout the day.
My helper looked a little nervous, and his healthy-looking skin was tanned and white.
She must have been waiting outside for a long time because I didn’t show up for the entrance ceremony. It didn’t matter. I’d intended it.
“You’re…… Scarlett White.”
The low voice from Julia Esford’s house rang in my ears. Despite his expression, there was nothing nervous about his voice.
I was the one who was nervous. If I hadn’t taken a nervous tranquiliser beforehand, I would have collapsed from shortness of breath.
Noah Esford had disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared, not to restore his identity, but to take on a new one.
The identity of a ghost, his own age, long dead but alive on paper.
And his name was.
“Theo Grisham.”
The moment I met Noah Esford’s piercing blue eyes, I realised in my freezing heart.
Killing him would not be enough.
It was time to think of a more terrible revenge.
