I was brutally tortured and murdered. My mother was the sole witness. However, severely traumatized, she lost all memory of the killer's face. Everyone comforted her. "It's okay, take your time. You'll remember eventually." But ten years passed. She never remembered. On the tenth anniversary of my death, the police came knocking once more to press her for answers. My mother merely leaned down, kissed my nine-year-old sister, and spoke with total tranquility. "Let me forget those painful memories forever." "After all, I already have a new daughter now." 1 In the tenth year of my death, the officer was still patiently trying to persuade my mother. "Please, think about it again." "If you could just remember the suspect's face, we could actually close this case." "Chloe was your daughter. Don't you want to see her get justice?" My mother's face remained entirely impassive. She slowly looked up, her tone wooden. "It's clearly your own incompetence as investigators." "You haven't caught the killer in ten years, and now you say if you catch him, it's a done deal?" A flicker of awkwardness crossed the officer's face, but he remained remarkably patient. "I completely understand how you feel. It was a terrible tragedy that befell Chloe that day, and you suffered a severe shock as well." "However, there were no security cameras on that street, and the emergency responders inadvertently destroyed some of the evidence while trying to save her." "You are the only eyewitness left." "If you can recall any detail, even the smallest, most insignificant thing, it could be the key to finding the killer." As the officer spoke, I floated behind him, nodding furiously. "Yes, Mom! Please, just try to remember what happened that night." "I've been stuck in this house for ten years. I really, really want to know." Finally, a flicker of hesitation appeared in my mother's eyes. Her voice choked up. "I've told you already, I can't remember." "Just starting to think about that day makes my heart race and I can't breathe." "If I push it, I'll pass out." "It's just... it's too painful." As she spoke, tears rolled silently down her face. It was as if she were experiencing that suffocating terror all over again. Watching her tremble... I instantly calmed down. It's true. I shouldn't force her. Over the years, my mother had tried so hard to remember that face hidden in the shadows. She returned to that alleyway time and again, standing right where I fell, trying to trigger her memory. She saw countless psychiatrists and hypnotherapists, only to wake from hypnosis screaming and crying. She had pushed herself to the brink with self-destructive methods. She had knelt before the altar at the church, praying until she was physically exhausted. Honestly, I hated seeing her suffer like that. I floated right in front of her, trying desperately to touch her face. I wanted to tell her to stop trying to remember. Even if they never caught the killer, it was okay. But my hands simply passed right through her cheeks, again and again. I couldn't comfort her. I could only watch helplessly as she said: "I'm sorry." "I really want to help. I want Chloe to rest in peace. But I just can't put myself through that again." 2 Honestly, being a ghost all these years, I've lost a lot of my emotional capacity. But in that moment, I truly, desperately wished that whoever killed me would get what was coming to them. But what could I do? I couldn't do a thing. I was just a wandering soul, drifting through the mortal realm. Thankfully, my dad was there. My dad has a gentle nature and completely dotes on my mom. I've never seen them argue, not once. He is her strongest pillar, her rock. Right now, he quickly stepped in to support her. Turning to the officers, his tone hardened. "My wife already said she doesn't want to cooperate anymore." "Please leave." The two officers exchanged a look. The older one managed a few diplomatic words. "It's alright. It's not your fault you can't remember. It's a completely normal trauma response." But the younger one couldn't hide his frustration. He muttered under his breath: "She's just giving up on her own kid?" "What kind of parent does that?" The two officers left their business cards on the table and walked out. The moment the door clicked shut, my dad swept the cards into the trash can. My mother finally dropped all her defenses. She leaned against my dad's shoulder, completely motionless. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Honey, am I useless?" My dad kissed her forehead and held her tighter. "If you can't remember, then don't try." "Even if you never remember for the rest of your life, I will never blame you." My mother's tears immediately started flowing again. "Do you think Chloe hates me?" "Hates me because... I clearly saw who killed her, but I can't remember his face. I can't get justice for her." The room was terrifyingly quiet. Only my mother's suppressed breathing could be heard. After a long, long time, my dad lowered his eyes. "Let's not think about these unhappy things anymore." "Lily is getting out of school soon." At the mention of that name, my mother's sobbing stopped instantly. Lily is my younger sister. She just turned nine this year. Lively and lovable. My mother rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Look at me, losing track of time again." "I need to start making soup for Lily." 3 Actually, the very day I was murdered, a Reaper came to collect me. But I badgered him, played dumb, and milked his sympathy for all it was worth. I told him I just wanted to spend a little more time with my mom. Maybe he felt sorry for me. Or maybe he was just too lazy to argue. He left without a word. And he never came back. So, I stayed in our house for ten years, always on edge, waiting for him to return. In the beginning, I watched my mother hold my picture, unable to sleep night after night. Later, she managed to sleep for a couple of hours at a time. But she always called my name in her dreams. Then, my mother gave birth to Lily. She was so small. So soft. She became the treasure of the whole family. And the reason my parents kept living. In front of Lily, and in front of friends and family, they never mentioned my name. But sometimes, when it was just my dad around, my mom would say a few words. "Lily is so different from her sister." "She's so mischievous, but so sweet." It was true. Lily was light. Unlike me. I was a shadow. Trapping them forever in the past. My mom went to the kitchen to start the soup. My dad watched her go, a faint smile touching his lips. He took out his tools and started fixing the stereo. The sound of running water from the kitchen. The melody of children's songs. It all wove together into a scene of warm domestic bliss. It was as if those heart-wrenching sobs and agonizing questions from just moments ago... Had never happened. I looked at my dad, then at my mom. For some reason, I suddenly didn't want to be in the house anymore. I slowly floated outside. That's when I noticed the two officers hadn't left yet. They were taking a break right below our building. I had already peeked at the business card my dad threw in the trash. I knew the younger one's name was Officer Davis. He lived up to his name—tall, long-legged, and radiating a strong sense of justice. Right now, he was venting his frustration. "What is wrong with that family?" "How can they be so apathetic about their own biological daughter?" Officer Miller was a veteran detective. He had been on my case since the beginning. He blew out a smoke ring and sighed slowly. "They loved their child. They're just... they've been disappointed too many times." My case had gone cold. They had arrested suspects a few times, only to let them go every time due to lack of evidence. My parents' feelings had evolved from frantic, vengeful desperation... To cautious hope... To cold resignation. Eventually, it was as if they had become mere bystanders. They would only tell people who asked: "It's in the past." "It is what it is." "If Chloe's spirit is watching over us, she'll guide us to the killer." Officer Davis was still young. He didn't seem to fully grasp his mentor's logic. He wrinkled his nose. "Okay, but I saw a bunch of little girl's things in their house just now." "It's impressive, really. Ten years, and they've kept Chloe's stuff exactly as it was." Before Officer Davis could finish his sentence. A Buick minivan pulled up to the entrance of our complex. My mom trotted over to meet it. A little girl jumped out of the car. Her smile was so sweet. She looked like a carbon copy of me when I was her age. 4 Mother and daughter walked away hand in hand. Officer Davis snapped out of his daze and scoffed. "No wonder they don't care about Chloe anymore." "Turns out they got a replacement." His tone was so bitter. It made me so angry I could practically see smoke coming out of my ears. I wanted to rush right up to him and scream in his face. "Who gave you the right to talk about my parents like that?! Who says they don't care about me!" "I'm their most precious, beloved daughter! I always have been!" But alas, I'm a ghost. And a weak one at that, clinging to the mortal realm out of sheer stubbornness, with barely any spiritual power. My hands couldn't touch him. No matter how loud I screamed, he couldn't hear me. All my rage only managed to stir up a tiny breeze. It barely ruffled the ends of his hair. Neither of them noticed me. And even if they did, they wouldn't care about my feelings anyway. So, I sulked my way back home. Dinner was already served. Three dishes and a soup, all Lily's favorites. She closed her eyes and dramatically praised the food. "Mom's chicken wings are the best! Number one in the whole world!" I floated by the table, feeling incredibly petty. "That's it?" "When I was little, the chicken wings Mom made were way better. Much tastier than these." Lily didn't hear me, of course. She turned to praise our dad. "Dad fixed the stereo! He's super amazing too!" Just a few words. And she had both of them beaming with joy. I rolled my eyes so hard I saw stars. Where did this kid learn this stuff? So young, and already such a smooth talker. Annoyed, I reached out to flick Lily's forehead. "Even chicken wings can't shut you up!" "Keep talking, and I'll eat them all." But my fingertips just phased right through the plate. I opened my hand; it was completely empty. Meanwhile, Lily happily scooped the remaining chicken wings into her own bowl. I pouted. "So what." "I'm the one who loved chicken wings first." "Mom only learned how to make them because of me!" But no one heard a word I said. I glanced up at my parents. Of course, they weren't looking at me. They were looking at Lily. Their faces were full of absolute, loving adoration. I knew I shouldn't be jealous. Because when I was alive, they looked at me the exact same way. But today, for some reason, I just felt irritated. Maybe it was because I couldn't eat the chicken wings. Maybe it was because of what that jerk officer said downstairs. Then, from the other side of the table, Lily suddenly spoke up. "Mom, you promised me! Once I get ten perfect scores, you'd set up an art studio for me." She tilted her head up and blinked her big eyes. "Mom, isn't there an extra room in the house?" "Can I have it?" I jumped up like a cat whose tail got stepped on. "That's not an extra room! That's MY room!" "You rotten kid, why are you trying to steal my room?!" 5 After Lily was born, my bedroom door was kept locked. When she was little and didn't understand, she would throw tantrums wanting to go inside. My parents would coax her, telling her it was a secret room. And that she could go in when she was older. But when Lily was five, my mom forgot to lock it one day. And she sneaked in. She rummaged through everything in my room. She even pulled all the manga out of my drawers and threw them all over the floor. When my mom found her, Lily burst into tears. She thought my mom was going to spank her. But my mom didn't say anything. She just handed her the yellowing manga books. "If you like them, take them." But my mom never told Lily: "These books were your sister's favorites. You need to take good care of them." So, I had to watch helplessly as Lily took them to school. And then some mischievous boy kicked them into a puddle. Right now. Faced with Lily's request, my dad actually spoke up for me. "We can't touch that room." "How about this? I'll partition part of the living room and make an art studio for you. How does that sound?" It was a good compromise. But then my mom suddenly objected. "No." "If we do that, the house will feel even smaller." This house was indeed small. I was born here. Back then, my dad was just a junior employee. And my mom's career hadn't taken off yet. They didn't have much money. It was only after I died that their businesses really started booming. But they never moved. Maybe it was to hold onto my memory. After all, they used to say this old house was full of traces of me. In the entryway, there were pencil marks drawn on the wall. Starting from a tiny little line, going all the way up. The last mark was from when I was fourteen. In the closet, my mom kept my school uniforms neatly folded. As if I was going to come home and put them on. But now, my mom put down her chopsticks and said very casually: "Let's just move, then." My dad's smile froze. "Honey, didn't we agree we were going to keep..." He tacitly avoided saying my name. They never said my name in front of Lily. But my mom nodded, her resolve strengthening. "We can't refuse to move for the rest of our lives just because of the past." "As for that room..." She looked back at it, her expression complex. "No one's ever going to live in it again anyway." 6 Lily's cheers drowned out my mom's sigh. She must have been thrilled. She kept jumping up and down, yelling excitedly. "I get an art studio! I'm getting an art studio!" "Mom, can I paint my bedroom pink?" "Mom, when are we moving?" I looked at Lily's face. To be honest, my mom really loved me in the past. She always said I was her treasure. Her one and only treasure. If I casually mentioned wanting to eat something, it would be on the dinner table the next day. No matter how late she worked, she would always cuddle me to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, she would sit on the edge of my bed and brush my hair. She was good with her hands; my braids were always the most elaborate in my class. But, everything I had, Lily had too. In fact, my mom took even better care of her than she did me. I was no longer my mom's only treasure. I couldn't help but remember Officer Davis's complaint. "No wonder they don't care about Chloe anymore." "Turns out they got a replacement." And his mentor's long sigh. "They lost a daughter, but..." "They can't just stop living because of it." At the time, I even nodded in agreement. "Exactly. You cops can get new cases, change departments, get new assignments." "My parents shouldn't be trapped on that one day for the rest of their lives." "I'd be happier than anyone to see them forget me and move on." So they had Lily. And they put even more effort into raising Lily than they did me. When I was little, I always walked home from school by myself. But my mom hired a dedicated driver just to pick up and drop off Lily. She would never let Lily walk home alone. I loved drawing too, and I was really talented. But my mom never got me an art teacher. Yet, the moment Lily said she liked drawing, my mom hired the best professor from the local art academy. I knew my mom treating Lily so well was also her way of making it up to me. I shouldn't be jealous. I was only fourteen when I died. My mom was only thirty-six. She should still have sixty wonderful years ahead of her. Even if I couldn't be a part of them. Even though I understood this logic long ago. Seeing my mom truly moving forward... My heart still felt like a chunk of it had been carved out. Cold wind kept blowing into the empty space. It chilled me so much I shivered. I struggled, floating back and forth between my parents. "Don't move! You can't move! This is my home!" "If you go to a new house, what about me?" But even when I used all my strength to throw myself at them... I only managed to stir the air a tiny bit. I didn't know if my parents could sense my presence. Right after I died, they thought the wind was me, they thought the door creaking was me, they thought the cat meowing was me. But now, they just seriously discussed their plans. "We need to move quickly." "We can't make Lily wait." 7 My room didn't need to be locked anymore. Because other than that room... The rest of the house was completely empty. Just like my heart. With no one in the house, I suddenly felt very scared. But, what was I scared of? When I was little, I loved listening to ghost stories. I was terrified, but I loved them. And then I'd be scared after listening to them. Scared of the dark. Scared of things hiding in the closet. Scared of ghosts outside the window. But I didn't need to be afraid of ghosts anymore. My mom supervised the movers as they carried out the very last box. She turned around one last time and looked at the room. Then she whispered softly. "Chloe, Mom's leaving." I genuinely thought my mom could see me. I floated excitedly near her. But her gaze remained unfocused, landing vaguely somewhere in the room. There was no focus. She wasn't looking at me. She was just saying goodbye for her own sake. I could have followed my mom to the new house. But I was stubborn, and I didn't go. That was Lily's new home. Why should I go intrude? This was my first time spending the night alone. I curled up in a corner. I think what I was truly afraid of was that my parents would really never come back. I was afraid that from now on, everyone who remembered me would slowly drift away. But, wasn't this what I wanted to see most? The people I loved, continuing to live. Living well. So why did I feel so sad when my wish came true? I spent an unknown number of days and nights in a daze in that empty house. Sometimes I was in a deep sleep. Sometimes even when I was awake, it felt like I was asleep. Sometimes I'd listen closely to the footsteps in the hallway. The clearer they were, the quieter the house felt. I even started to think that repeating these days endlessly, with no end in sight, was going to be my fate. But suddenly... I heard the front door of my house click open. Was it a burglar? I floated over cautiously. Standing outside the door were Officer Miller and Officer Davis again. They were knocking on the door and calling my mom's phone. It looked like they didn't know we had moved yet. Officer Davis looked incredibly excited. "Captain, do you think we're finally going to crack Chloe's case this time?" "It's been so hard." "That little girl has waited ten years. She can finally rest in peace." 8 Officer Miller had been on my case for ten years. He certainly was persistent. Even my parents had let go of me, their dead daughter, but he was still holding on. But, what was he holding on for? Even if he found out the truth, so what? I couldn't come back to life. I yawned and went back to sleep. After a long wait, it finally got noisy outside again. This time, it was my parents who came back. They probably chose to meet here because they didn't want the officers going to their new house. I hadn't seen her in a few days, and my mom looked a bit haggard. Over the years, every time the police visited, she would suffer from insomnia for days. Because she hadn't slept well, her attitude wasn't very friendly. "Why are you here again?" "All these years, you've never been able to figure out who killed my daughter." "You arrest someone, then let them go. You let them go, then arrest someone else. Every time you say you have new leads, a new suspect." "Do you have any idea how awful it feels to have your hopes crushed over and over again?" My mom spoke very rapidly. But this time, even Officer Davis didn't look impatient. Instead, he explained earnestly: "We recently re-examined the crime scene and found some overlooked evidence. We identified a man whose movements from ten years ago align perfectly with the time and location of the murder." "Furthermore, you might know him." My mom acted as if she hadn't heard a thing, showing absolutely no interest. It was my dad who asked. "Who?" Officer Miller spoke clearly: "Were you at the scene when you saw a man named Mark Lee?" "He was a student you once taught." "We found a button at the scene, and we successfully pulled his fingerprints from it." Officer Miller was very enthusiastic. It was the enthusiasm of someone closing in on the truth. But my mom's eyes remained clouded over. "...No." "I've never seen him." Officer Miller frowned, emphasizing his words: "The suspect's family background is complicated. They've already had a forensic psychiatric evaluation done for Mark Lee, aiming to get him off the hook." "You are the sole eyewitness." "Without your identification, it will be very difficult to move forward with this case." "So, could we please ask you to undergo hypnosis one more time?" This time, even my dad seemed swayed. I jumped up too, desperately trying to shake my mom's shoulders. "Do it! Just do it!" "Maybe the bad guy really is him!" But my mom's expression remained as still as dead wood. She waved her hand dismissively and said exhaustedly, "Don't try to persuade me. I won't do it." She looked up at Officer Miller. She was very calm, even calmer than before. "Chloe is already dead. The dead can't come back to life." "But Lily is still alive. I have to plan for the living." "My life is still wonderful. Why should I spend my days running around for a dead person just for some so-called justice?" 9 Pain flared like wildfire. It burned through every inch of my body. I stared at my mom in utter disbelief. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just try one more time? Even if it was just so I could rest in peace. Even my dad hesitated. He looked like he wanted to urge her. But in the end, he just held my mom's hand. Then he looked at the two officers. "I listen to my wife." "I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do." This meeting ended on a sour note again. I watched the four of them leave, one by one. My mom was the first to walk away. She turned and left so resolutely. As if she had made some kind of final decision. I chased after her, unwilling to give up. I yelled from behind her, over and over again. "Mom, just try one more time." "I know you have a new daughter, but I'm your daughter too." "I promise, once I know the truth, I'll leave." But my mom's pace only quickened. I followed my parents all the way back to their new house. It was a very beautiful little villa. I almost uncontrollably wanted to rush inside. But I forced myself to stop. Because on the doors and windows, there were paper talismans plastered everywhere. A glaring, piercing red. These were talismans meant to keep spirits and ghosts out. My mom... was afraid I'd come back. I suddenly remembered when Lily was just born. A relative gifted them a small wooden peach sword. They said hanging it over the crib would ward off evil spirits. The relative lowered their voice, whispering conspiratorially: "Especially since... Chloe, didn't she get murdered right outside your front door?" "What if she comes back home?" Back then, the road in front of our house was under construction; it was a mess. My mom was supposed to pick me up that day. But something came up at the last minute, so she told me to walk home alone. I was murdered in an alley just two hundred meters from my house. When my mom realized I was late, she went looking for me and walked right past the killer. On that rainy night, she clearly saw his face. But no matter what, she couldn't remember it. My mom ended up never hanging that sword. Because she said: "I don't believe souls actually exist in this world." "If they really did..." "Then why hasn't she come home to see me?" But now, on the door of her new home, she had plastered those talismans. My mom really seemed to have let go. I was no longer her family. I was just a wandering, feral ghost threatening the peace of her home. Really, it's all my fault. I was too greedy. I hoped they would only think of me occasionally. But I also selfishly wished they wouldn't forget me completely. But in this world, you can't have it both ways.
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