Their Perfect Lie, My Unseen Truth

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Their casual dismissal, their ingrained judgment, it was a familiar ache that twisted my spe

as a delicate porcelain doll, all curls and wide, innocent eyes. My parents, wrapped in a cocoon of adoration, showered her with

p, "look at you. Your clothes are dirty again. Why c

had stuck out her tongue at me. I'd stormed

l there. It resonated with the police officers' h

n daughter?" one officer murmured to another, his voice low but audible to m

. "Guess some families are just... differen

fear, my lifelong reality. I was the ghost in

this can't be Fawn. Our Fawn would never... she would ne

moved heaven and earth to find me. Back then, I was still their daughter, young enough to be 'innocent,' not yet 'rebellious.' The

that Miller had handed him, looked distant. "She has a way of findin

they once held. I should have stayed away. Should have cut all ties, like

had a place, however tenuous, in their family. But even in death, I was just a Jane Doe, a cautionary

He gently handed the fragile, corroded piece of paper to the forensic technician, his hands t

hock, rubbed her temples. "My

ueezed her shoulder. "You should go home, Deb. Get some r

esides, I just called Dad's house. Hope... she's locked herself in her room. She heard the news reports."

er eyes distant, her m