After I died, my whole family clapped their hands and raised their glasses in celebration. All because I was the most infamous escort in the Southside’s red-light district. Every sleazy man in the city had a hungry look in his eyes when my name was mentioned. Some were even willing to bankrupt themselves just to buy one night with me. My notoriety made my parents and my brother hang their heads in shame for years. They hated me. They wouldn't even let me come home for the holidays. If I ever stood near their front door, they would scrub the porch with bleach just to wash away my "filth." Later, I was brutally murdered and dumped in the wilderness. The police called them every single day with updates. Today, we found her arm. Tomorrow, we might find her calf. Soon, we’ll have pieced together her whole body, so please prepare for the funeral. But my parents just looked disgusted. Impatient, they snapped into the phone: "Stop looking! A dirty, cheap woman like her deserves to be hacked to pieces." But later, the feds executed a massive raid, completely dismantling the Southside organized crime syndicate. And when my family saw the police department's published list of undercover operatives who died in the line of duty, they saw my name. They dropped to their knees, begging the police to let them see me one last time. My mom was carrying her tote bag, picking out vegetables for dinner at the neighborhood deli like she did every evening. But the moment she reached for a bundle of celery, the owner swatted her hand away with a rolled-up magazine. "Hey! Don't touch my produce!" My mom pulled her stinging hand back in shock. "Excuse me?" "Your daughter was a whore who messed with the cartel. I'm not selling you anything. I don't want her bad karma rubbing off on my store," the owner said righteously. Hearing this, my mom’s face began to tremble with anger. "The police said she was a victim!" "Victim, my ass! Women who do that kind of dirty work get what's coming to them!" "Get out! Stop blocking my register. Your whole family is trash, don't drag the rest of us down with you!" The owner waved her away impatiently. Her face flushed bright red, my mom gritted her teeth and walked away. But it was as if the whole market had made a pact. Not a single vendor would sell her so much as a carrot. Even the local butcher she’d bought from for over a decade looked at her with disgust and told her to get lost. Unable to take it anymore, my mom yelled out, "You're turning down paying customers? Are you crazy? She’s dead! What does she have to do with us?" The butcher sneered. "Who knows if the cash you're using is the dirty money your daughter made spreading her legs? Even if you burned that money, we wouldn't breathe the smoke!" They had the numbers. My mom couldn't win the argument. Clutching her empty bag, she hunched her shoulders and walked out. Outside, a rare January snowstorm was sweeping through the city. Mom hadn't brought an umbrella. She walked through the snow with a numb expression. Instinctively, I stepped in front of her. "Mom, at least buy an umbrella before you go..." But I was nothing more than a soul now. I couldn't stop her, and I couldn't do anything to help. In the end, I could only watch helplessly as she trudged through the blizzard. She walked to the bus stop and rode the city bus for over an hour, heading all the way to a generic supermarket in the East End. Hardly anyone knew her there. She finally managed to buy the groceries she needed for dinner. By the time she made it back to our apartment building, her face was purple from the freezing cold. Normally, she would have had dinner on the table by now. Because of the delay, she ended up walking into the lobby at the exact same time my brother, Tyler, was getting off work. He didn't have an umbrella either. His coat was dusted with snow, and he looked utterly exhausted. "Hey Tyler, did the cops ever figure out how your sister died?" Mrs. Higgins, the nosy neighbor on the first floor, poked her head out to ask. Another neighbor chimed in, "She was probably sleeping around, pissed off some sugar daddy, and got murdered in a lover's quarrel." "That's why women need to have some self-respect. You make that kind of dirty money, you're gonna meet a bad end." Hearing their conversation, my brother snapped. He grabbed his heavy leather briefcase and smashed it violently against Mrs. Higgins' front window. With a loud CRACK, the glass splintered. She screamed, "Tyler Miller, what the hell are you doing?!" My brother glared at her with dead eyes. "She might be dirty, but is she dirtier than your mouth? She’s dead, and you're still making up stories?" "If you're so damn curious, why don't you go drop dead and ask her yourself in hell?" Terrified by his unhinged glare, Mrs. Higgins shrank back. "Your whole family is psycho..." Tyler ignored them and stomped up the stairs. Mom followed silently behind him, not saying a word. When they opened the apartment door, the atmosphere inside was suffocating. Dad was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. Coincidentally, the local evening news was broadcasting an update on my dismemberment case. "As of today, DNA testing has confirmed that multiple human remains discovered across the Southside belong to local resident Emily Miller. Police are expanding their search perimeter but have yet to identify a suspect..." Hearing my name, Tyler irritably snatched the remote and turned off the TV. "When she was alive, at least the people at my corporate office didn't know I had a stripper for a sister." "Now she's dead, and it's all over the city news! I went to work today, and everyone was looking at me like I was radioactive! How am I supposed to show my face there?!" Tyler threw the remote onto the couch and complained. "I'm sorry, Tyler," I said, standing transparently in the corner. Guilt weighed me down. Mom's eyes grew red again. She had cried silently the entire bus ride home. The tears she had finally managed to stop began falling all over again. "It's our fault. We didn't raise her right. We let her give in to temptation and work in that kind of industry..." But how could they blame themselves? The year I finished high school, I had been accepted into a top-tier state university. I was supposed to be their pride and joy. Instead, I secretly threw my acceptance letter away and went to work at the most notorious VIP nightclub in the Southside. Eventually, my reputation grew, and the rumors reached my parents' ears. Overnight, my parents' hair seemed to turn gray. Mom had dropped to her knees, crying and begging me to quit, pleading with me not to be blinded by fast money. But I had pulled a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills from my purse and laughed. "What's the point of college? I pour some drinks, keep some guys company, and I make more in a night than most people make in a month. Only an idiot would pass this up." Hearing that, Dad slapped me so hard my head spun. His entire body shook with rage. "Emily Miller, if you don't turn your life around right now, don't ever call us your parents again." At the time, I made sure my eyes looked entirely consumed by greed, like an addict past the point of no return. "Fine! When I'm rich, don't come crawling back begging for handouts!" My cruel words made my mom faint from the shock. Dad looked at me with absolute disappointment one last time, picked Mom up, and walked away. But they couldn't hear me whispering through my tears as I watched their backs disappear. Go. Go as far away as possible. Don't ever come looking for me again. The Southside was too dark. The sunlight could only reach a fraction of it. I wanted them to stand in the light. But my last name was Miller. Blood is thicker than water. In the end, I still couldn't stop the shadows from touching them. Tyler's phone suddenly rang, shattering the heavy silence in the room. "Tyler, is Emily Miller your sister?" the voice on the other end demanded the second he answered. Tyler didn't dare confirm it. He just asked hoarsely, "What's going on?" "We're going to have to put you on an indefinite leave of absence. The scandal surrounding your sister is too massive. It's a PR nightmare for the firm." Tyler's face drained of all color. "Why?! My sister is already dead! Why do I have to lose my job over this?!" The man on the phone sighed. "Do you not check the internet? Go look at the massive mess your sister left behind." The line went dead. Mom cried and grabbed Tyler's arm. "Tyler... your job...?" He nodded, defeated. Dad looked at him in disbelief. "Why?" Suddenly, like a rabid lion, Tyler kicked the coffee table over and roared. "She is a curse on this family! She's dead, and she's still haunting us!" "Do you know what people are saying online? They're saying she slept with half the men in the city!" "They're saying she caught a disease, infected a cartel boss, and he chopped her up out of anger!" "Others are saying she was playing multiple mobsters at once, got caught, and they killed her together!" "They're saying she messed with the wrong people, and anyone connected to her is going to be targeted!" "Emily, what the hell did you do?! You destroyed us!" Tyler screamed until his voice cracked, directing his fury at the empty air. In a place he couldn't see, tears streamed down my face, but I couldn't utter a single word to explain. I only regretted that I hadn't let 'Emily Miller' legally die years ago. I should have used a completely fake identity to infiltrate that club. It was my fault for not being careful enough. Even in death, I was dragging them down. My parents stayed completely silent in the wake of Tyler's outburst. The apartment was dead quiet, save for Tyler's heavy, ragged breathing. But the phone rang again, oblivious to the tragedy unfolding in the room. Mom wiped her tears and numbly pulled out her cell phone. It was Detective Hayes. His voice was laced with exhaustion and deep sorrow. "Today, we only managed to recover Emily's thumb. I am so sorry." "We will do everything in our power to find her complete remains. Please give us a little more time." A few weeks ago, Mom used to speak to Detective Hayes politely. Now, it was as if she were a completely different person. She exploded. "Stop looking! A piece of trash like her deserves to be scattered to the wind and denied a grave!" "She ruined our reputation when she was alive, and now she's ruining our lives when she's dead. Detective Hayes, she is a curse! Why are you still looking for her?!" Detective Hayes went dead silent on the other end of the line. After a long pause, he choked out, "I'm sorry." The call disconnected. The fiery rage lodged in my mom's throat was suddenly extinguished by Detective Hayes's apology. She couldn't understand what he was apologizing for. "Do these people not understand English? I told them to stop looking." Mom put her phone down, her tone hollow. "Let it go. We can't interfere with police work," Dad sighed, lighting a cigarette and taking a long, melancholy drag. He had been a smoker for decades, but the drag made him cough violently, his eyes turning bloodshot. "What a nightmare," Mom closed her eyes and lamented. But despite their complaints, life had to go on. Mom carefully cooked dinner, but sitting at the table, all three of them chewed without tasting anything. Tyler poked at his rice and suddenly looked up. "My wedding with Haley is next week. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes." Sitting silently in the empty fourth chair, my eyes lit up. "Tyler, you're finally getting married." I rarely knew what went on at home, so hearing the good news filled me with genuine happiness for him. But the joy was fleeting. Tyler rubbed his temples in frustration. "Don't invite the gossipy relatives. Only the quiet, reliable ones, and brief them beforehand." "Haley finally convinced her parents to go through with this. We can't screw this up." My eyes darkened. "I'm sorry, Tyler. Even at your wedding, I'm still causing you trouble." They endured the crushing pressure for another week, finally reaching the joyous day they had been waiting for. The wedding venue was decorated romantically. The guest list was small, but it was lively. My parents and Tyler were beaming, the dark clouds finally lifting from their faces. Watching from the sidelines, I felt a weight lift off my chest. I whispered my congratulations. "Happy wedding, Tyler. Please be happy." My words vanished into the applause from the audience. But the very next second, the banquet doors were violently kicked open by a gang of thugs. "Which one of you is Emily Miller's brother?" The guests gasped in horror. Panic flashed across Tyler's face. He instinctively shoved his bride behind him and shouted, "What do you want?" The leader smirked. "As long as you're Emily's blood, you don't get to have a good day!" "Smash it! Trash the whole place!" With that command, the thugs swarmed the room. Guests screamed and scattered. My parents, pale with terror, rushed forward to stop them. "Stop! Please stop!" "This is my son's wedding! I'm begging you, leave us alone!" The thugs shoved my parents to the floor with brutal force. The ground was covered in shattered champagne glasses. They fell directly onto the shards, their clothes staining with blood. In an instant, a beautiful wedding was reduced to absolute carnage. Half an hour later, police cruisers arrived with sirens blaring and subdued the thugs. Seeing that it was finally safe, Haley's parents stormed up to the altar and slapped Tyler hard across the face. They yanked Haley out of his arms and screamed, "You animal! Your family is drowning in cartel drama, and you still thought it was a good idea to marry my daughter?!" Tyler stood frozen, begging desperately. "Mr. and Mrs. Clark, please let me explain! This is all because of Emily! We didn't do anything, we're innocent..." "Don't call us Mom and Dad! The marriage is annulled! You're signing the divorce papers tomorrow! From this day forward, the Clark family has nothing to do with the Millers!" Hearing this, Tyler completely panicked. He looked at his bride with agonizing desperation. "Haley, you won't leave me, right?" But Haley's eyes were red. She looked away. "I'm sorry, Tyler. The baggage your sister brings... I can't handle it." "Just... let me go. Let's end this cleanly." Without looking back, Haley walked out the door. Tyler collapsed onto the floor, utterly defeated. He wept, slamming his fists into the ground in pure hatred. "Emily Miller, you ruined us! Being chopped to pieces was too good for you!" "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." I covered my face, crouching next to Tyler, sobbing uncontrollably. I knew exactly who sent those thugs. But I never imagined his hatred for me ran so deep that torturing and dismembering me wasn't enough. Even while he was under federal investigation, he still sent people to terrorize my family. Guilt consumed me like poison, but I didn't know how to fix it. I could only pray that justice would come quickly. Just a little faster. Afterward, the police escorted Tyler and my wounded parents to the hospital. Facing Detective Hayes in the hallway, Tyler leaned against the wall, utterly broken. "My job is gone. My wife is gone. I have nothing left." "Just how many disgusting things did Emily do? How long is the Miller family supposed to pay for her sins?!" Detective Hayes looked at him with immense guilt in his eyes. He let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. We can't disclose that information right now." "But please rest assured, we will assign a detail to protect you and your parents. I promise what happened today won't happen again." Tyler let out a bitter laugh. "What's the point? It's too late. My life is already destroyed because of her." "From now on, do not call us about anything regarding Emily Miller. The Miller family doesn't have a daughter, and I don't have a sister." Detective Hayes froze. He swallowed hard before finally forcing the words out. "Understood. We will respect your wishes."
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