On April Fool's Day, our family went out for a trip. As we walked, I suddenly realized our daughter had disappeared. I frantically called the police. The moment the officers arrived and I began explaining the situation, my mother-in-law Catherine contradicted me. "Didn't you send Lily to your parents' house? She didn't come on this trip with us. Why are you calling the police?" The police looked stunned for a moment, then their expressions turned serious. "Ma'am, what's really going on here? Filing a false police report is a crime!" Sweat poured down my face as I hurriedly explained. "Lily came with us. Catherine is just making an April Fool's joke. Don't listen to her!" The officer nodded and was about to start searching when Catherine interjected again. "Officer, you don't know this, but Emma has mental issues. She's filed false reports several times before." I trembled with rage, wanting nothing more than to slap duct tape over her mouth. Catherine loved April Fool's Day more than anything. Every year on this day, she'd throw the entire household into chaos. Before leaving home, I'd warned her repeatedly not to cause any trouble, but I never expected her old habits to resurface at a time like this. Thinking of Lily, whose whereabouts were still unknown, I desperately shoved Catherine. "What time do you think it is? You're still obsessing over your April Fool's Day! If anything happens to Lily, I'll never forgive you!" Though I didn't push hard, Catherine staggered backward repeatedly, as if about to fall. "Officers, you all saw that, right? Emma has mental problems." "Before we left, I specifically asked her mother to look after Lily. Look, I have proof." She pulled out her phone and showed them a screenshot of a chat conversation. It showed that this morning, she had specifically instructed my mother: Make Lily fried eggs for lunch today. I stared in disbelief at my mother's reply. This was impossible! Lily was allergic to eggs. Catherine never cared about Lily, so her not knowing was normal. But my mother knew. She would never have agreed to this. I immediately tried calling my mother to verify. But unluckily, at that exact moment, my mother's phone was turned off. I spun around anxiously, telling myself to stay calm. Suddenly, I thought of something and snatched Catherine's phone. The screenshot timestamp showed last night at eight o'clock. But the actual chat record was from this morning. "Officer, look! This screenshot is fake. Catherine doctored it. Don't believe her. Please help me find Lily!" My fingers shook as I pleaded desperately. "Lily has asthma. If she has an attack and can't find her family, the consequences will be unthinkable!" The officer looked between us suspiciously. Seeing my panicked expression, he finally nodded in agreement. But just as they were about to begin the search, Catherine spoke up again. "Oh my, officer, I really can't stand watching this anymore. I only faked that screenshot because I didn't want you to be deceived by her." "The truth is, this 'daughter' she's talking about is a dog!" She even pulled up photos of our dog. The officer's face darkened as he sternly rebuked her. "What exactly is going on here? Police reports are not a game. Please show us some respect!" By now, a crowd had gathered around us. After hearing Catherine's words, they all turned to criticize me. "Making a police report over a lost dog? And lying about it being your daughter—aren't you afraid of karma?" "Exactly. At her age, she should be a mother herself. She should know better than to act like this." "Catherine is the reasonable one. Emma is absolutely outrageous!" After hearing Catherine's words, my vision swam with rage. "What time do you think it is? You're still lying! Even jokes have their time and place!" I turned to face the officer, struggling to control my emotions. "We do have a dog, that's true, but I really do have a daughter. Look, I have proof!" I pulled out photos of Lily and me together. In the picture, Lily was hugging me, her face beaming with joy. Only then did the officer slowly nod, turning to Catherine with clear anger. "Ma'am, please stop lying. If something happens, you'll face legal consequences!" Catherine laughed it off with obvious satisfaction. "I'm so sorry, everyone. I was just playing an April Fool's joke with you all. I didn't expect you to take it so seriously." Just as my heart began to settle, after taking only two steps, Catherine spoke up again.
"But there's something I absolutely must mention." As she spoke, tears even began to well up in her eyes. "Emma is Lily's stepmother. Lily has been abused by her since she was little. I'm just an old woman—I want to stop it but I'm powerless." "With no other choice, I secretly sent the child to her birth mother." Hearing her words, a deep sense of helplessness spread through my entire body. Catherine did this every time. On April Fool's Day, no matter the occasion, she had to deceive people. I remembered the April Fool's Day when Lily had just turned one. She lied and told me Lily was having an asthma attack and wasn't going to make it. When I got that call, I felt like I'd lost my soul. I drove home desperately. But in my panic, I got into a car accident on the way. A long, hideous scar remained on my left arm. Looking at me in the hospital bed, Catherine just said dismissively: "April Fool's Day is for playing jokes. Who knew you'd be stupid enough to believe it?" "Besides, the car accident was your own fault for not watching the road." So every year, especially on April Fool's Day, I kept Lily as far away from her as possible. But this morning when we were leaving, Catherine had clung desperately to the car door and climbed in. I told myself that as long as I kept a careful eye on her, nothing serious would happen. I never imagined that the moment we got out of the car, this would happen. After hearing everything, the police moved to take me away for questioning. "Child abuse is a serious crime. You need to come with us to the station!" The crowd's spit practically flew in my face. "Disgusting! Not her own child, so she doesn't know how to care for her. What a monster!" "Take her away right now! People like her need to spend a few days in jail to learn their lesson!" Just as I was about to be dragged away, my scalp felt like it would explode with panic. Thinking of Lily unable to find her family, feeling helpless and alone. Thinking of Lily having an asthma attack, only able to collapse on the ground struggling for breath. My heart felt like it was being stabbed. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at Catherine's fake-serious expression. I wanted nothing more than to rip her lying mouth apart. I fought to control my emotions. "Officer, I can guarantee Lily is truly my biological daughter. No matter what, please help me find Lily first!" "I can provide all the necessary evidence afterward!" After hearing this, Catherine rushed between the police and me, grabbing my sleeve and yanking it up. "Officer, don't let her fool you! She just wants to continue abusing Lily." "Look at this scar on her arm. I got this years ago fighting with her to protect Lily." When this horrifying scar was revealed, everyone gasped. The officer's face hardened as he shouted sternly. "What is really going on here! If you two keep lying, we'll take you both in for questioning!" I stared daggers at Catherine, my eyes practically shooting flames. "This scar is from the car accident I had because of your lies! You're an old woman fighting with me—you come out fine while I get injured like this? Is that even possible?" "Officer, please believe me. If any problems arise afterward, I'll take full responsibility." Considering the child's safety and the urgency of finding her, the officer nodded and prepared to take us to search in different directions. Catherine kept chattering, trying to continue her interference. "Your police work really isn't that competent if you can't even tell who's telling the truth!" But no one paid attention. Our group got in the car, leaving her behind. The police took me to the surveillance room as quickly as possible. But when we watched the footage of the moment Lily disappeared, everyone's eyes widened.
The surveillance showed that when I stopped the car to get something, Lily bounced down from the vehicle cheerfully. The next second, Catherine suddenly pulled her behind the car. After that, Lily never appeared again. My chest heaved violently, my ears buzzing. Just then, Catherine arrived and opened the door. I lunged forward and grabbed her collar. "Tell me! Where did you hide Lily? Why would you do this!" Her expression changed, then she forced herself to stay calm. "Oh, I just hid her in the trunk to scare you a little and test these officers' competence." "Today is April Fool's Day. Don't you people have any sense of humor?" I had no time for her nonsense. I threw her aside and sprinted outside. Lily already had asthma. Being trapped in the trunk for so long—the consequences were unthinkable! But when I reached the car, gasping for breath, and opened the trunk, there was nothing inside. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground. The others caught up immediately. Seeing the empty trunk, their faces changed color too. I rushed forward, ready to fight her with everything I had, but the police held me back. Seeing this, Catherine slapped her thigh and sat on the ground wailing. "You can't blame me for this! I only hid her in the trunk as a joke for you all." "How was I supposed to know she'd disappear? She has legs of her own. She probably just ran off wherever she wanted to go." The officer tried to comfort me. "Ms. Harper, don't worry. We'll continue investigating and we will find your child." "We've already stationed someone at the surveillance room." Soon, they called from the surveillance room. Unfortunately, the rear of the car was in a blind spot. Whatever happened afterward, the surveillance cameras couldn't capture it. To track Lily's movements, they'd have to continuously pull footage from all the surrounding cameras. Everything spun around me. Lily's whereabouts were unknown, and she had asthma on top of that. Every minute we delayed finding her meant another minute of danger! I turned to Catherine, softening my tone, trying to appeal to whatever conscience she might have. "Catherine, you've had your fun now, haven't you? I'm begging you, please stop lying. Just tell me where Lily is!" "You locked her in the trunk—how could she possibly have gotten out on her own!" Catherine pursed her lips and turned her head away. "I put her in the trunk and left. Maybe I didn't close it properly and she just ran off." "I've been saying this girl is ungrateful, but you never believed me. She just abandoned you to find some richer family." I glared at her fiercely, the red in my eyes making her flinch and finally shut her mouth. Just when everyone was running around like headless chickens with no idea where to start searching... I suddenly thought of something and looked toward the rear of the car.
I immediately opened my phone app and called the police over to check with me. In my panic earlier, I'd completely forgotten that we had a backup camera installed at the rear. The surveillance video from this camera could be stored for seven days. With trembling hands, I pulled up the surveillance footage, then froze in place. Several large words appeared on the screen. [Surveillance Signal Error] I frantically scrolled the timeline back. The last frame the surveillance showed was from this morning, right before we left—Catherine's hand reaching toward it. After that, the video went completely black. It was her again! She destroyed the surveillance! The hope that had barely ignited was extinguished once more. My heart felt like it was being squeezed tight by a giant hand. I went completely mad, screaming uncontrollably. "What exactly do you want? Are you trying to kill Lily?" "If anything happens to Lily, I'll make sure you don't die in peace either!" After hearing this, Catherine actually started crying first, covering her mouth. "At my age, how would I know anything about cameras? I just accidentally broke it when I opened the trunk. Do you have to be like this?" "Besides, she's not a three-year-old child. She's in fourth grade. Doesn't she know not to run around?" "And honestly, this child doesn't even look like Ryan. For all we know, she's run off somewhere to find her real father." My teeth ground together audibly, the rage in my heart becoming harder and harder to suppress. Just as I raised my hand, ready to slap her across the face, my phone suddenly buzzed with a message. After reading it, I lowered my arm and looked at Catherine with a smile. "Catherine, I'm so sorry. I got carried away just now." "You're right. If the child ran off, she ran off. If we can't find her, we'll just have another one." "Let's go home first." Catherine looked me up and down suspiciously. Only when she saw me actually get in the car did she climb in too. Seeing me calmly start the engine, she finally let her guard down. "That's more like it. It's normal to play jokes on April Fool's Day. Why take it so seriously?" "That ungrateful little brat ran off on her own. It's her own fault." I said nothing, my grip on the steering wheel tightening, my foot pressing harder on the gas pedal. The car's speed climbed higher and higher. After reaching our destination, I opened the door and let her out. Catherine climbed out, holding her dizzy head, then froze in shock. "Why did you bring me here? Are you insane?" I calmly pulled out my phone. "How long are you going to keep up this act?" When Catherine saw clearly what was on my phone screen... Her face turned deathly pale.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "NovelMaster" app ? search for "378054", and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster