Another Mother

Another Mother

Min Xiaoxi

5.0
Comment(s)
1
View
15
Chapters

The body of my sister, Annabelle, was found brutally stuffed inside an ottoman in our living room. The house was locked from the inside, and the police didn't have a single lead. Before she died, Annabelle left a note: "Beware of the Other Mom."

Another Mother Chapter 1

The body of my sister, Annabelle, was found brutally stuffed inside an ottoman in our living room.

The house was locked from the inside, and the police didn't have a single lead.

Before she died, Annabelle left a note: "Beware of the Other Mom."

Chapter 1

Tuesday afternoon, I walked into the living room, sunlight streaming through the windows. The house was eerily quiet.

Annabelle should have been home, probably holed up in her room with her laptop, blasting music at top volume.

"Annabelle," I called her name, but no one answered.

A faint metallic scent lingered in the air, subtle but persistent. I frowned.

I stepped fully into the living room. In the center sat a wide velvet ottoman, usually used to store blankets. Today, it looked somewhat... bloated. A dark, sticky stain marred one side, almost hidden in the shadows.

I approached slowly, my heart pounding in my chest. My hand hovered over the lid. It was heavy, far too heavy, as I finally pushed it open.

The sight before me made the room spin.

Annabelle had been brutally murdered. Her body was crammed into the confined space of the ottoman. Her limbs were contorted into unnatural angles. Her eyes were vacant and lifeless.

"Ah!" A gut-wrenching scream ripped from the depths of my throat.

I stumbled backward, crashing into the coffee table.

Cedric found me curled up on the floor, dry-heaving. His usually calm and composed expression instantly crumbled the moment he saw the ottoman.

His scream intertwined with mine, a howl of pure terror. He lunged toward Annabelle, only to freeze, realizing the incomprehensible reality before him. We stared blankly, paralyzed by fear.

The police arrived. Their faces were grim, their movements practiced and steady. They took measurements, snapped photos, and asked questions we couldn't possibly answer.

There were no signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle-at least not in the living room.

The house had been locked from the inside.

They shook their heads, their expressions unreadable. This was no ordinary case.

Annabelle had always been rebellious, constantly pushing boundaries. She was sixteen, quick-witted, and possessed brilliant tech skills.

She would sneak out, crash with friends, and go off the grid for days at a time. We had long grown used to it-worrying ourselves sick, though she always came back, usually armed with a sarcastic remark about our overprotective nagging.

But this time was different. This time, she never came back.

The police eventually left, concluding their preliminary investigation. They offered their condolences and promised to keep in touch.

I found Mom in her bedroom, curled up on the bed, weeping uncontrollably.

"She's gone, Kelly," Mom choked out, her voice barely a whisper. "My baby is gone."

I held her tighter, tears streaming down my own cheeks.

Later, when Mom finally fell into an exhausted sleep, I went into Annabelle's room.

The room was a mess, much like she had been. Clothes strewn across the floor, books piled haphazardly, a half-eaten bag of chips resting on her desk. Her laptop was open, the screen emitting a soft glow.

I hesitated before stepping closer. My fingers lightly brushed the keyboard. A password-protected note was open on the screen. I knew Annabelle's habits. She always used meaningful dates. I tried her birthday. Incorrect. Then I tried the name of her first pet. The password unlocked.

The note was short.

"Beware of the Other Mom." That was it.

A sudden chill washed over me.

The Other Mom? What did that mean?

Annabelle had always been good with computers-she knew all about encrypting messages and hiding files.

This was definitely no prank; it was a warning.

I heard the floorboard creak behind me.

My heart plummeted, feeling as though it might leap out of my throat. I spun around, holding my breath.

Mom stood in the doorway, her eyes red and swollen, her hair a mess. She wore a faded nightgown, her frame thin and looking incredibly frail. "Kelly? What are you doing in here?" she asked softly, her voice almost childlike.

I quickly minimized the memo and snatched my hands away from the laptop as if I had been burned. "Just... looking for some of Annabelle's things," I stammered, my voice trembling.

Mom sighed, a low, exhausted sound. "It's so quiet now, isn't it? Too quiet." She stepped further into the room, her gaze sweeping over Annabelle's belongings. "She used to be so full of life."

Then, I heard a soft humming coming from downstairs.

A lullaby. Our mother's lullaby.

I whipped my head toward the direction of the sound. The kitchen.

My eyes darted back and forth between the doorway-where Mom was still standing-and the direction of the kitchen.

How could she be in two places at once?

The humming stopped. Mom was still looking at me, her face etched with sorrow. "Did you hear something?" she asked, her voice slightly raspy.

An intense chill hit me, erupting in goosebumps along my arms.

I stared at her, my mind a chaotic mess. Was I going crazy? Grief, trauma... they could make a person imagine things.

But that note said: "Beware of the Other Mom."

Was this what Annabelle meant?

"No, Mom," I said softly. "I didn't hear anything."

Mom nodded slowly, her eyes unfocused. "I think I'll go make a cup of tea. My head is splitting." With that, she turned and walked out, her footsteps light.

I stood completely still, digesting what had just happened. The chill lingered. I felt a profound sense of unease.

Was that my mother?

Or was it... the Other Mom?

Continue Reading

Other books by Min Xiaoxi

More
Service Was Mediocre: Reviewing My Billionaire Lover

Service Was Mediocre: Reviewing My Billionaire Lover

Billionaires

4.0

I woke up in a luxury penthouse with a blinding headache and bruises on my thighs, staring at the man who was about to ruin my life. Cullen Hunter, the most dangerous billionaire in Los Angeles, was stepping out of the shower, ready to discard me with a signed check and a cold look of disdain. Then the memories hit me like a physical blow. I realized I had woken up in the "Death Flag" scene of a script—this was the exact morning Avery Hall was supposed to be kicked out, humiliated, and started her downward spiral into a tragic death. The nightmare escalated within minutes. My own brother, Ernest, called to tell me I was no longer a member of the family, freezing my trust fund and evicting me from my apartment. He believed the lies of our "perfect" adopted sister, Cheslie, who had leaked her own private photos and framed me for it just to gain sympathy. Even my fiancé, Preston, couldn't wait to dump me in public, calling me a "crazy bitch" before running straight into Cheslie’s waiting arms. I was suddenly homeless, bankrupt, and the most hated woman in the city. My family wanted me to crawl back and apologize on my knees for a crime I didn't commit, while the man I had just spent the night with watched my destruction with boredom. I didn't understand how they could all turn on me so fast, or how I was expected to survive in a world where the script was literally written for my failure. "Avery, don't make this difficult," Cullen warned, waiting for the tears he thought were coming. But I refused to play the victim. I pulled three hundred dollars of my last bits of cash, slapped them onto Cullen’s nightstand, and told him the service was mediocre. I wasn't going to beg for love or mercy anymore; I was going to rewrite the ending of this story and become the most dangerous femme fatale Hollywood had ever seen.

Beyond the River's Edge

Beyond the River's Edge

Modern

3.5

The last thing I remembered was the freezing water closing over my head, Brittany' s triumphant smile the final image in my mind. Then, a gasp. I shot up, coughing, not in the dark river, but in my bed, sunlight streaming through the window. Had it all been a nightmare? The public shaming, getting fired, the whispers, the utter despair that drove me to that river' s edge? A self-satisfied hum from the living room shattered the illusion. Brittany. My heart hammered. This wasn' t a nightmare. It was a second chance. Memories flooded back: my sweet, bubbly roommate turning into a viper. She started using my online identity, my photos, twisting them into something sordid. When I confronted her, she just laughed, "Chloe, don' t be such a prude. They love it. It' s just a bit of fun." I went to HR, but she got there first, twisting the story, painting me as a jealous, unstable friend. They believed her. The photos became more explicit, sent from my work email. I was publicly humiliated, labeled an exhibitionist. My boss couldn' t look me in the eye. The company fired me to "protect its image." My career, everything I' d worked for, was gone. Brittany thrived. She took my job, my desk, my life. She stood on the ashes of my career and pretended she was a hero. The final blow was the public scandal that nearly cost me my life. And then, it did. As the current pulled me under, she had won. But now I was back. The girl who died in that river took all my innocence with her. What was left was a cold, burning desire for revenge. And as I lay there, listening to the clicks of her camera, I knew exactly how I was going to get it.

Nine Divorces, One Last Stand

Nine Divorces, One Last Stand

Romance

5.0

Five years. Nine court dates. One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days of a marriage on trial. Today, my husband, Mark Thompson, filed for divorce for the ninth time. As if his infidelity with Sarah Miller wasn' t enough, he stood in court, tears in his mistress' s eyes, dramatically presenting a positive pregnancy test and declared, "It's time for Chloe to let me go." But I had proof. A grainy surveillance video from our living room, showing Mark, drunk, begging me not to leave, then savagely biting my earlobe in a desperate, animalistic act of possession. The judge, clearly fed up with Mark' s theatrics, denied the petition. Mark, enraged, swore he' d keep fighting until I was out of his life for good. His words rang true just three nights later. I was poisoned at a dinner, doubling over in searing pain, gasping for air. Mark found me clutching my stomach, but instead of helping, he dismissed my agony, saying, "Stop faking it, Chloe. You' re just drunk." Then he drove away, leaving me to bleed on the dark street, his chilling threat echoing in the night: "Just obey, or I' ll file for divorce again at the next hearing. I' ll make sure it' s the tenth and final one." As his taillights vanished, a profound stillness settled over me. This wasn't just a physical wound; it was a soul-deep laceration, cauterized by his indifference. Lying there, alone and abandoned, a decision formed in my mind, crystal clear and devoid of emotion. I was done.

You'll also like

The Cold CEO's Unwanted Genius Wife

The Cold CEO's Unwanted Genius Wife

Meng Xinyu

I stood in the darkest corner of the Pierre Hotel’s ballroom, my cheap polyester dress itching against my skin while my wristband buzzed with a DARPA Priority Red alert. In front of the city’s elite, my fiancé Bryce Calloway took the stage, not to toast our future, but to publicly end our engagement and announce he was with my sister, Chloe. The room turned on me instantly, a hundred pairs of eyes pinning me down with pity and disgust as they physically backed away like I was contagious. When I returned home, my mother shattered a crystal vase at my feet, screaming that I was a humiliation and a "dropout" who didn't deserve a cent of the family fortune. Chloe and Bryce mocked me, laughing when I told them I had a mission with the National Security Agency, convinced I was either a pathological liar or a low-level criminal. They watched in horror as a black, unmarked military helicopter descended on our backyard to extract me, yet they still chose to believe I was being arrested for drug trafficking. They saw a pathetic girl who couldn't even parallel park, never realizing I was Dr. Nova Vance, the lead physicist behind the world's first successful fusion reactor. To secure funding for my research and gain a "fortress" of a name, I signed a thirty-day marriage contract with the arrogant billionaire Roman Knight. He treats me like a fraud, convinced I’m a gold-digger who failed out of college, while I quietly run global energy simulations from his guest bedroom. He has no idea that the "loser" he’s forced to live with is the same anonymous grandmaster who has been ruthlessly crushing him in online strategy games for months. "The contract is active," I told him, looking past his expensive suit. "But don't expect me to be your maid."

The Billionaire's Secret Triplets: Mom's Revenge

The Billionaire's Secret Triplets: Mom's Revenge

HONEY MULLINS

Six years ago, I was a naive girl sold by my father to the powerful Sanders estate, only to be tossed onto the streets after a brutal assault they labeled "marital infidelity." I fled the country pregnant and broken, hiding from the shadow of a husband I had never even met. Now, I've returned to New York with my triplets to sign the final divorce papers and disappear forever. But Archibald Sanders-the man I was told was a crippled recluse-intercepted us with the cold precision of a predator. He didn't see the woman his family destroyed; he saw a gold-digger who had shamed his name. His security team hunted us to a grimy motel, using tactical force to snatch my children away and drag me to his glass-walled empire. In his office, he loomed over me, demanding a DNA test and threatening to throw me in prison while my babies were lost to the foster system. He was convinced I'd cheated, yet he stared at my sons with a haunting confusion, unable to ignore the stormy blue eyes that were a perfect mirror of his own. I stood there, paralyzed by his scent-the sharp tang of rain and expensive leather that triggered the icy dread of my worst nightmares. How could he accuse me of betrayal when he felt exactly like the monster who had shattered my life in that dark hotel room? "I'll sign anything," I sobbed, "just give me my kids." But the game changed when my five-year-old son hacked the tower's security, holding the skyscraper hostage to save me. In the chaos, a fragile, silent boy-Archibald's secret son-wandered into the room and reached for me as if I were his missing soul. Archibald's face turned to stone as he tore up the agreement and locked the doors. "Until I find out why my son is looking at you like that," he growled, "you aren't going anywhere."

Forsaken by the Pack, Mated to the Secret Lycan King

Forsaken by the Pack, Mated to the Secret Lycan King

Da Lanlan

For two years, I was Alpha Jase Davenport's loyal assistant and secret bed-warmer. Because I was a wolfless Omega, I trusted his empty promises instead of instincts I didn't possess. Then, a push notification from a notorious gossip blog shattered my world. Jase was pictured in Paris, his hand intimately resting on the waist of my cruel stepsister, Kira. The headline screamed that he was finally claiming his fated Luna. Before I could even process the betrayal, Jase texted me a cold command to update his schedule, treating me like a soulless employee. Immediately after, my mother called to gloat. "Did you honestly believe an Alpha like Jase would settle for a defective creature like you?" She threatened to freeze my late father's Pack trust fund unless I agreed to marry an abusive, elderly Alpha to be his breeding mare. If I refused, I would be cast out as a penniless stray, easy prey for any Rogue. I was nothing but a convenient placeholder to Jase, and a piece of livestock to my own family. They thought they had me completely cornered, ready to steal my inheritance and leave me to die. But as the panic subsided, a cold clarity took its place. My father's will only required a legal mating bond to unlock my millions; it never said my family had to approve of the groom. I wiped my tears, opened my laptop, and searched for a disgraced, debt-ridden Rogue named Babe Vincent. If I needed a husband on paper to secure my freedom, I was going to buy one.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book