Chapter 4

The plane landed. My mother took Clara to the duty-free shops to distract her.

My father hesitated for a long time before finally pulling out his phone to call me.

The call didn't go through.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he tried again.

Actually, it was hard to tell if he was genuinely frowning. He frowned so much over the years that a deep crease had permanently etched itself between his brows. He always looked unhappy.

The second call went unanswered too.

He opened Snapchat and typed:

[Chloe, are you awake? Did you eat anything?]

I floated right in front of him, waving my ghostly hands. "Dad, I didn't eat. But I'm not hungry anymore. Please, just come home and check on me."

[Chloe?]

He sent another message. But he couldn't see me, and he couldn't hear me.

Finally, he let out a long sigh and locked his phone.

He muttered to himself, "If only I could make more money... If only we could have brought Chloe along too. Well, Chloe still has a long life ahead of her. I'll bring her next time."

With that, my father stood up.

I watched his retreating back and whispered, "Dad, I don't have a 'next time' anymore."

"I only have the past."

My mother and Clara walked out of the duty-free shop. My father immediately took the shopping bags from Clara's hands. My mother asked, "Did Chloe pick up?"

My father pursed his lips. "It didn't go through."

My mother sighed. "That girl... she's throwing a tantrum again."

My father led Clara forward, while my mother pulled out her phone and sent me a text:

[Did you eat?]

Still, no response.

She opened her Venmo. She had a little over seven thousand dollars left in her balance. She muttered, "Three thousand for the hotel, two thousand for food, two thousand for Clara's emergency medical reserve..."

Gritting her teeth, she Venmoed me five hundred dollars with a note:

[Chloe, stop being mad at me. Take this money and go buy some medicine.]

But the money remained unclaimed, and the message went unread.

My mother huffed in annoyance, "She's really getting out of hand!"

She shoved her phone back into her purse and walked away with giant strides.

I stared at her back and whispered, "Mom, I can't accept it anymore."