Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Child Who Wasn’t: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

Phoebe Marsh, our adopted daughter, stood by the entryway and banged her ankle against the sharp corner of the shoe cabinet. Then, my daughter, Maisie Shaw, clutched her ankle and collapsed to the floor, crying her heart out. It was the same scene, the same reaction. She had been sitting obediently on her stool, playing with the Legos in front of her. When Phoebe got hurt, it was Maisie who showed the pain. The next second, Phoebe acted as if she felt nothing and continued slamming her ankle against the sharp corner until it was covered in bruises. Seeing Maisie crying loudly, my husband, Brandon Shaw, frowned and scolded her. "Maisie, this is Phoebe's first day in our home, so don't throw tantrums." When he turned and saw the bruises on Phoebe's foot, he gasped and gently carried her to the couch. He said tenderly, "This is your home now, so take some time to get familiar with everything." His tone was so gentle, and he completely ignored the fact that Maisie was still

Maisie cried until she was exhausted and finally drifted into a deep sleep. The sound of me entering the room startled her awake. She immediately jumped up in fright, with a flash of panic in her eyes. She mumbled frantically, "Mom, I'm sorry… I wasn't throwing a tantrum… I like Phoebe, but my legs really hurt. Am I sick? Am I going to die?" The image of Maisie bleeding from all her facial orifices in my previous life immediately flashed through my mind. I rushed over in terror and held her close. My breath caught as I said in a trembling voice, "No, you won't… I will protect you." Since I could not find a solution myself and could not prevent Maisie from being hurt, I decided to confront Phoebe directly and make her tell me the truth. I used the excuse of taking Phoebe shopping for clothes and drove to a secluded area. Before she could speak, I took the offensive and demanded, "What are you trying to do? Why are you hurting Maisie?" Phoebe continued to act innocent. "Mr

After two lifetimes, I had finally found a way to deal with Phoebe. I suppressed my inner joy and mimicked Phoebe's innocent tone, saying, "I only gave her a piece of cake." When I walked through the door that evening, I saw Phoebe kneeling stiffly in the center of the living room, her eyes full of hatred as she looked at me. Brandon was pacing back and forth impatiently. Finally, he grabbed a glass from the coffee table and smashed it hard in front of Phoebe. He roared, "You're trying to fight for attention too, now? You've ruined the entire party with your craziness!" Phoebe shot me a venomous look and pressed her knees hard onto the broken glass, crying as she tried to explain. "I didn't do it on purpose… I just suddenly felt sharp pain all over…" Brandon interrupted her harshly, "Enough! If you keep throwing unreasonable tantrums like this, I won't be able to keep you here either." Hearing that she might be sent away, Phoebe's face turned deathly pale. She frantically b

Phoebe hastily scribbled down an address, her face full of sincerity. "This is my mother's address. She's the one who did this. I don't know anything about it." I asked, "Your mother? If you can contact her, why are you living in an orphanage?" Unexpectedly, Phoebe suddenly started banging her head frantically like a madwoman. "I don't know, I really don't… Mrs. Shaw, please go find her…" Seeing my suspicion, Phoebe continued explaining. "Mrs. Shaw, you have to believe me. If this were really my doing, I would have told you how to fix it a long time ago. I wouldn't let myself suffer like this. Please, don't send me away… I just want a home." I hesitated but took the address anyway. No matter what, I needed to find out the truth. As for Phoebe, someone this cruel and deceitful could never stay with us once everything was resolved. … When I brought Maisie to the address, it turned out to be a hospital. I explained our situation to a doctor, but he simply shook his head. "Don

I snorted coldly. "You believe the words of a crazy person? Anyway, let's get divorced." Ever since Phoebe came to our home, Brandon's attitude toward Maisie had shown me exactly what kind of person he was. I would raise my daughter myself, and she did not need a father in name only. He looked at me in disbelief. "What did I do wrong?" I shot back, "It's what you didn't do! You stood by while Maisie suffered, and you dismissed it as her faking for attention." The memories of that time burned through me again, each one like a knife. Had I not discovered the charm hanging from Phoebe's neck and recognized the Five Venoms symbols etched into it, Maisie would already be dead. That day in the bathroom, I realized those symbols came from Teriland, where they were used to ward off evil curses. However, why would she need protection against curses unless she feared backlash herself? So, I took Maisie straight to Teriland, where I quickly found a master. I explained that the girl I