Chapter 1
"My dad was away on a business trip when my stepmother put a cup of instant noodles in front of me for lunch. Across the table, she and her daughter were eating fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and everything I loved.
I was seven years old, and I already knew better than to ask why.
“Eat your noodles, Ethan,” Amanda said without looking at me.
I nodded and picked up my fork.
Her daughter, Lily, was only six.
She kept staring at my bowl.
“Mom, why doesn’t Ethan get chicken?”
Amanda’s smile disappeared.
“He has food.”
“But we have lots.”
“Lily, eat your lunch.”
I lowered my head and pretended I wasn’t hungry.
Then Lily picked up a piece of chicken from her plate.
She walked around the table and placed it beside my noodles.
“Here, Ethan.”
I whispered, “Thank you.”
Amanda slammed her fork down.
“Lily!”
My little sister jumped.
“I told you not to give him your food.”
“But he’s hungry.”
“He has noodles.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Daddy always gives us the same food.”
Amanda stood so quickly her chair scraped across the floor.
“Your father isn’t here.”
Then she grabbed the chicken from my bowl and threw it back onto Lily’s plate.
“You need to understand something,” she said, pointing at me.
“He is not your real brother.”
Lily started crying.
“Yes, he is!”
“Go to your room.”
“No!”
Amanda grabbed Lily’s arm, but Lily pulled away and ran toward the hallway.
Then she stopped and looked at me.
“Ethan, show Mom what Daddy gave you before he left.”
Amanda froze.
I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out the small black device Dad had told me never to mention.
The moment she saw the blinking red light, her face went completely white.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Amanda stared at the device.
Then she stared at me.
“What is that?”
Her voice sounded different now.
Not angry.
Scared.
I closed my fingers around it.
“Dad gave it to me.”
“I can see that. What does it do?”
I remembered Dad kneeling in front of me before leaving.
His suitcase had been beside the front door.
He had spoken quietly.
“If you ever feel scared while I’m gone, press this button. Don’t argue with anyone. Don’t try to be brave. Just press it.”
I had asked him what would happen.
He told me it would record what was happening and send an alert to his phone.
“Think of it like calling me without making a phone call,” he said.
I hadn’t pressed the button.
I didn’t have to.
Lily had.
That morning, while Amanda was outside talking to someone on the phone, Lily had found the device in my jacket pocket.
She asked what it was.
I told her.
She pressed the button because she thought it was funny.
The red light had been blinking ever since.
Amanda took one slow step toward me.
“Give it to me.”
I backed away.
“Now.”
Lily ran between us.
“No!”
Amanda’s face twisted.
“Lily, move.”
“You’re going to break it.”
“That is none of your business.”
“It’s Ethan’s!”
“It belongs to this house.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I whispered.
Amanda looked at me.
“What did you say?”
“Dad gave it to me.”
She took another step.
I moved backward until my shoulders touched the kitchen wall.
“Give me the recorder, Ethan.”
My heart hammered.
“I can’t.”
Her hand shot out.
I ducked.
The device slipped from my fingers.
It hit the floor.
Amanda lunged for it.
So did Lily.
Lily got there first.
She snatched it up and ran.
“LILY!”
Amanda chased her.
I ran after them.
Lily raced down the hallway, her socks sliding across the wood floor.
She reached my bedroom before Amanda caught up.
“Lock it!” I screamed.
Lily slammed the door.
Click.
The lock turned.
Amanda hit the door so hard the pictures on the hallway wall shook.
“Open this door!”
Lily was crying inside.
“No!”
“Lily Marie, you open this door right now!”
I stood behind Amanda, frozen.
Then she turned toward me.
I had never seen her look at me that way.
Not even on the night she made me eat dinner alone because I had accidentally spilled juice on the carpet.
“This is your fault,” she whispered.
I swallowed.
“You are going to destroy this family.”
That hurt more than I expected.
Because part of me still wanted her to love me.
I knew that sounded stupid.
But when Dad married Amanda two years earlier, I thought I was getting a mother again.
My real mom had died when I was four.
I barely remembered her voice.
I remembered her perfume.
I remembered being carried through the hallway when I fell asleep on the couch.
I remembered Dad crying in the kitchen when he thought I couldn’t see him.
Then Amanda came.
At first, she hugged me.
She made pancakes.
She called me sweetheart.
She told everyone she loved me like her own.
But things changed slowly.
Only when Dad wasn’t around.
My clothes started getting washed last.
My snacks disappeared.
If Lily broke something, Amanda asked me if I had done it.
If I said no, she called me a liar.
At dinner, Lily got seconds.
I was told there wasn’t enough.
When Dad came home, everything went back to normal.
For a long time, I thought maybe I was imagining it.
Then Dad noticed I was losing weight.
He asked questions.
I said I wasn’t hungry.
Amanda answered for me.
“He’s going through a picky phase.”
Dad didn’t believe her.
I realized that the morning he gave me the black device.
Amanda stepped closer.
“You know your father loves you, Ethan.”
I said nothing.
“You know he worries too much.”
Still nothing.
“She’s lying!” Lily shouted from behind the locked door.
Amanda spun around.
“Stay out of this!”
“You are lying!”
Then Amanda lowered her voice.
“Lily, sweetheart, open the door. Mommy isn’t angry.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I promise.”
“You said promises matter.”
Amanda’s jaw tightened.
Then my pocket vibrated.
I jumped.
My phone.
Dad had recently given me an old phone that only called four numbers.
His.
Amanda’s.
Grandma’s.
And 911.
I pulled it out.
DAD CALLING.
Amanda saw the screen.
Her eyes widened.
“Don’t answer that.”
I looked at her.
The phone kept vibrating.
“Ethan.”
Her voice was sharp again.
“Do not answer.”
I pressed the green button.
“Dad?”
For half a second, there was silence.
Then his voice came through.
“Buddy, where are you?”
I almost cried just hearing him.
“At home.”
“I know. Are you okay?”
I looked at Amanda.
She slowly shook her head.
“Yes.”
Dad was quiet.
Then he asked, “Is Amanda standing next to you?”
My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
“All right. Listen carefully. Go into your room with Lily. Lock the door.”
Amanda grabbed the phone from my hand.
“Ryan, this is ridiculous.”
Dad’s voice changed.
I had never heard him sound like that.
“Amanda. Give my son his phone.”
“You don’t understand what happened.”
“I heard what happened.”
Amanda went still.
“What?”
“I heard everything.”
Her hand started shaking.
“It’s being recorded?”
“Give Ethan the phone.”
“He was being disrespectful.”
“Give him the phone.”
“He had lunch!”
“Amanda.”
Dad almost never raised his voice.
He didn’t need to.
“Give my son the phone.”
She shoved it back into my hand.
Dad said, “Ethan, go inside your room.”
Amanda grabbed my shoulder.
“Ryan, you cannot seriously be encouraging him to lock me out of a room in my own house.”
Dad answered immediately.
“I’m encouraging my seven-year-old son to go somewhere he feels safe.”
Amanda released me.
I ran to the bedroom door.
“Lily, it’s me.”
The lock clicked.
I slipped inside.
Before closing the door, I heard Dad say something that made Amanda stop breathing.
“I changed my flight.”
Amanda stared at the phone.
“What?”
“I’m coming home.”
I slammed the door and locked it.
Lily wrapped her arms around me.
“You’re my brother,” she whispered.
I hugged her back.
Outside, Amanda stood completely silent.
Then we heard her footsteps moving away.
Lily looked at me.
“Is she leaving?”
I shook my head.
I didn’t think so.
May you like
Because Amanda never gave up when she was angry.
And ten minutes later, we smelled something burning.
