Chapter 3

The next day, the police came to our door again.

My parents weren''t home, so I greeted the police and let them in.

An officer asked, "Did your sister have any suicidal thoughts recently, like failing exams, fighting with your parents, or heartbreak?"

I racked my brain for a long time and finally shook my head.

Ivy had always been top of her class. She got perfect scores on every final exam.

She was obedient, and my parents cared for her. They never scolded her. They had no reason to.

As for heartbreak, that was impossible. Ivy was only in seventh grade. She didn''t have a boyfriend.

The police couldn''t figure it out, so they tried a different approach.

"What about your grandmother? Did she show any intention of ending her life lately? The moment she saw Ivy''s note, she jumped. So what exactly did Ivy write?"

When I heard them mention my grandmother, tears streamed down my face.

I was sad about Ivy, but Martha''s death affected me more. After all, I watched her jump in front of me.

I cried so hard that I could barely speak.

Seeing my state, the police ended the investigation. They concluded that Ivy was overwhelmed by academic pressure.

However, they had just left our home when they hurried back.

Their captain, James Miller, looked at me with hesitation.

He stayed silent for a long time, then spoke in a raspy voice. "Please don''t be too upset. We just got the news that your father jumped into the river."

My face paled on the spot. My body shook uncontrollably.

The police took me to the riverbank. The white tape had already been set up.

Crowds watched as the police led me inside. They started whispering.

"That''s the daughter of the man who just died, isn''t it? She looks just like him."

"What could have driven him to this, leaving his daughter behind?"

"I heard his other daughter ended her life, so he couldn''t bear it anymore and jumped in too!"

"His daughter was gone, but he still had another one. How could he abandon her?"

Their words made my heart sink.

I never would have believed my father, who was always afraid of water, would choose to end his life in the river.

An officer patted my shoulder and handed me a phone. It showed a video taken by onlookers.

I saw my father drive up to the riverbank. He calmly got out of the car, ran to the edge of the bridge, and jumped.

In the video, he was decisive. He didn''t hesitate for even a second.

The rushing water swallowed him at once.

Watching the last moments of my father, I covered my mouth and sobbed.

I knew David couldn''t swim and was terrified of water.

Jumping into that raging river meant certain death, with no chance of survival.

I covered my mouth, crying.

In just a few days, I had lost my sister, my grandmother, and now my father.

I collapsed to the ground in despair, unable to understand why this was happening.

James looked at me gravely. "Fiona, I know you''re hurting, but you have to pull yourself together. From the clues we have, Ivy''s last note is the key. You need to tell us what it said."

I was on the verge of breaking down. I grabbed my head and screamed. "I don''t know! I really don''t know!"

If I could, I''d do anything to find out what Ivy wrote.

Why did my father and grandmother both kill themselves after reading it?

Right then, Linda arrived in a hurry.

She accepted David''s suicide very calmly, showing no emotion.

She stood at the riverbank and answered the police''s question.