Soon, Annie returned.
"There was no one at your sister's house. I asked the neighbors, and they said they haven't seen her for a week."
My younger brother didn't take it seriously.
"So what does that prove? Maybe she generously found a place to hide."
At that moment, my younger brother's phone rang.
"Hello, is this Mia Cook's family?"
"No."
After a moment of silence, the caller said,
"But the family contact number she left is this one."
"Why don't you contact her directly?"
"Sir, we've been unable to reach her for several days. Her phone has been off."
"Don't worry about her."
"I see from the family contact list that you are her brother. She has an abnormal prenatal checkup and needs to come to the hospital for a recheck as soon as possible. Please ask her to come to the hospital for a checkup, okay?"
My younger brother hung up the phone.
Annie, who was close to my younger brother, heard everything. She was about to say something when Captain Lewis came over to ask for clues.
"Mr. Cook, are there any clues on the body?"
My younger brother shook his head.
"We can basically infer that these two bodies are a mother and child. We're just waiting for the DNA test to confirm!"
"We've already contacted major hospitals to see if there are any pregnant women with unusual conditions."
My younger brother questioned.
"Isn't this like looking for a needle in a haystack? With so many pregnant women in the city, even if regular prenatal checks are necessary..."
Captain Lewis immediately interrupted my younger brother and gave him a reprimand.
"Mr. Cook, you're wrong! A pregnant woman missing for at least five days, who wouldn't be worried? Do you think everyone is as indifferent to their family as you are?"
Captain Lewis's words made my younger brother's face flush with anger.
"What's she to me? I'm alive only because I stayed away from her!"
Captain Lewis ignored his emotions and continued questioning,
"How is your sister doing recently? She should be over seven months pregnant, right?"
My younger brother, already irritated by Annie's repeated mentions of me, was even less pleased with Captain Lewis's concern.
"Why is everyone so concerned about her? I'm busy working like a dog, and I don't have time to worry about how many months pregnant she is!"
Indeed, after finishing work, my younger brother was busy with his girlfriend and had no time to care about me and Cob.
He would rather use my life in exchange for our parents and close friends' lives. How could he care about me?
Captain Lewis didn't expect my younger brother to be so angry. He patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Mr. Cook, you're still young and impulsive. You don't understand your sister's suffering, and you don't know how much she loves you! You'll regret it later."
Whenever someone mentions me, my brother's rebellious side comes out.
"How could I possibly regret it!? I don't care whether she loves me or not! The love you think she has is just her self-righteous compensation! If she truly loved me, she would return my family and friends to me!"
My brother almost shouted these words.
Capain Lewis, knowing his temperament, shook his head and prepared to leave when the data analyst approached.
"Capain Lewis! The hospital has cross-referenced the data. Here are the details of all the pregnant women with abnormal conditions, who either missed their scheduled check-ups or had anomalies but didn't undergo timely re-examination."
Capain Lewis took the two forms with names on them and frowned.
"Contact them as soon as possible to check if there are any missing persons."
Capain Lewis turned to the next page and saw the name ‘Mia':
"Mia?"
"Is this a namesake?"
Annie leaned over, took a look, and compared the phone numbers. She was somewhat speechless.
"Capain Lewis, this is Cook's sister!"
Perhaps out of intuition, Annie hesitated, then pointed at my decapitated body and asked my brother, "Professor Cook, take a close look. Does this body resemble your sister? And the baby seems to look like you a bit. Could it be...?"
My brother, who was originally looking at the list with Capain Lewis, heard Annie's concern and sneered.
"The list might not be complete. The deceased could be anyone, but it definitely isn't Mia."
"But your sister really is missing. Aren't you worried if it's really her...?"
Capain Lewis immediately became alert.
"How do you know Mia is missing?"
But my brother used his eyes to stop the hesitant Annie.
"Why worry about a nemesis? She's about to become a mother. If she doesn't care about her own body, why should we worry for her? It would be better if she were dead!"
Even though I knew my brother hated and resented me, hearing these words for the first time still felt like a knife cutting through my heart.
Brother, don't get so worked up; it's bad for your health!
Rest assured, I am dead as you wished!
Capain Lewis knew my brother was stubborn and didn't try to persuade him.
The conversation ended unpleasantly, and everyone continued to pursue leads in the case.
That night, out of over 200 abnormal cases, only I and another pregnant woman could not be contacted.
When my brother learned this result, he was somewhat anxious but still tried to remain calm.
"Could it be that she's gone abroad, which is why we can't contact the family and herself?"
Capain Lewis immediately checked the exit records and indeed found that the other pregnant woman's family had gone abroad.
My name, marked with a red cross, stood out conspicuously.
My brother's hand holding the list trembled slightly.
"This must be Mia trying to get my attention with a new trick!"
My brother was extremely angry, and I could see his lips quivering with rage.
How I wished I could tell him that I could no longer play tricks with him, and if he was happy now?
My brother, indeed, lost his temper and even called me on his phone.
This was the first time he had proactively called me since our parents and husband died.
Unfortunately, he could no longer get through.
My brother talking to me was a dream I never thought would come true.
How ironic that this dream was fulfilled after my death!
Though late, at least this moment eased some of my grievances over the years.
My brother calling me because of the list proved that he cared about me!
Even if this care was due to the case needing to rule out victims, I was content.
My brother called three more times, and all he got were cold, automated female voice prompts.
Exhausted of patience, my brother angrily slammed the phone on the table.
"Mia, I shouldn't have worried about your life or death! Why do you always cause so much trouble!?"
As he finished speaking, a technician named Gail rushed over.
"Capain Lewis! The results are out. The male infant and the female corpse are confirmed to be parent-child. The comparison results for the female corpse are also out. The deceased is Cook..."
Gail saw his younger brother staring at him with a frightened expression, unable to speak properly.
"Captain Lewis, the deceased is Cook..."
Gail's gaze quickly flicked over to his brother, casting a pleading look at Captain Lewis.
Captain Lewis, being perceptive, pieced together the truth from Gail's expression and fragmented words.
"It's Mia, Mr. Cook's elder sister, right?"
Gail nodded with difficulty.
"Yes."
My younger brother staggered backward, accidentally knocking over a potted plant on the table. He hurriedly crouched down to pick it up.
"What did you say?"
Gail took a step back and said slowly,
"It's your sister, Mia."
My younger brother froze while picking up the pot. When he looked up again, his eyes were red.
"Who did you say the deceased is?"
Captain Lewis took the DNA report from Gail, his face full of sorrow.
"This is terrible!"
My younger brother could no longer care about the pot on the ground. It was a green plant his beloved girlfriend had given him, said to bring him good luck.
Ignoring the cherished plant, which was now shattered on the floor, he stood up abruptly and snatched the report from Captain Lewis.
Despite the few lines of text, he mumbled the words, reading them over and over:
"How could this be? How could Mia be dead?"
"She hasn't atoned for her sins yet. Who allowed her to die!?"
My younger brother was acting very strangely. Captain Lewis advised him.
"Mr. Cook, death is irreversible. You should grieve..."
But my younger brother pushed Captain Lewis aside and ran madly towards the morgue.
Annie had already received the news. With red eyes, she was preparing to sew my limbs back onto the torso.
My younger brother swatted the needle from Annie's hand.
"No one is allowed to touch her!"
"This can't be Mia. I want to sew her up myself. I need to prove that this isn't Mia's body!"
Annie's hand froze in mid-air and finally fell limply.
"Mr. Cook, let me do it. You should go rest."
My younger brother, however, seemed to ignore her and began carefully sewing my body.
He worked with such concentration that even though his hands shook violently, the stitches were remarkably neat.
At that moment, he resembled our mother when she used to sew clothes for us.
This was the first time since our parents' deaths that he had taken me seriously, aside from his hatred!
That night, my younger brother didn't go home or stay with his beloved girlfriend, Lucy Savage.
It wasn't until the final stitch was done that his eyes were red from exhaustion.
When Lucy's frantic calls came in, my younger brother yelled at her for the first time ever, "Always demanding! How many times do I have to say I'm not coming back tonight? Can't you be more understanding?"
This was the first time I had ever seen my younger brother angry with Lucy.
He loved Lucy so much, yet he was willing to snap at her!
Lucy, having a sharp temper herself, immediately retorted,
"Luca, what's with your attitude? If you treat me like you do your sister, we're done!"
My younger brother abruptly hung up the phone.
He was a bit stunned.
"I'm even harsher to my sister normally, and she's fine..."
I sat beside him, laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face.
Silly younger brother, it's because your sister loves you, while Lucy doesn't!
