Chapter 3The Parasite in My Daughter’s Veins

David took the girl directly to his parents’ house, clearly to keep me from “going crazy” again.

Still refusing to believe she was my daughter, I started posting messages online, hoping her real parents would see them. The posts gained significant traction. David saw them and accused me of deliberately stirring up trouble.

The internet, however, seemed to pity me, while simultaneously condemning me as a madwoman. And that little girl… she sent me messages every single day.

“Mommy, Daisy misses you so much. Please, don’t argue with Daddy anymore.”

“Daisy will be good.”

David also apologized for hitting me, urging me to see a psychiatrist.

I ignored his pleas. Instead, I began to sift through Daisy’s belongings, until I found a medical report. It clearly stated that my daughter had a severe seafood allergy; she couldn’t eat any of it. I remembered vividly how, because of this, David and I had stopped buying seafood, terrified of risking her health. The time she accidentally ate a single shrimp at preschool and broke out in hives was etched into my memory.

She’s not allergic to seafood!

Like a drowning person clutching at a straw, I immediately drove to David’s parents’ house.

I saw Michelle peeling crab for the girl. Overwhelmed, I lunged forward, grabbing the girl’s hand.

“You’re allergic to seafood! How can you eat crab? Tell me, where is my daughter?!”

The girl cried piteously, looking at me with wide, bewildered eyes. “Mommy, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I pulled her, intending to take her to the hospital. Michelle quickly intervened, grabbing my arm.

“Enough! Isn’t it too much, the way you’re questioning this child?”

My eyes fixed on Michelle, and in that instant, I suddenly saw it. The girl’s eyebrows… they looked so much like Michelle’s.

As I froze, Michelle let out a sharp cry. I felt a forceful shove. Both the girl and I tumbled down the stairs.

I heard footsteps from the entrance and turned to see David rushing towards us, his face etched with panic. Michelle, meanwhile, scrambled down the stairs, feigning terror.

“David!” she wailed, her voice thick with tears. “Sarah’s really gone crazy! She actually tried to kill Daisy!”

As I fell down the stairs, my instinct took over. I wrapped my arms around the girl, shielding her body, taking the brunt of the impact myself.

David quickly lifted the girl into his arms. She clung to his sleeve, her eyes wide and innocent.

“Daddy, I thought Mommy came to find me because she remembered me. But she just kept pulling my hand, no matter if I wanted to or not.”

“When Aunt Michelle tried to help me, she actually tried to push me down the stairs! Does Mommy really not love me anymore?”

Her cries were unbearable. I couldn’t control my voice. “Enough! You’re not my Daisy! And I didn’t try to push you!”

David held her close, his eyes blazing with fury at me.

“Sarah Miller, I misjudged you! Do you think a child, so small, just rolls down the stairs on her own?!”

“No, I didn’t…” I started to protest, but Michelle interjected from the side.

“David, I think Sarah’s condition is getting worse. She’s starting to hallucinate, even doing things that could harm people.”

I remembered the medical report I’d found earlier. “No! I didn’t! David, this girl is allergic to seafood, she can’t…”

The little girl, still nestled against David, continued to sob. “Daddy, Aunt Michelle, my body hurts so much.”

I grabbed David’s pant leg, desperate for him to take her to get checked for allergies.

David, with a look of utter helplessness, shook my hand away. My head hit the floor, and everything went black.