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Chapter 9%
The moment Aaron and I stepped through the door, a heavy glass ashtray flew straight at us.”
Cassandra’s adoptive father went pale with shock and with a stammering voice, he scrambled to explain himself, “What are you saying? When have I ever betrayed you? You’re the one who said the girl seemed sensible and wanted to bring her home. Now you’re putting this all on me?”
The two of them were in the middle of a heated argument when they noticed our presence. Their eyes locked onto us and their entire demeanor changed. They instantly grew wary.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
Aaron and I introduced ourselves and explained why we were there. The moment I mentioned my daughter had gone missing too, Cassandra’s adoptive mother’s suspicion faded and she finally relaxed a little.M
“What a disaster… that wretched little Cassandra! Nothing good ever comes from her. What are the odds? Two kids missing at the same time?”
I could tell she wasn’t stupid. She had sharp instincts. So, I decided to share my suspicions about Cassandra.
From her fragmented account, I slowly pieced together the bigger picture.”
They had not adopted Cassandra purely out of goodwill. Part of it was to have her help take care of their son at home. Another reason was they had a long–term plan, which was to have someone to care for them in old age.”
They thought that because Cassandra’s legs were crippled, she would be stuck at home and would be quietly grateful for their charity. From the moment Cassandra moved in, strange things began to happen around the house. Their son, who used to be stable for a long time, suddenly became emotionally erratic. At night, he would make strange noises that sent chills down their spines.
At first, they thought it was just one of his episodes and gave him medication. However, when they bathed their son, they noticed something truly disturbing. There were bruises and cuts all over his body. They had no idea where they came from.}
That very night, Cassandra snuck out of the house.
If was not for a call from the police, they would never have realized she had shown up at our house.}
Even then, they did not suspect Cassandra. They figured maybe their son had hurt himself while playing. However, the next day, his injuries worsened and Cassandra disappeared for an entire day.
By the time they returned home from looking for her, their son was gone. That was when they finally accepted the horrifying truth that everything led back to Cassandra.}
However, because of Cassandra’s earlier testimony and the fact that she herself had visible bruises, the police refused to believe the adoptive parents.
Left with no options, they returned home and started going through Cassandra’s belongings. They hoped to find some sort of clue.} When I shared my own suspicions, they were so furious that they slammed their fists on the table in anger.
“That little brat! I can’t believe she’d do something like this!“W
“However, what can we do? The police won’t believe us! Our son’s sick so he won’t survive long out there on his own!”
I tried to comfort them as best I could and offered to help them go through Cassandra’s things.]
Thankfully, after the adoption, all of her belongings had been brought over to their home. The four of us crouched on the floor and began digging through everything.”
However, we had no idea that the story had already gone viral online.
It was not until Aaron got a call from a colleague that we realized we were the targets of a full–blown internet witch hunt.
The story of Cassandra being abused after being adopted became a hot search on the internet.
Then someone from the orphanage exposed our past charitable work. Unfortunately, that only fanned the flames and instead of helping us, it only fueled netizen’s outrage.
People called us hypocrites, that we were liars with a fake heart of gold. They slammed us for doing charity for show but refusing to adopt a helpless disabled girl.
They blamed us for Cassandra ending up with abusive adoptive parents. After that, they dug deeper.
Within hours, Aaron’s and my personal information was doxxed and plastered all over the internet.
We were instantly hit with a tidal wave of hate.
The social media accounts where we used to post about our daily life and our daughter were flooded with insults and verbal abuses. Our account was eventually banned.
The moral blackmail didn’t stop. It kept coming continuously.
Aaron was furious. He even tried to explain in the comments that our own daughter was missing and that we were in a state of panic and despair…E