Chapter 4

"I have a meeting soon. I might be home a little late tonight. Just get your things packed. We're flying to the Netherlands tomorrow morning. You've just been working too hard, you're talking nonsense."

Looking at the disconnected call, I felt helpless. Based on the previous two times, he would still come home. I couldn't leave him alone and hide by myself.

Frustrated, I thought about calling the police. But as I was about to dial, a SnapChat message popped up.

It was from our neighborhood group chat.

"Heard someone around here got robbed, and both people died!"

"No, they didn't die. Heard the burglar just got in when the husband found him. The burglar had a knife and stabbed him several times. The commotion drew the wife downstairs, and she got stabbed too. Both are seriously injured and are still in the ICU."

"That family just moved in. The houses around them are mostly empty, only one other family lives nearby, but they're far, so they only heard faint sounds and didn't pay much attention."

Home invasion, two people. I inexplicably thought of Liam and me.

Knowing it couldn't be us, I still asked in the group:

"When was this home invasion?"

Someone replied immediately.

"About a week ago. You probably hadn't moved in yet."

A week ago. Then it had nothing to do with me.

I felt a pang of pity for the people in the ICU.

You never know what tomorrow or an accident will bring first.

But now, I didn't have time for sorrow, because in a little over ten hours, I would also face death.

This time, I didn't know if I'd get another chance.

I didn't call the police. The reason was, how would I even explain? "I've died twice, someone's trying to kill me, send help at midnight?" No sane person would believe that.

I decided to wait until tonight to call 911.

My immediate priority was to check the house inside and out, locking all windows and doors.

For lunch, I ordered DoorDash.

It was from a place I frequently ordered from, and I knew their delivery driver well. But strangely, today's driver was wearing a mask and sunglasses, completely covered.

"Your order."

His voice was a bit hoarse. Since I knew him, I asked, concerned:

"What's wrong with your voice?"

"Caught a cold recently."

As he handed me the food, I distinctly felt him staring at me for several seconds, until I closed the door.

Normally, I wasn't a meticulous person, but after the last two incidents, I was clearly more alert.

I deliberately stood by the door, trying to listen for his retreating footsteps, but heard nothing.

Just silence.

That eerie feeling crept up on me again, and my skin crawled.

Just as I was about to give in and call the police, I finally heard footsteps fading into the distance.

I sighed in relief. After the tension, I had no appetite, so I just placed the DoorDash on the dining table, intending to scroll through some TikToks to distract myself.

However, about ten minutes later, DoorDash called me.

"Hello, your delivery has arrived. It's at your door, please come out and get it."

I was confused.

"I didn't order anything? Are you sure you have the right address?"

"No, the address is correct. You ordered from Zhou's Wonton, right?"

That single sentence froze me completely. My gaze fell upon the food box on the table.

If my DoorDash was only just arriving now, then who delivered the food earlier?

"I hung your order on the door. Remember to grab it."

Suddenly, I didn't dare to look inside that DoorDash box.

Nor did I dare to open the door.

*Ding-dong.*

A SnapChat message popped up. It was from Liam.

"Your fruit delivery arrived. Remember to eat it."