My Father Died, and My Mermaid Stepmother Disappeared

My stepmother insisted that she was a mermaid. I first saw her at my mother's funeral. She wore a glittering fishtail dress and bright red lipstick. "Your mother was beaten to death by your father? How pitiful. "I'm not a pushover like her. If your father lays a finger on me, the sea will help me kill him." At first, my father was completely obsessed with her. She loved water, so the house was filled with humidifiers, and the mold growing on the walls was horrifying. She also ate fish with every meal, leaving the entire house reeking of fish. One day, I couldn't take it anymore and complained to my father about my stepmother. He kicked me so hard that I flew across the room. But later, my father cheated on her. My stepmother took me by the hand and went to demand money for our living expenses, but he beat her viciously. I saw a murderous hatred in my stepmother's eyes. The next day, my father was found dead in his room in a gruesome state. All that surrounded him was a puddle of water and fish scales scattered across the floor. My stepmother had vanished without a trace. Chapter 1 By the time the police arrived, I was curled up in a corner, trembling. The entrance to our home had been sealed off with police tape. Neighbors gathered outside to watch, and their gossip drifted into my ears. "Good grief, did you hear? Mr. Scott is dead." "They said he overdid it while fooling around. His heart gave out, and he was covered in STD germs. It was horrifying to look at…" "What about his new wife? She disappeared ages ago. She even took all the money from the house. She probably saw Mr. Scott drop dead and decided she didn't want to take care of Azure. She wasn't Azure's real mother, after all." "Neither of them was legally married anyway. She had no official status, so she could leave whenever she wanted." "Poor Azure. She's so young, and both her parents died one after another. Then her stepmother ran away too. What a shame…" A few short comments were enough to piece together my miserable life. A young female police officer approached me, her voice gentle. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. Come with me." My father's body had already been taken away. I nodded, stood up, and followed the policewoman into the patrol car. In the interrogation room, the young policewoman sat across from me with a middle-aged male officer. The male officer introduced himself as Desmond Lewis and got straight to the point. "Miss Scott, please don't be nervous. We only brought you to the station to ask you a few questions. This concerns a death investigation, so you must answer honestly." My hand stiffened around the paper cup. "Okay." "First question. Where were you around eleven last night?" "At home, in my bedroom." "Did you hear anything?" My heart skipped a beat, and I hesitated. Desmond fixed me with a sharp gaze. "Please answer truthfully." "Last night, I heard shouting. My father and Ariel were arguing. They were saying horrible things to each other, and I couldn't stand the noise, so I put in my earplugs and fell asleep…" Last night had been the fiercest argument between my father, Steven Scott, and Ariel Mills. I had vaguely heard him roaring and cursing Ariel, calling her a shameless slut who would sleep with anyone. The sounds of slapping, cursing, sobbing, and smashed objects came and went. The scene was exactly the same as whenever he abused my mother. Whenever he hit Mom, I rushed forward without hesitation to protect her. I never cared that I ended up covered in bruises myself. But what goes around comes around. This time, Ariel was the one being beaten. I couldn't have cared less. Besides, unlike Mom, Ariel did not simply endure the beatings. She fought back. I shoved my earplugs deep into my ears, closed my eyes, and forced myself to fall asleep. The house was quiet early the next morning. I made breakfast and went to ask whether Dad and Ariel wanted any. The moment I pushed open the door to their bedroom, I almost threw up! Chapter 2 The stench of fish was overwhelming! Ariel loved eating fish, so the kitchen always smelled fishy, but I had never smelled anything this strong before! Then I saw Dad lying stiffly on the bed. He had been dead for some time. A large pool of some unidentified liquid covered the floor, along with numerous bloodstained scales scattered across it. Ariel had disappeared too. I screamed in terror and eventually called the police. Desmond listened to my statement and pondered for a moment. "From the time you called the police until now, you didn't touch the body or anything at the crime scene, correct?" I took a slow, shaky breath. "That's right. I was too afraid to touch anything." Desmond nodded. "I believe you. "We've already taken statements from your neighbors. Around eleven last night, the neighbor next door also heard them arguing. Apparently, they were used to it. "Moreover, Ariel is highly suspicious based on what we found at the crime scene. When we arrived, all the drawers in your father's bedroom were open, and everything inside was in disarray. "Someone had clearly searched through them. Ariel was probably looking for something—a bank card, cash, or something else." I clenched the fabric of my pants. "She might have been looking for a transformation potion." Desmond froze. "A transformation potion?" I nodded and looked away. "The truth is, she isn't human. She's a mermaid. She needed to take a transformation potion to regain her tail and return to the sea." The moment I finished speaking, the entire interrogation room fell silent for three seconds. Desmond's brows drew tightly together. "Miss Scott, this is a police station. Don't make up nonsense." "I'm not joking!" My voice rose, trembling with fear. "Mr. Lewis, Ariel really is a mermaid. She once told me that if my dad hit her, she would return to the sea…" Desmond warned me, "Miss Scott, you will be held responsible for every word you say." I looked at Desmond pleadingly. "She really is a mermaid! The kind that can swim into the sea and escape!" The interrogation room fell silent again. Desmond's voice turned serious and cold. "Are you talking about the mermaid performers at an aquarium?" "No! She really was a mermaid! I saw her transform with my own eyes!" A deathly silence filled the room. Both officers looked at me strangely. Desmond did not argue with me about it any longer. Instead, he returned to the case. "Your father drowned, but there were no signs that he struggled violently while drowning. The medical examiner is conducting further tests to determine whether he was drugged and lost consciousness before he died. "There had been a fierce fight before his death. His face and body were covered in scratches, and he had several superficial cuts from a knife. "We found someone else's skin tissue beneath his fingernails. He probably scratched his attacker during the fight. We're testing the DNA to determine whether the tissue belongs to you or someone else. "But we didn't find a single bloodstained weapon in your home. That means your father fought with someone, was drugged unconsciousness, and was then drowned." He fixed his sharp gaze on me and asked slowly. "The problem is that both the bathtub and the sink were completely dry. Even if the killer had cleaned up afterward, why would they leave a large puddle of water in the bedroom? It doesn't make sense. "Besides, there was no need to use the bathtub. Once Steven Scott lost consciousness, a basin of water would have been enough to drown him. It would have been even easier to smother him with a pillow. Why go to all that trouble? "You were at home the entire time, so I need to ask you this: What exactly do you know? Are you hiding anything?" Before he entered the interrogation room, he had already investigated my family thoroughly. He knew that my father abused my mother and that my biological mother fell into depression and died because of it. He also knew that I hated my father. That was why he suspected me. Either I killed my father myself, or I helped Ariel. I bit my lip hard and tasted the faint tang of blood. Desmond exchanged a glance with the policewoman before softening his tone. "I don't believe you would do something like this, so I want you to tell me the truth. "Did someone tell you to do something? Or did you unknowingly do something that caused your father to lose consciousness? If you tell me the truth, I'll make sure you get my help." Chapter 3 My eyes instantly filled with tears. "Mr. Lewis, you're overthinking this. I may have hated my father, but I would never want him dead. He was still the only family I had left in this world. "If he died, no one would pay for my education or give me an allowance. "I really don't know how my father died. If Ariel really killed him, then she must have transformed into a mermaid and escaped back into the sea. It's true! She really is a mermaid!" Desmond's lips moved twice, and he looked at me with a complicated expression. "How about we end today's questioning here? Miss Scott, tomorrow is Sunday, and the day after is Monday. You still have school. "So I hope you'll think carefully about everything tonight. I'll continue questioning you tomorrow." I heard him quietly tell the policewoman, "Find time to give her a psychological assessment." "Understood, sir." Just then, another officer pushed open the door and entered. "Sir, the autopsy report is ready. We also received the test results for the water found on the floor at the crime scene." The officer's expression was complicated. "There were no traces of any sedatives in the victim's stomach. The skin tissue under his fingernails didn't belong to Azure Scott. It most likely belonged to Ariel Mills. As for the water… it was seawater." Desmond's eyes widened. He stared at me in disbelief. "That's impossible! The nearest sea is thirty kilometers away. Why would she go to all that trouble to drown Steven Scott with seawater? It makes no sense!" I continued clutching the paper cup in my hands without looking up. "Mr. Lewis, I already told you. Ariel is a mermaid. If my father treated her badly, the sea would avenge her! "Ariel told me that herself. I'm not lying!" The moment I finished speaking, darkness clouded my vision. Desmond's panicked expression and moving lips were the last things I saw before I passed out. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed. The policewoman sat beside me, concern filling her eyes. The moment she saw me wake up, she handed me a cup of warm water. "Miss Scott, you're awake." I accepted the water and thanked her softly. "Captain Lewis just received word. They found Ariel Mills." My heart clenched. I choked on the water and started coughing violently. "Slow down. Are you all right?" This time, the policewoman looked at me with suspicion too. "We reviewed the surveillance footage and saw Ariel wandering around the train station. She must have used someone else's ID to buy a ticket. "Captain Lewis immediately had his officers stop her at the ticket gates. She's being held in the security office now, and Captain Lewis has gone there to arrest her. "Miss Scott, are you shocked? Or do you actually not want the police to find Ariel?" My lips trembled slightly. It wasn't that I didn't want them to find Ariel. It was that the secret would no longer stay hidden if they found her. I drifted into my memories and told the policewoman everything in broken fragments. The first time I met Ariel, she told me she was a mermaid. At first, I didn't believe her at all. But she filled the bathtub every day and soaked in it for an hour, making the entire house damp and humid. She also swallowed raw, pungent-smelling fish from the sea without removing the organs. I truly began to feel afraid. The next second, the hospital room door was thrown open. Desmond strode in with a dark expression, skipping all pleasantries. "Azure, tell me the truth. Who—or what—is Ariel Mills?" Chapter 4 Before I could say anything, the policewoman froze. "What happened, sir? Didn't you catch her? I thought she was being held in the security office." Desmond's eyes flashed with frustration and reluctance to accept defeat. "Not only did we fail to catch her, but when we arrived at the security office, she vanished in front of everyone!" According to the witness statements, Ariel had been locked inside the security office. The door was locked from the inside, and there were no signs that the window had been opened. It had been a completely sealed room. Yet when Desmond and the other officers arrived, the room was empty! All they found on the floor was a puddle of water and several fish scales, exactly like those discovered at the murder scene. Even more horrifyingly, the water was tested and found to be seawater too! Yet Ariel had gone through security without carrying any water. After Ariel vanished from the security office, the police reviewed the surveillance footage again. They found no trace of her anywhere. My heart clenched, and I gripped the edge of the blanket. "Azure, you must know something, don't you?" Desmond pressed me relentlessly. "Tell me right now! I refuse to believe that a living person could walk through walls. You must know something!" I sighed softly. "Whether you believe me or not, Ariel really is a mermaid. I once saw her transform from a human into a mermaid. It happened in the fish tank at my house. "She threatened me and said that if I told anyone her secret, I wouldn't survive either. But—but I was really scared…" Desmond listened in silence before arranging for me to see a psychologist. He even had me take a polygraph test. After a series of examinations, he discovered that there was nothing wrong with my mental state, and every answer I gave on the polygraph had been truthful. A day passed. When we returned to the entrance of the police station, Desmond remained silent. But he could not find any other evidence. With Ariel listed as the prime suspect, he had no choice but to release me. "Miss Scott, you don't have any family left now. If you run into any difficulties, contact us at any time." I gave him a faint smile. "Thank you, Mr. Lewis." When I returned to school on Monday, many of my classmates had already learned what had happened to my family. They felt terribly sorry for me, and the school even applied for special financial aid on my behalf. In everyone's eyes, I was a lonely, helpless, hardworking, and ambitious girl. I began working hard to prepare for my college entrance exams. Desmond often messaged me to ask how I was doing. From time to time, he also brought me food and study materials. He also told me, "The police have issued a nationwide warrant for Ariel Mills. We hope to catch her soon and give you some answers." I nodded lightly without contradicting him. Soon, it was time to start college. I cleaned out my father's room. I threw away the furniture Ariel had left behind, all the humidifiers, and anything else that wasn't important, as if she had never been there. Then I listed the apartment my father left behind with a real estate agency. When the agent came to view the place, she instinctively covered her nose. "Sweetheart, this place is far too damp. The walls are covered in mold. It won't be easy to sell…" I quickly tried to reassure her. "I don't mind selling it cheaply. Both my parents are gone, and I just want to sell the apartment quickly so I can save enough money for tuition." The agent looked at me with added sympathy and agreed to help me find a buyer as soon as possible. The next second, she suddenly bent down and picked something up before handing it to me. "Hey, sweetheart, is this yours?" The moment I saw the pearl stud, my heart jolted! I snatched it from her, my lips trembling. "W-where did you find it?" The agent froze for a moment. "It was lying on the floor. You probably dropped it by accident. This pearl looks pretty valuable, so you should keep it somewhere safe." I clenched the earring so tightly that I didn't even notice its metal post piercing my palm. The moment the agent left, I began packing my things. This place was no longer safe. I had to leave as quickly as possible—the sooner, the better! I had just reached the train station with my luggage when urgent shouts suddenly rang out behind me. "Azure, wait!" Desmond was dressed in plain clothes, and he rushed toward me with an anxious expression. "Your father's death case isn't over yet. Come to the station with me. I still have questions for you!" Everyone turned to look at us. My heart clenched, and I took a deep breath. "Wasn't Ariel already the prime suspect who fled?? Why are you still looking for me, Mr. Lewis? Let go of me. I have to get to school." Desmond's eyes were bloodshot as he lowered his voice. "I finally know why you kept saying Ariel was a mermaid! "I also know how she killed your father and why she suddenly disappeared from that sealed room! I understand everything!"