Looking back now, if we were stuck together as a family, I might as well make sure everyone got exactly what they deserved.

I stretched out my hand and asked for money. "I need money to buy fish."

Dad—Derek—was always generous when it came to buying things for Rayne.

He pulled out 20 dollars and handed it to me. "You're the only one who knows how to put on a show, acting like you're dying. What a drama queen.

"Whatever's left over from buying the fish, you bring every cent back to me. If I find out you dared to keep any of it for yourself, I'll beat you to death!"

"It's not enough."

"What did you say?"

The moment Derek heard me ask for more money, he exploded. "You little beast, are you trying to secretly save up your own stash? Since you came into this house, have you done a single thing right? We're already being generous by not making you pay rent."

Alessia, who'd been staring down at her phone the whole time, chimed in, "Finn, your dad's not wrong to call you out. At your age, it's easy to go down the wrong path. Your dad controlling your money is for your own good.

"Besides, if you need money, just ask us. If it's for something legitimate, we'll give it to you, won't we?"

I almost laughed. When I was dying, they wouldn't spare a single cent. What legitimate reason could I possibly have that they'd care about?

I didn't take the bait. I just said flatly, "20 dollars will only get us a dead fish."

"I don't want dead fish! I want crispy glazed salmon!" Rayne's shrill voice rang out.

Derek couldn't stand to see his daughter disappointed. He handed me another 50 bucks. "Pick the best fresh salmon for your sister."

Derek loved making things difficult for me.

It didn't matter though. Whatever fish I bought, I'd be the one cooking it anyway.

I went to the market and found a discount fish that was already going bad, then took a detour to the pharmacy to buy what I needed. Now I just had to wait for the delicious sweet and sour fish to come out of the pan.

"You're only just getting back? Are you deliberately trying to starve Ray? How can you be so heartless?"

Derek only cared how long I'd been gone because it meant Rayne was waiting. Her hunger mattered. He didn't remember that I'd just had surgery.

I was used to it. I didn't even change my clothes before going to cook for them. I swapped out the salt for what I'd bought at the pharmacy, smiling as I stirred it in.

I clutched my stomach with one hand and hobbled over to set the table. Only then did Rayne and her parents leisurely make their way over. Rayne grabbed a huge bite with her fork and smacked her lips.

"Delicious!"

Seeing his daughter enjoying it so much, Derek quickly said to me, "Finn, you have a wound. Fish isn't good for you right now, so you can't eat any. Go back to bed and rest. After we finish eating, you can have the leftovers. Don't let anything go to waste."

I had been rushing around without a break, and I wasn't even allowed to sit at the table. Well, I was used to it.

Finally, I could rest. I looked at the blood in my drainage bag and listened through the door to the happy laughter of Rayne's family.

I wanted to see if they'd still be laughing half an hour from now.

After they finished eating, I came to clear the table. The glazed salmon had been picked clean down to the bones. What they left me was half a serving of mashed potatoes and some vegetables.

I ate the leftovers slowly, checking the time between bites. What I'd added to the salmon should take effect soon.

"My stomach hurts!" Rayne clutched her stomach and screamed, then rushed to the bathroom.

Less than a minute after coming out, she grabbed her stomach again and ran back in.

Derek pressed himself against the door worriedly. "Ray, are you okay?"

"My stomach hurts so bad!"

I smiled to myself as I continued eating. I'd bought a massive dose of laxatives from the pharmacy. Rayne was greedy and ate too much, so naturally her stomach would pay the price.

Of course, Derek blamed me for Rayne's upset stomach. He knocked the plate out of my hands and raised his hand to slap me.

"You jinx, did you buy rotten fish? If anything happens to Ray, I'll skin you alive!"

Before Derek could finish, his hand involuntarily moved to clutch his own stomach. His face twisted in pain as he hunched over, unable to hold it in anymore.

"I'll deal with you later…"

Derek crouched outside the bathroom door, pounding on it hard. "Ray, how much longer are you going to be?"

Then Alessia joined in. "Ray, honey, hurry up. I need to use the bathroom too."

One big happy family, taking turns rushing to the bathroom without a moment's rest. After a few rounds, they were all dehydrated.

They knew I was behind it, but Derek didn't even have the strength left to curse me out. I called 911, and all three of them were loaded into the ambulance.

With no one home, I pried open Derek's drawer and found my ID and three payroll cards.

I packed my bags and had a friend come pick them up. My escape route was ready. Everything was in place. It was time for the so-called jinx to show what he could really do.

In his rush to get to the hospital, Derek forgot his phone, something he never left behind. I unlocked it and scrolled to a contact saved as "Boss", then started typing a message.

"Boss" was Derek's mistress, Lily Morgan. I knew her well. I'd run into her countless times.

Derek didn't have a real job. He was pathetic and terrified of his wife. When Alessia spoke, he never dared disobey her.

But whenever his wife and daughter weren't home, he brought Lily over to fool around.

When I was home, Derek never bothered hiding it from me. He openly brought Lily to the house, made me be polite to her, had me serve them dinner, and then sent me away.

Afterward, Derek always gave me ten bucks as hush money. Since Alessia and I had a bad relationship, he was confident that I wouldn't sell him out.

For the sake of family harmony, I stomached my disgust and never breathed a word. Derek bragged to everyone about how good Alessia was to him.

People had to face reality eventually. Alessia, who'd been kept in the dark, deserved to know the truth.

Using Derek's name, I typed out a message. "Babe, I'm in the emergency room right now!"

The next message naturally included the hospital's address. Within a minute, Lily sent over a dozen messages in a row. I didn't reply to any of them.

Leaning against the couch, I figured Lily should be arriving at the hospital about now. I changed into nicer clothes and headed to the hospital to watch the show.

Before I even reached the emergency room, I heard Alessia shrieking. "Derek, you explain this to me right now! Who is this woman?"

Derek knelt on the ground, begging forgiveness. "Honey, I swear I don't know her!"

Lily wasn't backing down either. "Derek, you coward! When you had your arms around me, you didn't say you didn't know me!

"You called your wife a fat pig and said she was worse than a tiger. Did you forget all that? You even told me her useless body couldn't give you a son, so having a son depended entirely on me!"

Alessia ripped out her IV in fury and lunged at Lily like a rabid dog. "You homewrecker! How dare you steal my husband? You even had the nerve to show up at the hospital? I'll beat you to death!"

Alessia and Lily got into a full brawl. Derek didn't know which one to pull away.

His precious daughter saw her mother losing her mind but just lay calmly in bed playing games on her phone. It was like whatever happened in the family had nothing to do with her.

The hospital was full of sick patients. Being ill was already miserable enough, and now this ridiculous scene was disrupting everyone's rest. It sparked public outrage.

Medical staff and other patients' families shouted at them.

"This is a hospital! If you want to fight, go home and do it! Let people rest!"

"My dad's heart rate just hit 180! If something happens to him, you'll answer for it!"

A burly family member walked over and kicked Derek twice as he knelt there groveling. "Are you even a man? You can't even control your own women. Get them both out of here now!"

I noticed Derek kept making eyes at Lily, mouthing words silently, signaling for her to leave.

Lily had come to the city for work. She used to wait tables at a restaurant, where she met Derek.

She was lazy and didn't want to work. She wanted someone to take care of her, so she became Derek's mistress.

Lily was only a few years older than me. Derek was probably older than her own father.

She'd taken his money, so she couldn't disobey him. Lily didn't dare ignore Derek. If she lost this meal ticket, she'd have to go back to working, getting up early and staying up late. Lily was done with that life.

She played along with Derek, humbly apologizing to Alessia. "Ma'am, I'm so sorry. I mistook you for someone else. Your husband looks just like mine. Are they twins or something?"

"Are you crazy? My husband doesn't have a twin!"

Alessia suspected Lily was lying, but she wasn't about to make a bigger scene. With all these people watching, she'd take the excuse and deal with it later.

I pressed hard on the wound on my stomach. Tears immediately sprang to my eyes. The show hadn't reached its climax yet. I couldn't let it end here.

Ignoring the pain, I rushed into the ward and shouted, "Dad! Mom! Ray! Are you all okay?"

I grabbed Lily just as she was about to leave and greeted her loudly. "Lily! What's wrong with you? Why are you at the hospital too?"