After I am diagnosed with stomach cancer, I ask for some money to buy medicine. I don't want to be in excruciating pain when I die.

My three elder brothers rush into the ICU.

Andy Lewis—my eldest brother—slaps me hard across my face. He scolds me for ruining his beloved younger sister, Summer Lewis' coming-of-age party.

My second brother, Sherman Lewis, calls me a liar. He accuses me of pretending to be sick to swindle money from them.

Jimmy Lewis, who is my third brother, calls me useless. He tells me that I deserve to die.

My parents, Kenneth Lewis and Autumn Farrow, don't believe that I'm sick. They pin me with looks of contempt and ridicule.

"You still haven't stopped that lying habit of yours even though you're all grown up. You even learned how to blackmail us with your death.

"If you want to die, do it sooner. It'll spare us from being disgusted when we're forced to look at you day in and day out."

I end up dying on the first day of the New Year. Before I breathe my last breath, I send a message to the family group chat. My entire family goes crazy after reading it.

Four months before I was diagnosed with stomach cancer, I was dressed in a Playboy Bunny costume and working in a bar. As I picked up a tray, I suddenly fainted.

When I woke up in the hospital, I saw that I was admitted as a patient with a critical illness. The doctor asked me to stay in the hospital to receive treatment. If I didn't comply, I would die very soon.

I stared at the astronomical amount on the medical bill—78,450 dollars.

The bill didn't include the medicine I would need to purchase for future treatments, the fees I would have to pay for my stay in the hospital, or the services the hospital staff provided.

That amount was simply the first payment that had to be made. The pen fell from between my fingers, and I refused to sign the document.

"You'll die if you're not treated," the doctor explained. "Where are your parents? Hurry and tell them to pay the medical bill."

The doctor looked at me with a bewildered expression.

"They won't save me. In fact, they would probably be happy if I died sooner than later," I answered weakly.

"How could that be? You should go home and gather what little money you have. The sooner you receive treatment, the higher the chances of you surviving."

The doctor encouraged me earnestly, but I just fell silent. Not long after the doctor left, three men rushed into the ICU.

I had just gotten to my feet when one of them slapped me hard across my face. The blow was so powerful that it caused my head to snap back and collide with the bedside cabinet. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

My head throbbed loudly as my stomach churned. I could only curl in on myself as if the pain would lessen if I did that.

"Winter, why must you be so loathsome? You pretended to have stomach cancer and lied to us just to ruin Summer's coming-of-age party."

The man's voice was raised and accusatory, dripping with disgust. I forced myself to peel my heavy eyelids open and looked up into a face that looked similar to mine.

The handsome man was dressed in a crisp suit and was glaring at me with fury burning in his eyes. A bone-chilling coldness rolled off him in waves, adding to his incredibly intimidating air.

"Andy, I—"

Before I could finish my sentence, he interrupted me by shouting, "Stut up! Don't you dare call me like that!"

He raised his hand again. Upon seeing how he was going to strike me again, Summer, who had been standing to the side, hastily grabbed his arm.

She sobbed, "Andy, don't hurt Winter anymore. Maybe she was just… throwing a little tantrum."

Andy's voice softened in an instant when he spoke to Summer.

"You don't have to defend her, Summer. She's always harbored ulterior motives. She's not gentle and kind like you are."

I chewed my bottom lip as I looked at them, gripping the railing of the bed for dear life. My stomach felt like it was on fire while my head continued to throb painfully.

"Don't cry. We'll go back and celebrate soon. I even put in a special order for your favorite diamond ring."

Andy stroked her face before wiping the tears from her eyes, his heart squeezing painfully.

"Thank you, Andy," Summer replied, her eyes brightening as she hugged his arm happily.

When Andy turned to look at me, the warmth in his eyes froze over and turned to glaciers. "It's been eight years, but you still haven't cleaned up your pathetic act. You still like to lie and steal the spotlight out of jealousy."

He sighed deeply before continuing in a disappointed tone, "I can't believe that you're Mom and Dad's biological daughter. I truly regret asking them to bring you home."

Tears streamed down my cheeks and blurred my vision, but I forced a smile.

"What are you smiling for? Are you that amused by what happened today?" he shouted angrily.

"I'm telling you the truth about my stomach cancer. I'm going to die soon. Do you believe me?" My tone was colored by despair as I pointed at the medical record placed on the bedside cabinet.

Andy was stunned for a moment before he gave me a once-over. He scoffed and sneered, "No one would believe you after all your lies, Winter.

"A person with stomach cancer should be taking care of themselves. They wouldn't work in a bar in a Playboy Bunny costume."

Sherman and Jimmy had just made it to my bed, and they glared daggers at me as if I were their sworn enemy.

"You're nothing but a liar, Winter. Did you really think you could swindle us out of our money by pretending to be ill? I'll have you know that you won't be getting a single cent of our family's fortune."

Sherman was wearing a steely expression. He poked my back and even shoved me forward. Fortunately, I was supporting myself against the wall. I would have fallen if I hadn't.

"The Lewis family doesn't need a useless piece of crap like you! You're simply getting your just desserts if you die.

"How dare you try to trick us with your medical records? You're way out of line," Jimmy said coldly.

He ripped the medical record off the clipboard. He didn't glance at the contents even once before tearing it to shreds, letting the scraps flutter to the ground.

Andy shook his head and sighed. He wrapped one arm around Summer's shoulders. "Go home by yourself. It's Summer's coming-of-age party today. You better not have that long face when you show up."

Sherman and Jimmy trailed after them. I watched as my brothers orbited around Summer as they took their leave before sighing deeply.

"But I'm really about to die," I murmured.

After purchasing the cheapest painkillers that were available, I didn't even have enough money left to take the bus. As a result, I had to walk 18 miles home. The journey took me over four hours.

The party was in full swing when I arrived at the Lewis residence. It was Summer's coming-of-age today. Many powerful and illustrious figures in the city had shown up to celebrate her special day.

Everyone knew that Summer became part of the Lewises because the nurse had switched us at birth, causing me, the true heiress of the Lewis family, to be taken away by a poor family in the outskirts for eight years.

Despite that, my biological family hated me. When I was about to enter the villa, I was blocked by the security guard.

"You don't have the permission to enter. Mrs. Lewis informed us that Ms. Summer's party had started. Latecomers are not allowed to enter because they have no respect for Ms. Summer."

Night had already fallen, and the biting winds were picking up in intensity. Soon after, rain began to pour from above relentlessly.

When I tried to leave, the security guard said coldly, "Mr. Jimmy said that as punishment for delaying Ms. Summer's party, you need to stand at the door and reflect on your actions. You're not allowed to leave before the party is over."

I had no other choice but to stay rooted in the spot. Jimmy had a short temper. He would take his wrath out on me if I didn't follow his orders.

The rain came down harder. Chunks of hail were mixed in with the raindrops. My clothes were drenched in no time, and it hurt when the hail collided with my body.

I squatted down and covered my head with my arms, doing my best to protect my head from getting injured. It didn't take long before stinging pain began to radiate from my hands.

I could hear excited cheering coming from inside the villa. Every cheer felt like an arrow that pierced my heart. The arrow would then be plunged deeper into my heart, twisted slowly to hurt me as much as possible. The pain was unbearable.

It was actually my birthday today as well, but I didn't have a party, a cake, or any blessings. In fact, no one remembered that it was my special day, too.

I recalled how Summer had slipped and gotten hurt during one of my birthday celebrations in the past. Kenneth and Autumn had rushed her to the hospital, and everyone had stayed by her side to watch over her.

I had used all my savings to buy a small cake to celebrate my birthday at the time. When Sherman returned home and saw the cake, he had been so infuriated that he threw the whole thing into the trash.

He told me that by celebrating my birthday, I would be bringing misfortune upon Summer since we shared the same birthday. It was why she had fallen and hurt herself. As a result, I was forbidden from celebrating my birthday from that day forward.

I recalled the first time I was brought back to the Lewis residence. There were over a dozen rooms in the building, but Summer's belongings were scattered in all of them. She had wailed loudly and refused to let me stay in even one of the rooms.

"This is my dance room. That's my piano room. And that's my study. I need all of them!"

Autumn hurried over to Summer to comfort her, saying, "It's alright; you can keep all of them. Don't cry."

Kenneth's heart had clenched painfully when he held Summer's hand. He then turned to me and said, "We're sorry, Winter. You'll just have to stay in the storeroom temporarily."

Andy had been there, too, and he had chimed in to support Kenneth. "That's right, Winter. You can stay in the storeroom for now. We'll move you to another room later."

Sherman and Jimmy had also joined in to convince me. I didn't want to trouble them, so I agreed.

The storeroom ended up becoming my permanent room for the next eight years. The winds and the rains would often leak into the storeroom. After staying there for so long, I developed rheumatic disorders.

The Lewises didn't treat me particularly well even from the beginning, but at the very least, they respected me. Their behavior toward me changed in the span of a single night when Summer dropped by the storeroom.

I had switched off the lights, so I became frightened when I saw someone's shadow looming in the dark. When I pushed her away, a cry echoed throughout the villa.

Summer tumbled down the staircase after I shoved her. She had been holding the family heirloom, an emerald pendant, when she fell down the stairs, and it shattered into a million pieces upon impact.

Upon hearing the commotion, Kenneth, Autumn, Andy, Sherman, and Jimmy rushed to where we were.

"Winter, why did you push me?" Summer wailed, clutching onto what was left of the emerald pendant.

She was gasping heavily, and the back of her head was bleeding profusely. She looked utterly miserable and pitiful at that moment.

I wasn't given the chance to explain myself when Kenneth aimed a powerful kick at me, causing me to collide against the wall.

"Summer wanted to give you the emerald pendant out of the kindness of her heart. How dare you return her kindness by hurting her?" he screamed.

"Winter, you've crossed the line," Autumn scolded. "You may be jealous of her, but that doesn't give you the right to do something so despicable!

"The emerald pendant is broken, too. That pendant was passed down in our family through so many generations. You're truly nothing but an evil eye!"

Andy carried Summer in his arms, feeling heartbroken for her sake. When he looked at me, his eyes were as cold as ice, regarding me as if I were a sworn enemy.

"Thank God the staircase wasn't too high up. If anything happens to her, I'm going to make you pay with your life!"

I attempted to explain myself again, but Jimmy didn't give me a chance and interrupted me.

"Stop trying to make up excuses. We don't have the patience to listen to your lies. It only makes sense that a country bumpkin from a backward village would have a strong sense of jealousy.

"You're nothing but a useless piece of crap. Our kindness is completely wasted on you. Dad, Mom, let's go. We should leave her to her own devices in the future."

From that day forth, the Lewises treated me coldly.

As I was pulled out of my memories, the terrible pain racking through my body assaulted me all at once. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of hurt. Eventually, I lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground.

Those who saw my unconscious form chose to ignore me. No one was willing to send me to the hospital.

The cancerous cells in my stomach continued to spread rapidly, pushing me into the last moments of my life.

Summer's birthday party lasted for the entire day.

The next morning, the guests who were leaving spotted me, the heiress of the Lewis family, passing out on the ground. I was completely drenched, and blooming bruises littered the skin of my arms and cheeks.

I finally stirred awake from the pain when I heard them insulting me. I maintained a calm demeanor when I crawled back up onto my feet. When I entered the villa, the man I was terrified of collided with me, causing the blood in my veins to freeze over.

"Winter, you're back. Why are you all wet?"

The old man with a wrinkled face grabbed my arm as he leered at me salaciously, giving me a once-over. He reached out his hand and touched my waist.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, so I came to see you."

He yanked at the buttons of my shirt and said obscenely, "Hurry and take off your clothes. You'll catch a cold if you don't."

A fear from my past consumed me ever since I laid eyes on him. I was so scared that I was paralyzed where I stood, unable to force myself to move.

The man was my adoptive father, Frank Kingston. He was also Summer's biological father.

I lived with him for a decade. He would constantly scold and hit me. His filthy hands had turned into a nightmare that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I was terrified of his touch and subconsciously retreated a few steps. "Don't touch me!" I hissed.

Summer was smiling when she walked over to us. "Mr. Kingston, Winter never liked other people touching her. She's not that easy of a person."

Autumn jeered coldly in response, "You don't have to speak on her behalf, Summer. Her bad luck is going to rub off on you.

"Everyone knows that she doesn't care who touches her and welcomes any and all men to place their hands on her. But she still wants to act reserved now. I feel disgusted just thinking about what she did in high school."

Everyone's expressions twisted when Autumn brought up the high school incident. They turned their attention to me, looking at me in disdain.

During my time in high school, a PE teacher had the tendency to touch me inappropriately. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and reported his misdeeds to the school.

But the teacher turned the situation around and accused me of seducing him and stripping my clothes in front of him. He even uploaded a few videos onto the school forum.

When the news spread among the student body, everyone turned against me and criticized me for my actions. I was innocent, but no one was willing to listen to my explanations. Some people even shared the incident around, and it eventually ended up being covered by the local news.

That was also when my identity as the heiress of the Lewises was exposed. The incident had caused the Lewis family to be ridiculed.

Kenneth and Autumn had forced me to my knees to grovel at the teacher's feet for forgiveness and bumped my head against the floor again and again. They didn't let me go until my forehead began to bleed. From that moment on, I turned into the school's laughingstock, and I was also seen as the black sheep by the Lewises.

The pain in my stomach was acting up again. I was still feeling dizzy as well, so I reached out a hand to support myself against the wall, doing my best to power through the pain. Frank strolled over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist before shooting a malicious smile at me.

"Winter's a grown woman now. It's normal for her to have such thoughts."

Everyone was looking at how Frank was caressing me. An expectant look flickered across Summer's face. Autumn frowned but did nothing to stop Frank while Kenneth averted his repulsed gaze away.

Meanwhile, a complicated emotion swirled in Andy's eyes.

"Let's go. I'll take you upstairs to change your clothes." Frank tried to drag me away.

I shook my head and mustered all the strength I had left to push him away. I lost my balance and staggered to the ground.

Frank tried to drag me away again, but I summoned the last of my strength to scream at him, "I told you not to touch me!"

Andy stepped forward and pulled Frank and me apart. He then helped me back onto my feet. "Are you mute? Why didn't you say that you have a fever?" he asked.

He then dragged me to the storeroom and threw me on the ground.

"So you still have your wits about you. I thought you were going to get involved with your so-called father and further stain the Lewis family's name," Andy said coldly as he closed the door.

I curled up on the floor and pressed a hand to my stomach. There was nothing else I could do but wait for this wave of pain to pass.

A long time passed before the pain receded. I got up and changed into a new set of clothes. I then packed my belongings into my luggage in preparation to leave this place.

I didn't want to die here. The storeroom was too cold when it stormed.

I wanted to find a warm place to quietly pass on. Besides, they would think that I was bringing misfortune upon the Lewis residence if I died here. They would probably be elated once they realized that I was dead.

I didn't have too many items that I could call my own—only four sets of clothes, a pair of shoes, and my medication. Those were all the belongings I owed. I pinched the family portrait that we had taken when I was first brought home between my fingers.

I remembered how they had happily stood around me when the photo was taken. But when the picture was printed out, none of them wanted this particular photo.

Later on, they took many other family portraits, but I no longer had a space in any of them.