All I needed to do was jump down from here. The police would find my body tomorrow.

The only pity would be that my body would be mangled.

But that was still better than me having to suffer through life.

Still, the undertaker panicked after hearing what I said, and his voice quivered even more, “Maria, old people say that if you’re not given a proper burial, you won’t be able to rest in peace, remember? Do you really want to suffer even after death?”

Being unable to rest in peace was not as scary as living, honestly.

“Are you listening?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and sat on the parapet. Cheekily, I decided to scare him a little. “You’re delaying my plans to die.”

The undertaker was silent for a moment.

Then, I heard him running even more hurriedly before I heard a loud shout.

“I never owe anyone anything! Since I took your money, I’m going to be responsible for giving you a proper burial! I don’t want to owe a ghost a favor!”

Just as I was wondering why he sounded like he was so close by, I turned around and saw a man in an ironed white shirt standing at the door to the roof. His hair was a mess, and his face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

He had his hands placed on his hips as he stared at me. Then, he reached out to me.

“Please, come back. No matter what you want to do, I’ll do it with you.”

I sat on the parapet quietly.

His voice was still coming through my phone, as if it served as a reminder to me that there was still someone in the world who cared about me.

“Maria, you’re not as horrible as you think you are.” I thought, and for some reason I could not quite understand myself, I reached out.

In the next second, the undertaker grabbed me and pulled me down. Both of us fell on the roof.

My head rammed against his chest, and I heard him grunt.

Feeling apologetic, I wanted to say something, but he laughed.

“Thank goodness…”

He arrived on time.

Both of us lay on the roof while exhausted.

Liam Xavier, the undertaker, brushed against the blood on my wrists, and he stilled.

But he was not disgusted by it. He just helped me bandage it.

“I’ll bring you to the hospital.”

I told him there was no need for that. I had no more money left.

My family had already frozen my bank account, and I spent the rest of my money to hire him.

Liam patted my head and said gently, “You don’t need to spend a single cent.”

He was worried that I was still suicidal, so while on our way down, he held my hand tightly.

I asked, “Does this mean you’ll collect my body?”

Liam froze but did not turn his head around.

Still, I heard him say, “I will, but I won’t collect the body of a living person, so please… do your best to live on.”

In the end, I still went to the hospital with Liam.

There was no other reason for it, really. It was simply because he was the only one who reached out to me when everyone else wanted me dead.

He did not want me to die.

I was actually quite a subtle person. I would remember all those who treated me kindly forever.

And since Liam was so kind, I did not quite want to die anymore.

When we arrived at the hospital, it was much quieter and not as crowded as it usually was during the day.

Liam asked me to sit down and wait for him, so I did.

After some time, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Maria?”

At some point in time, Aaron had shown up behind me. He walked over with a stern face and in his long, white coat.

“It really is you. Did you delete the group chat? Do you have any idea how worried Lydia is? She heard about what you were planning to do and won’t even celebrate her birthday anymore. She just wants to find you.

“But to think you were hiding here… Is it because you think threatening suicide doesn’t work anymore?

“Or are you trying to cause trouble during your own sister’s birthday so that we will give you our attention?”

CHAPTER-NAME:

Aaron frowned. Whenever he talked to me, he always looked impatient.

“Lydia is kind and will always choose to forgive you, but I’m not the same. You should remember how I punished you in the past. If you come back with me to apologize now, I can still forgive you.”

How could I possibly forget?

Aaron never treated me as his sister.

Otherwise, he would not have locked me up in the basement and forgotten about me when Lydia had food poisoning.

That horrible feeling of near-death filled every part of my body again, and I trembled.

Cold sweat broke out on my skin.

I could not hold back the wave of nausea that crashed into me, and I put a hand against the wall as I gagged.

As Aaron watched me, disgust flashed in his eyes, as if he just saw something dirty.

He let go of my hand.

“Looks like the punishment last time isn’t enough to teach you a lesson. Stop pretending not to have heard me. You’re coming home with me now and celebrating Lydia’s birthday. Then, I won’t hold you accountable for what you’ve done.”

Not hold me accountable for what I had done? But what exactly did I do wrong?

Why should I go through these things?

Was it fair to me?

I teared up, but I was stubborn. I did not want to cry.

“Then, do you remember that it’s my birthday today too? Have you ever celebrated my birthday?”

I leaned against the wall, and I swayed because I was feeling so weak.

My eyes burned with indignation. In the past, I always thought that the world was unfair.

Both Lydia and I belonged to that family, but she was the one who got all the love, while I was the one locked up in the boarding school.

I had to endure all the bullying from those crazy people time and again.

In the past, I thought that I did something wrong and apologized to my family, because I thought that if I did, they would forgive me, but they did not.

Then, I realized that certain things just did not belong to me.

And if I tried to seize things that did not belong to me, my life would just become hell on earth.

So, I became scared and did not want to take any more risks.

I just wanted to stay far away from them.

Why was that not possible either?

I saw Aaron’s expression turn dark, and I smiled mockingly.

“You don’t remember, do you? Because you’re only a brother to Lydia. You’re not my brother! My brother died on the day he abandoned me!”

Aaron wanted to say something, but when the words reached the tip of his tongue, he could not say it. In the end, he could only say these things in frustration, “You brought all of that on yourself. We wanted to dote on you when you came back, but you kept causing trouble and wanted to fight for affection against Lydia. Why are you feeling sad?”

I watched him say these things in a self-righteous manner, and I suddenly felt helpless.

In the end, I just stood there numbly and quietly.

My sudden silence made Aaron panic.

“So, I should just die.”

He grabbed my hand and ordered, “Come back home with me right now! I’ll have someone make it up for the birthdays you missed.”

Oh, he was going to celebrate my birthday?

I did not care for it anymore.

At some point in time, Liam was already standing behind us.

When he looked at Aaron, his eyes were cold.

“Don’t need to. Have those people celebrate your birthday instead.”

Liam held my hand carefully with a number in his other hand. He bowed his head to look me in the eye. “Come, I’ll bring you over for your checkup.”

His voice was gentle. When he looked at me, his expression was full of kindness.

I dipped my head to stare at our clasped hands, and I felt my nose burn. I nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do everything you’ve asked.”

CHAPTER-NAME:

Liam made me take a full body check-up. He then asked the doctor quietly, “How is she?”

The doctor sighed and looked at me.

“I’m sorry, but her cancer cells are spreading really quickly, and she didn’t get treated during the early stages either, so the situation isn’t looking good for her.

“If we give her conservative treatment, she’ll have at most a year.”

I had another year?

I thought I had less than two months.

I smiled. It was genuine this time.

“It’s fine. One year is really good for me.”

When we left the hospital, Liam stayed silent and did not say anything, but he held my hand really tightly.

I knew that he was angry at me for giving up on staying in the hospital for treatment.

But I did not want to stay in the hospital and be forced to breathe in the smell of disinfectant before I died. That was why I rejected the doctor’s suggestion.

I held his hand and flashed him a smile. “Won’t you talk to me, Liam?”

Liam turned around under the streetlamp, and I saw that his eyes were a little red.

He scoffed, “Don’t go thinking that you won’t have to go through treatment just because you’re not hospitalized. I’m going to make sure that you go to the hospital every day from now on.”

I pouted. “I don’t want to go…”

Liam flicked my forehead.

“When you’re sick, you take medicine. That’s the natural order of things. Also, I saved your life, so you have to listen to me, understand?”

But at the moment I thought about how I would end up like the other cancer patients if I started receiving treatment, I was quite scared. I did not want to lose all my hair, become as thin as bones, and be bedridden.

While we were walking down the street, I asked, “Liam, do you undertakers really make sure we look as nice as possible when we die? I don’t want to lose my hair and die looking ugly.”

Liam did not answer me, but he took my medicine bag from me and held my hand as he walked ahead of me.

A long time passed. Just when I thought he would not say anything, I heard him whisper, “You won’t look ugly.”

I did not hear him clearly, so I asked, “What did you say?”

Liam sighed.

When he spoke again, his voice was like a spring breeze that blew straight into my heart.

“Even if I don’t put any makeup on you, you still look lovely.”

…The night breeze must have been tickling my heart.

When I finally registered what he was saying, I found that my face was burning.

I ducked my head instinctively.

“Liam… you’re really good at comforting me.”

That night, Liam brought me back to his house.

When we got to his house, I was already really tired, so I curled up on his sofa.

After some time, my phone rang.

I answered it instinctively.

It was a call from Jake. “Where the hell are you?”

I was not expecting Jake to give me a video call.

He had a good relationship with Lydia, which was also why he always hated me.

“Don’t you know that Lydia rushed back after hearing about you? Are you playing hide-and-seek with us now?”

So, they still remembered me?

But that was meaningless.

If I went back, I was just going to be an emotional punching bag again and had to do things according to their moods.

I would even be bullied.

I had nothing to look forward to in that house.

I put a hand over my hurting stomach and said, “I’m not going back.”

In any case, I was going to die.

Why should I go back, then?

My mother was sitting by the dining table and grabbed Jake’s phone.

The moment she opened her mouth, she started yelling at me, “If you’re done causing trouble, come back! No one’s going to bend over backward every day for you! Can’t you be like Lydia?!

“Seriously, why did I give birth to you?! If I had known you would be like this, I wouldn’t have given birth to you at all!”

Honestly, I was prepared to hear something like this a long time ago, but when I really, truly heard it, I still found that it hurt.

My hands trembled, and I gave myself a mocking smile. “If you say so. And don’t worry, I’ll die far away and won’t dirty your house.”

My mother was so angry that her expression changed, and she swept all of the glasses on the table down on the floor.

“Get back here! Or else, I’ll disown you!”

I was used to my mother’s overbearing attitude. So, when I heard this, I suddenly found that I did not feel as sad as I usually would.

All the things that always bothered me finally disappeared.

I smiled.

“Alright. In any case, I don’t want to be a family with you anymore either.”